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Message: [QUOTE="nelsonmuntz, post: 5300979, member: 833"] The Boneyard is not known for nuance with its takes. This Indiana team is a good team that got hot at the right time and got a lot of help to make the NBA Championship. OKC is one of the best teams of the last 10 years, but experience matters in the playoffs and imperfect Denver and Indiana teams both gave OKC a run. If Indiana is a great team for taking OKC to 7, that makes Denver a great team for taking OKC to 7. Is anyone willing to jump on that bandwagon? The Knicks gave Indiana a battle in the Conference finals, but the Knicks benefitted from a few boneheaded plays by a very young Detroit team in Round 1, and the Knicks and Pacers both benefitted from major injuries to the Cavaliers and Celtics. Halliburton is a very good, not great player. Siakam is the best player on the Pacers, there is excellent team chemistry, and Carlisle is good at using his bench to keep players fresh over a season. If this year's playoffs were played 9 more times, the Pacers probably wouldn't make the Finals again in any of them. A true upset run is so unusual in the NBA that people are overreacting to it. but his is more like Butler making back-to-back NCAA Titles 15 years ago (a well-coached good team catching some breaks) than the birth of a new powerhouse in the NBA. There is a generational change happening in the NBA which I have discussed elsewhere. I expect big jumps by the Spurs, Rockets and Pistons next year, and the Cavaliers and Thunder will be back at or near the top of the East and West respectively. A lot of long-time fixtures in the playoff mix, like the Lakers, Suns and Bucks, are probably going to get worse before they get better. Knicks and Celtics are trying to figure out if they have the stamina and salary cap room to run it back one or two more times. This year's playoff bracket looks quite a big different from the last few, and next year's will look even more different. [/QUOTE]

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