The 2007 NBA Finals start on 7th June.

Last night in Cleveland, the Cavs defeated the Detroit Pistons 98-82 to win their 4th straight Eastern Conference Finals game and take the series 4-2. As a result, we have a dramatic and largely unexpected matchup with the San Antonio Spurs in the 2007 NBA Finals.

The Spurs v Cavs Finals is headlined by the battle between the NBA’s most complete veteran superstar and its youngest. Of course, this series also features the contest between the league’s best two floppers – Manu Ginobili and Anderson Varejao – as they take their craft to basketball’s highest stage.

Note; In the interests of Desipio’s less sophisticated readers, this article will be written in short sentences and explore simple concepts.

Make no mistake, these Cavaliers will be no pushovers for the calm, powerful Spurs outfit who have been resting and plotting since disposing of the Utah Jazz last week.

The Cavs have a big, active frontline that plays D, scores the ball, and is a menace on the glass. The Cavs have a deep, versatile guard rotation that can shoot, defend, steal and pass.

Sure, maybe it sounds like a piece of bad poetry, but these Cavs are a legitimate team. Plus, they have LeBron James.

LeBron’s 48 point night Thursday is the best playoff performance since, well, Dwyane Wade single-handedly winning game 3 of the 2006 Finals last year and changing the outcome of that series. But even so, it was an astonishing display, especially in a game where he’d missed a couple of crucial 4th-quarter free throws. His reputation as a clutch player was at risk. His reputation as the game’s annointed one was at risk.

What followed was an exhibition of pressure basketball that not even the gaudy statistics (25 straight Cleveland points, 29 of the team’s final 30, out-scoring Detroit by himself in the 2 overtimes) do it justice. This was a game for the ages.

So as the Cavs returned home for game 6, leading the series 3-2 and on the brink of exorcising the demons from last year’s series defeat to Detroit, what did LeBron do? He didn’t make a field goal in the first quarter.

Instead, he concentrated on ensuring his team was assured and confident. Great players can’t defeat great teams day in, day out – in order to do so, they require their own team to be empowered. And that’s why LeBron’s 5 rebound, 5 assist, 2 steal, 1 block 1st quarter last night was telling.  It proved he learnt the great lesson from Thursday’s 48 point game; that carrying your team to victory is not the same leading your team to victory.

And that’s why it’s actually satisfying that he lost games 1 and 2 in the Eastern Conference Finals on those infamous final possessions. Did he make the right choice by passing to an open teammate for the win in game 1? Yes. Did the officials make the right choice by swallowing the whistle when he was fouled going for the win in game 2? Not at the time, but now, perhaps yes.

If LeBron gets gifted the free throws and the win, then his 48 points in game 5 never happens. If LeBron learns that whenever his team needs a clutch basket all he has to do is drive to the hole in the belief that he’ll get rewarded every time, then his development as a superstar is stunted. So with the Cavs down 86-81 with 3½ minutes to play in game 5, LeBron knew he had to do it himself. He couldn’t rely on protection by the officials, he had to find something extra, something special, something the entire NBA knew he had within him since he first came into the League. And he did.

Even when Chauncey Billups drove the lane, got bailed out by a foul call that LeBron may not have received, and hit both free throws to tie the game, he wasn’t deterred. This was a grand display of clutch, single-minded playoff basketball.

The result?  48 points, an epic double-OT victory, and a 3-2 series lead that was earned, not gifted, found, or handed out. As special as Boobie Gibson’s play was in game 6, it was only made possible by the emotional foundation set by Cleveland’s #23. And that’s what’s incredibly satisfying for non-Cav basketball fans, and even more rewarding for those long-suffering few who feel a special sense of righteousness this morning.

Furthermore, in the League’s office - fresh off a bout of self-congratulation after saving basketball in the Pacific Northwest - they are absolutely delighted by the Spurs v Cavs Finals. The expected outcome was the likely ratings annihilation of (another) Spurs v Pistons series, especially after sacrificing the Suns’ season on the altar of their own inflexible rules.

The NBA were rightly concerned by the apathy that greeted San Antonio’s 5-game series victory over the Utah Jazz, who were a classy outfit, but no Golden State Warriors, and certainly no Dallas Mavericks. Yes, Deron Williams earned himself a Team USA roster spot, and sure, Carlos Boozer showed his class to people other than his Fantasy owners, but the Western Conference Finals was so one-sided it didn’t capture anybody’s imagination.

Now, we have an NBA Finals that does precisely that.

After laughing at Mehmet Okur for 2 weeks, now Tim Duncan has to contend with the activity of Varejao and Drew Gooden on the block, plus down the other end, either power forward plus the 7-2 Zyndrunas Ilgauskas require their defenders to stay at home as they can hurt you both with the ball and on the offensive glass.

The Cavs also have experience (Donyell Marshall), and youth (Boobie Gibson) off the bench, and a legit 4 guard rotation - 5 if you count Eric Snow, which you probably shouldn’t. They have outside shooting, defensive stoppers, long arms and quick hands.

And as they showed throughout the Conference Finals, this is an accomplished defensive ballclub. Chauncey Billups’ struggles (15 points, 3½ assists on the series) were well-chronicled, but the Pistons’ longtime X-Factor, Tayshaun Prince, was unable to find rhythm on either end of the floor, and finished the 6 games with just 57 total points on 16 of 66 shooting. That doesn’t happen by accident.

So while the Spurs have a team designed for the NBA Championship, with a great power forward and a speicalist defensive stopper who just happens to play the same position as Mr LeBron Raymone James, this is no forgone conclusion.

The 2007 NBA Finals start on 7th June.