An Ironic Finish to the Eastern Conference Finals

Written by Brandman316

When all was said and done, the Miami Heat could obviously thank Shaq for his performance in the sixth game of the Eastern Conference Finals, but it was their star guard who they could thank the most for the win. Shooting 83% from the field and ending up with 21 points, 6 assists, and just 1 turnover, and making big shot after bigger shot to stop any run from Detroit in the second half of the game, he was "the man" last night. Leading many fastbreaks and getting his teamates involved and playing good enough defense to allow C. Billups to just 9 points, he was the MVP in Game 6 for the Miami Heat. But this guard didn't have anything to do with a Flash, and his name isn't Dwyane Wade. His name is Jason Williams, and without him, the Heat may have been heading up to Detroit today for a Game 7.

In an ironic finish to Game 6 on Friday, the Miami Heat could thank J-Dub and all of the other "mistake" players on the Miami Heat for getting them to the finals. These "mistake" players, made up of James Posey, Williams, Antoine Walker, and Gary Payton were the exact players basketball "experts" said were a mistake to bring to Miami.

These "experts" said these new players would never get along, too much egos, certainly not enough basketballs, and would never be able to take a backseat to the ride Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal were going to lead.

But they did.

Egos were checked at the door and all of these players, who could still be starters on most teams - and be one of the go-to guys on any team - decided winning a championship was more important than being the star on a team or putting up 20 points a night.

Consider this, these "mistake" players combined for 41 points last night on 55% shooting. That's more than Chauncey Billups, Tayshaun Prince, Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace, Antonio McDyess, and Lindsey Hunter, COMBINED.

What NBA fans are starting to learn about the Miami Heat is that this guy name Pat Riley does indeed know what he is doing. He blew up last years team and carefully placed the right pieces at each position for the exact reason for what happend last night - being able to win a game, a BIG game for that matter, without a great performance by Dwyane Wade, something the Heat would NEVER be able to do a season ago.

And you could see it in Pat Riley's eyes. When he held up that Eastern Conference Trophy at half-court, and raised it in the air looking at a sell-out crowd of over 20,000 White Hot Heat Fans, a fan base he created with the trade of the century to bring Shaq to Miami, a great ability to bring in young players like Haslem and Wade, and envision a team of stars who would play like one, you could see in his mind he was saying to himself:

"I don't make mistakes. I make championships."