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Conference finals feature teams with diverse attributes

If Miami is the diesel locomotive with a smart, new engineer, then Detroit is the steam engine, powered by a five-man crew. If Phoenix is the bullet train, approaching unseen speeds, then San Antonio is the regional express, capable of sudden stops and quick bursts.

After a few thrilling duels in the first two rounds, the NBA playoffs still led to the same place along two parallel tracks -- fast and slow: The expected final four all reached the station in their conference finals.

The top two teams in the East, Miami and Detroit, will meet starting today. The best team in the NBA all season, Phoenix, will start Sunday against the second-best team in the West, San Antonio.

Beyond the records, the conference finals will represent a referendum on styles -- the two best defenses of the Pistons and the Spurs against the wide-open offenses of the Heat and the Suns -- as well as a clash of dominating big men and rising new backcourt stars.

"Miami is a great team; they've dominated our conference all year," Pistons guard Chauncey Billups said Thursday night after Detroit dispatched the Pacers, 88-79. He grinned, reflecting the Pistons' confidence. "I'm looking forward to the series."

By rotating on instinct, trapping fiercely and attacking the boards, the Pistons almost made their defense into a thing of beauty in their Eastern Conference semifinal against an Indiana team that had run out of comebacks. Almost. Detroit's defense is more like watching a slow suffocation with a satin pillow.

For contrast, try Game 6 in Dallas. Steve Nash, the league's Most Valuable Player, and his Suns ran the Mavericks right out of their gym Friday night with an exhausting 130-126 overtime victory. The Suns come into the Western Conference finals averaging a scorching 116 points.

Their more deliberately paced opponents, the Spurs, are averaging 99.45 points in these playoffs, showing flashes of creativity along with textbook play, evidenced in one sequence in the waning seconds of Game 6 in Seattle.

Guard Manu Ginobili, chaos in a bottle, took virtually every tick off the clock against the Sonics Thursday night before rifling a pass to Tim Duncan, who calmly banked in the winning layup with five-tenths of a second left.

And remember Miami? The team has had more than twice as many days off than game days in the postseason, after sweeping the Nets and the Wizards.

That time off has been significant for one reason: It has allowed center Shaquille O'Neal to rest and heal. His thigh bruise continues to plague and frustrate him since he sustained the injury on April 17. O'Neal missed the final two games of the conference semifinals and, going into the weekend, had not practiced for 10 days.

How sharp will O'Neal and his teammates be Monday? The Pistons have the inverse problem, not having much of a chance to wind down from their grinding duel with Indiana.

"I don't really like that much time off," Billups said. "That's when the rust sets in."

On defense, at least, the Pistons are well-oiled. They forced the Pacers into 39.5 percent shooting. Including the series against the Philadelphia 76ers, the Pistons are holding opponents to a league-playoff-low 84.36 points a game; San Antonio is second, allowing 91.1 points in 11 games.

Miami is averaging 106.5 points a game in the playoffs and is shooting a league-best 51.1 percent. Dwyane Wade leads the Heat, averaging 28.6 points while shooting 51.9 percent.
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