Congratulations to the Miami Heat.

Congratulations to Jason Williams, Shaquille O'Neal, Dwayne Wade, Pat Riley, and the rest of the Miami Heat.

You earned this Finals berth with fantastic energy, offense, and a hunger I see from championship clubs.

"Miami played great . . . they deserved it," said Rip Hamilton, post-game.

I would like to say that Detroit gave them a fight, but they had only one of their vintage games, and that was Game 5.

The rest of the time, they made themselves look far worse than they actually were.

Yet, Miami never committed any kind of unworthy sin, such as playing down to opponents' levels, which is something Detroit had been doing for the last 2 seasons. While Miami showed a lot of discipline, Detroit showed, well, none, for long stretches, starting from Game 2 of the Cleveland series.

Of the three teams left, all of them have never won an NBA championship.

Outside of Detroit, this has been one of the best years of playoff action. New Jersey Nets, Miami Heat, Detroit Pistons, Los Angeles Clippers, Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks, and the San Antonio Spurs . . . all of these teams were championship-caliber.

It's a good time to get into watching basketball.