Finally, the Finals: Shaq, Dirk and the refs will determine whether the Heat or Mavericks turn their first trip to the show into a title.(NBA)

Publication: The Sporting News

Publication Date: 16-JUN-06

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When talking about the NBA playoffs, the key word has been change. Out are the Pistons and Spurs, the teams most figured would be the last two standing. In are teams making it to The Finals for the first time, the Mavericks and Heat.

Out is the notion that slug-it-out, slowdown basketball is the only way to win a championship. In are two teams that can play fast or slow, and neither way has to be ugly to watch.

Back in--The Finals, that is--are the Heat's Shaquille O'Neal, Gary Payton and coach Pat Riley. Each is in with a third team.

Out again, to no disappointment of O'Neal, is his former sparring partner, Kobe Bryant.

In, to O'Neal's delight, is his teammate Dwyane Wade, the third-year guard who has ascended into the league's truly elite by taking over fourth quarters as no one since, well, the sidekick Shaq didn't like so much. Wade can expect to be defended by another young player who has taken his game to new heights this spring, Mavericks forward Josh Howard. Both were part of the 2003 draft, the class that includes LeBron James and is largely responsible for the league's resurgence.

Perhaps the biggest test facing all this change is the theory that a championship team has to have a dominant big man (or Michael Jordan). The Mays and Heat both are led by 7-footers, but one, the Mavericks' Dirk Nowitzki, shoots like a guard and plays with the athleticism of a small forward. Only O'Neal does his damage solely on the inside. How he performs will show us just how much the league is changing.

The big man

In Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals, Ben Wallace so thoroughly stuffed a point-blank shot by O'Neal that Shaq crashed to the court. See a play like that and you can't help but wonder how much O'Neal's game has declined. After all, at 34, Shaq averaged career lows in scoring (20.0) and rebounding (9.2) and really couldn't use injuries as an excuse.

Though his playoff...

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