Boobie Gibson Posts -- FanHouse

Round 1 Riot: Cleveland (1) vs. Detroit (8)

FanHouse previews the first round of the NBA Playoffs.

The Pistons and Cavs have a lot of history together, which is fortunate, because that's the only thing that makes this series the least bit compelling. The Cavs finished the season as the most dominant team in the NBA, leading the league with a franchise record 66 wins and terrorizing opponents with an 8.9 point differential. The Pistons, on the other hand, posted their first losing record since 2001, winning just 18 times in their last 50 games. This could get ugly.

Counterpoint: Four Reasons the Cavs Won't Get Swept By the Spurs

My colleague Brett Edwards just hit you with his reasons the Spurs will sweep the Cavs in the NBA Finals. Although I don't think the Cavs will win the series, I think it's highly unlikely that Spurs will end up sweeping them. Here are four reasons the Spurs have no chance of sweeping the Cavs:

The Spurs Haven't Played a Defensive Team as Good as the Cavs
Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Chris Webber and others didn't all just go cold at the same time. The Pistons offensive struggles probably had something to do with the Cavs being a very good defensive team. I mean, don't they kind of have to be? It's not like their offense is their trademark or something. In fact, outside of LeBron and the occasional Boobie explosion, this team doesn't really have anything going for them on the offensive side of the ball. They've made it this far simply because of defense, rebounding, and hustle. The Spurs are in for a rude awakening if they think they are going to be able to manhandle the Cavs the way they tossed around teams like the Suns and the Jazz. (Brian Windhorst also mentioned a similar notion on his blog today)