The Miami Heat and the Indiana Pacers currently have NBA fans and the media on a rollercoaster ride of emotions. The 2013 NBA Eastern Conference Finals is knotted at 3 games a piece with Game 7 looming in South Beach. Neither team has won consecutive games yet which has helped fuel the immediate momentum swings. Interested spectators are on the edge of their seats not knowing exactly which way this ride is going to go but still not hesitating to make "written in stone" predictions.
Far too many times in this series I've read and heard people make quick, hard line predictions based upon just one game's final result. After the Pacers lost a heartbreaker in Game 1, a game they probably should have won, I heard a lot of Miami "sweep" talk. Indy bounced back and won Game 2 and many put them in the driver's seat "tied" but going back to Indianapolis. The Heat responded with a dominate Game 3 victory and folks spouted "oh it's over now". Of course the Pacers rebounded again Game 4 and suddenly the Heat was going to be upset. Some of these rollercoaster feelings and emotions have even taken place within five to ten minute stretches within a game. How could you declare a game over when a team merely has a ten point lead in the 2nd quarter (as I observed some announce)?
This Eastern Conference Finals is the epitome of a "series". You don't win a best of seven series in a quarter or a game or even a couple of games. Best of seven series are won by winning four games and in the course of trying to grab those victories sometimes a team is going to look their worst and their best. The San Antonio Spurs, who is waiting for the winner of this series to meet in The Finals, won the Western Conference Finals in just four games. Even though they swept the Memphis Grizzlies, a couple of those games could have gone the other way. Though sweeps do occur, they a rare. Most series have momemtum swings back forth and some point and that's why it is a "series". We are now just about at the end of the Eastern Conference Finals "ride" with just one more game to play. I'm sure Game 7 will have a few more steep dips and hard turns before we all unbuckle are seat belts.
