So, strap in and enjoy these articles that I hope to finish by the end of next season. They will be broken up into parts as I don’t want to provide just a summary of the decade, but some details that might have been forgotten by old GMs or were never known by our newer GMs.
2010-11: The Greatest Gameplanning in a Finals
vs 
“Being challenged in life is inevitable, being defeated is optional.” – Roger Crawford.
BACKGROUND
To start off the most competitive decade for the sim league Finals, we will visit what ultimately when looking back has to be the single best performance by a GM in a Finals series. To set the stage for this season and the seasons to follow, I have to mention the two Kevins: Kevin Durant and Kevin Love. These two players will ultimately dominate the 2010 decade and will be joined later by the best player the game has ever created, but for now the Kevins are the main buzz of sim league. Kevin Love and the Phoenix Suns won the prior year championship while Kevin was barely scratching the surface of his potentials, and Kevin Durant was starting the play like we all feared he would. GMessi decided after the championship to demolish the team and build around Kevin Love, taking the Suns out of the equation as repeaters. Aburns, then Clippers GM, was never a very active GM but he made the necessary moves in the offseason to put players around rising star Kevin Durant. He kept players such as Delonte West and Dirk Nowitzki to pair with Durant to feature a team that was very heavily reliant on 3 point shots.
The Clippers biggest challenger in the West was overwhelmingly the San Antonio Spurs led by still-GM eazy. The Spurs had the perfect mix of young and upcoming players (Russell Westbrook and Arron Afflalo) with veteran presence (Josh Smith and Luis Scola). They looked to be great now and even better later in the decade. The other team that looked to challenge the Clippers, this time in their own division, were the Golden State Warriors led by now-Blazers GM bowtothebill. The Warriors were transitioning into a real life D’Antoni offense with De’Andre Jordan left as the lone anchor and Steph Curry as the future leader. Only thing holding the Warriors back at the moment was time as Jordan and Curry were 22 and 23 respectively.
Out East, the Philadelphia 76ers were coming off of a fresh new reset centered around All League center Tyson “Titan” Chandler, a player who once you have on your team vaults you to the top half of best defenses and rebounding teams with him alone. They weren’t necessarily coming off a great season at 36-46, but they had youth to trade. The two biggest moves noted were the trades for Dwayne Wade from the SuperSonics and Amare Stoudamire from the Lakers. Wade was in his prime and was the perfect compliment at guard to pair with Chandler, and Amare still may be the most athletic player in the game. The East at the time was traditionally known to be competitive within the conference with no true super team.
The Hawks as always were a threat every season with former commish and long time Hawks GM WigNosy leading the way with a frontcourt that could challenge anyone with Rudy Gay, Joakim Noah, Pau Gasol, and Tim Duncan. The Orlando Magic were putting together a solid squad led by GM coltsguy with a great core of Dwight Howard, Carmelo Anthony, Goran Dragic and Rashard Lewis. They were an elite outside scoring and defending team and did everything else well. The Heat, led by still GM logpmess, were turning the corner and had Lebron James, Al Jefferson, and Spencer Hawes. Unfortunately for the Heat, TC insurance was not a thing at the time and Lebron was never truly the Lebron he could have been after being hit, but he was still an All Star forward with great athleticism. The Heat will be a reoccurring threat in later seasons due to one of the better changes of positions made by putting Lebron at PG, but for now James was still at SF.
THE PLAYOFFS
The playoffs were brutal, injuries were constant from beginning to end. The San Antonio Spurs fell in the 2nd round to the Blazers after starting PG Kirk Hinrich was injured, so the matchup of Spurs/Clippers in the Western Conference Finals was not meant to be this year. The Clippers for their part stormed pass the Mavericks in the 1st round and were challenged by the Warriors in the 2nd round, going to 7 games and just squeaking by 108-106 in Golden State. Kevin Durant made the jump we all expected and more, earning Most Improved Player by the computer and leading the league in scoring at 33ppg and averaged roughly 7 rebounds and 3 assists, and were the #1 offensive efficiency team in the regular season. They easily smashed the Blazers with a sweep in the WCF and cemented their place in the Finals. Durant dominated the playoffs and Delonte West was having a playoffs that was special.
Out East, the 76ers didn’t face much trouble with their competition, dispatching the Pacers in the 1st, the Heat in the 2nd, and the Hawks in the Eastern Conference Finals. The #1 defensive efficiency team was holding their own. Unfortunately, it was during the Hawks matchup that Dwayne Wade dislocated his shoulder and would be out for the remaining playoffs no matter what in game 4. The #1 overall seed 76ers were now weak in the backcourt without Wade, but at least had home advantage.
2011 FINALS
The series between the 76ers and Clippers featured the home teams having the clear upper hand. In the first two games in Philadelphia, the 76ers took a commanding 2-0 lead, with Chandler and Amare having great games. Games 3 and 4 with to the Clippers and the series was tied 2-2, with the Clippers not allowing the 76ers to break 80 points in either game, a truly defensive lockdown by an offensively focused team.
Game 5 all hell broke loose. In the final game in Los Angeles, both Tyson Chandler and Delonte West got injured for the remaining Finals. Game 5 was won by the 76ers, but the Clippers beat the 76ers in Philadelphia in Game 6 after Dirk scored 30 points without Chandler manning the anchor.
GAME 7
All down to Kevin Durant for the Clippers and Amare Stoudamire of the 76ers. The game only had one player that was higher than green current rating, Durant. The playoff series was competitive and it came down to one final game with both teams scrambling to put together a DC. Clippers had the upperhand in talent, but the 76ers had homecourt.
The 76ers ended Game 7 as the victors behind Amare’s 46 points on 21-31 shooting, single-handedly dragging the 76ers to their 2nd ever championship. They also held Kevin Durant to under 30 points. The matchup between both GMs was special and the league got to see a great back and forth ugly matchup between two great teams. Both teams made good adjustments throughout and there was a cat-and-mouse chase between where players played for matchup purposes. One of the best Finals I got to watch that I wasn’t a part of.
2011-12: Game 7; Final Possession; 1 Point Victory
vs 
“If put to the pinch, an ounce of loyalty is worth a pound of cleverness.”– Elbert Hubbard
BACKGROUND
Every new season starts with one of the most exciting parts of this game: the draft. In this draft we saw the likes of Klay Thompson, Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler, Kyrie Irving, Iman Shumpert, and others get drafted. It was a deep draft, but all eyes were on the next draft that featured the most coveted prize of all: Anthony Davis.
GM eazy is so loyal to his players and will keep them for so long that in my mind for sim league the entire front office and coaching staff is comprised of former Spurs players. The team from last season remained realatiely the same for their core: Westbrook, Josh Smith, Afflalo, and Luis Scola. Westbrook was coming into his own and was starting to look like a true monster, but it was Afflalo that really took that next step. Surprisingly to some, Afflalo was the leading scorer of the Spurs and was also the #1 3P% shooter in the league. Westbrook was starting to hit triple-doubles in games, and Josh Smith was the consistent forward who propelled the team. However, the team didn’t win the Midwest Division. The Timberwolves would finish the season with the best overall record thanks in part to two good moves by still GM JNR: trading Boozer to the Cavs for Luol Deng and Rasual Butler and signing Tim Duncan to a team friendly deal. Boozer was a great player, but the Wolves had an even better front court piece in Chris Bosh who won MVP the season before. Boozer was a volume shooter in a crowded frontcourt, and adding Deng gave the Wolves a much needed defensive forward.
Keeping our eyes out West, Kevin Durant averaged 37ppg and won the MVP and was now a nightmare to play against. Kevin Love was notably making a jump into the elite discussion after averaging 27-13.5-3, leading the league in rebounds and terror in our hearts as yet again, he wasn’t even close to scratching his potentials and was on his last year of his rookie deal. Fortunately at the time, the Suns were still not a competitive team, but the Suns were starting to accumulate players and assets to build the foundation down the road. The only other competitive team in the conference were the Warriors, who added Zach Randolph to the team to pair with Curry and Jordan, but it didn’t work out as well as they would hope. Still, Curry and Jordan were filling out and getting better each season with Curry making his first All League 1st Team in his carreer. The team was getting scary, but not quite there.
In the Eastern Conference, the Miami Heat didn’t change too much from the prior year except they were able to swing a trade to bring in Rip Hamilton from the Suns, giving the team much needed scoring at the guard position. Lebron and Al Jefferson were great, with Jefferson making the All League 1st Team as a center, but the team was very weak at guard, notably PG. The Heat, like the Spurs, didn’t win their division either. The defending champions Philadelphia 76ers won the Atlantic with Tyson Chandler, Amare Stoudamire, and Tracy McGrady, who the 76ers traded for in exchange for Wade to the Raptors. By all accounts the 76ers looked to be on their way for a 2nd straight Finals appearance and, barring no injuries, a repeat championship. In the Atlantic conference the Orlando Magic were still serious contenders with their squad they brought back from the prior season.
In the Central division, the biggest shock of all was that the Cleveland Cavaliers, led by still GM LHamilton, won the division for maybe the first and only time in franchise history (I didn’t check but safe assumption). The Cavs had one of the best backcourt/frontcourt pairings in the league with Carlos Boozer and Chris Paul leading the way with Marc Gasol anchoring the defense. The Pacers, led by still GM Pauly, had one of the best PGs in the game with Deron Williams who was nearly averaging 30 points and 10 assists per game. The Hawks were still around (this will be a running theme) with WigNosy still running the frontcourt heavy lineup of Rudy Gay, Joakim Noah, Pau Gasol, and Tim Thomas.
The league was set for yet another competitive playoff race.
THE PLAYOFFS
To follow our two teams closely, the Spurs had no trouble dispatching the Portland Trailblazers in the 1st round and handedly swept them, pitting them against the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2nd round, the matchup we were all waiting for in the previous season. The biggest shock came when the #8 seed Denver Nuggets outsted the #1 seed Timberwolves in the 1st round. Despite Bosh’s best effort and insane point output, Klay Thompson and Rajon Rondo were too much for the Wolves backcourt. It was pure chaos out West and the favorite was out, the West was now up for grabs. Out East, the Miami Heat were tested right off the bat when they played against the Hawks in a 4/5 seed matchup. The series went 7 games but Jefferson was too much even for the Hawks frontcourt, now setting the Heat against the defending champions 76ers.
The Heat right off the bat shocked the league when they went up 3-0 against the 76ers. The duo of Jefferson and Lebron was potent, but it was actually Brandon Jennings who was having a series to remember. Then, the 76ers won 3 straight to tie the series 3-3. Once again the Heat were forced into a game 7 with no momentum, but a huge game by Lebron James and a horrific game from the previous season’s hero Amare Stoudamire (11 points, 11 turnovers) gave the Heat the much needed victory. As if the East couldn’t have been crazy enough, the 7th seed Celtics defeated both the #2 seed Cleveland Cavaliers and #3 seed Indianapolis Pacers. Conroy, then GM of the Celtics, did it with ease to, sweeping the Cavs and beating the Pacers 4-2. The Eastern Conference Finals was between the #5 seed and #7 seed. Things were getting good.
The Spurs at the time had their hands full with the Clippers and Durant, dropping the first two games going down 0-2 before winning 4 straight to advance to the Western Conference Finals to play against the #8 seed Denver Nuggets, who had just knocked out the #4 seed Warriors. The #3 seed Spurs would play the #8 seed Nuggets. Anything was possible and the league wondered if we would see a #7 and #8 seed play in the Finals.
The conference finals were not competitive in the slightest. Despite some crazy matchups and results in the first two rounds, it was almost as if all the luck for the Nuggets and Celtics ran out, but they really gave the playoffs some true excitement. The Spurs would sweep the Nuggets and the Heat would give the Celtics the first game before sweeping them 4-1.
2012 FINALS
It’s always exciting whenever a Finals matchup is between two GMs who are fighting for their first championship, and this was a memorable one. The Spurs held a better record and had home court advantage. Game 1 was not competitive as the Spurs blew the doors off with 20 point performance from Westbrook, Smith, Afflfalo, and Scola and held Jefferson in check on 8-24 shooting. Game 2 was much closer until the 4th quarter where the Heat won the quarter 32-15 and won the game 102-85 even with Jefferson being held down yet again. The heroics of Rip Hamilton and Brandon Jennings earned the split 1-1 with the next 3 games going to Miami.
Game 3 wasn’t close as Al Jefferson finally woke up and put up 33 points, 14 rebounds, and 5 blocks while Lebron had a solid all around performance. The Spurs were held to under 40% FG and the series looked dicey for them going down 1-2 to the Heat.
Finally, Game 4 saw a close game as the Spurs pushed the Heat into overtime with a great 4th quarter and ultimately evened the series 114-110, forcing the series to at least go back to San Antonio one more time. Despite both Lebron and Jefferson scoring 41 points each, the Spurs team had an overall better performance and Josh Smith led the way with 34 points and 17 rebounds. Game 5 was close but Al Jefferson willed the Heat to the win with an impressive 30-17 game himself and the Heat shutting down the Spurs from 3. The Heat were able to go up 3-2 and just had to win one more time in San Antonio to win the Finals.
While the games before Games 6 and 7 were not very close (except game 4), we are now at the point where champions are decided literally by the last possession. Game 6 was won by the Spurs 116-114 behind Josh Smith’s outstanding game 34-13-7 at the PF position, switching with Ryan Anderson at SF. It was a big risk and Lebron had a great game, but Smith had an ever better one against Ibaka.
GAME 7
What a game this was. With one final move in his DC, eazy switched Westbrook over to SG to defend Rip Hamilton and put Afflalo at PG. Despite Al Jefferson’s best efforts with a 29-19 game, the San Antonio Spurs win the game 101-100 behind Smith’s 42-18-4 performance. My memory isn’t that great but from the Finals Results thread eazy remarked that it came down to the final possession, and I don’t remember if it was a shot by the Spurs that was made or a missed shot by the Heat. Either way, it was a fantastic series put on by both GMs and a second straight year of game 7 Finals. Eazy would win his first championship and the rest of the league soon realized after the playoffs that at any point chaos can happen. In the prior year it was injuries, and this season it was upset after upset in the earlier rounds.
Join me next time when we review a rematch of the 2011 Finals, a rematch of the 1992 Finals, and the first team to go all in on 3 point shooting.
