The conference finals are now set, and to no one’s surprise Detroit and Miami will be meeting in the Eastern Conference Finals. Detroit needed seven games to dismiss LeBron James and the rest of the Cleveland Cavaliers, but dominated the decisive game of the series Sunday on their home floor.

The Pistons host a well-rested Miami Heat team in Game 1 tonight in what

should be a slug fest with two teams that don't mind getting a little physical.

The Suns are moving on, once again sending home a team from L.A. in seven games, this time the Clippers. Like most teams playing at home in a Game 7, Steve Nash and company advanced. The same can't be said for the defending World Champions.

San Antonio trailed by as many as 20 points Monday night at home before taking their first lead of the game with a little over 30 seconds remaining in the game. A stunned Mark Cuban could only watch as the Spurs appeared to steal the game from his upset-driven Mavericks.

Dirk Nowitzki wouldn't let Dallas fold. Instead of settling for a jump shot on the following possession, Nowitzki drove hard to the basket, converted and was fouled by Manu Ginobili, in what has to be one of the dumbest plays of Ginobili's young career. Up by three, if Ginobili tackles Nowitzki and Dirk hits on both foul shots, the Spurs still have the ball with about 20 seconds left to go and could have potentially iced the game from the charity stripe.

Instead he went for a block against a seven-footer who already had the ball above the rim. Still, Ginobili could have made his mistake a sidebar in a great Spurs comeback if he had converted on the last possession of the game.

With the game tied, San Antonio spread the floor and allowed Ginobili to attack the basket. He got a good look, but his running layup failed to draw iron, and Tim Duncan was unable to convert after pulling down the offensive rebound.

Rarely in sports do the actual events live up to the hype. The Mavericks-Spurs series certainly did, and after Dallas defeated San Antonio in overtime, it only confirmed what many already knew – that it would go down as one of the best playoff series in the history of the NBA.

Forget for a moment that the series was a conference semi-final, and consider that the series featured two teams that won more than 60 games during the regular season and that Dallas outscored San Antonio by just five points…for the whole series. The seven games featured one certain Hall of Fame player in Duncan and another, Nowitzki, who is well on his way to Springfield.

Both players were spectacular for the duration of the series, and Duncan saved his best effort for Game 7, when he set a career playoff high with 41 points. He added 15 rebounds as did Dirk, who scored 37 Monday night as both players shot 50 percent or better from the field.

Now the basketball world turns its eyes to the four teams that remain, but not after a glimpse at the future tonight with the annual NBA draft lottery. The Rockets have a 2.3 percent chance to land the number one spot. Likely, Houston will be selecting eighth or ninth in the June draft, but with a little magic, the Rockets could find themselves in the top three. If Houston's name hasn't been called after the eighth selection, start celebrating, Rockets fans, because that would mean that Houston has jumped into the top three spots.

作业: 把我标成红色的单词和句子的意思翻译出来写在跟贴上. 这是个非常好的方法. 我会坚持每周给大家贴一篇这样的文章.