Sam Smith

CLEVELAND - OK, San Antonio Spurs. You won the 2007 NBA title with an 83-82 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers. What are you going to do for us next?

Yes, it is that kind of society, so Spurs coach Gregg Popovich late Thursday night here amidst the Spurs celebration was asked about a repeat, something the four-time champion Spurs never have done.

"I don't give a (crap)," Popovich offered in rebuke and language we don't even like to use on the Internet. Maybe on cable.

It was the culmination of a sweep here, one of the most inevitable in NBA history as the Cavs put up the least resistance of any of the Spurs Western Conference playoff opponents, arguably as little as any Finals team ever has in a gang that can't shoot straight week.

"We went up against a better team in this series," admitted LeBron James, who was the Cavs leader — on the way down.

He was 10 of 30 in Game 4, ending the series shooting 35.6 percent. That helped bring the Cavs under 40 percent shooting for the four games and averaging 80.5 per game, an all-time low for a four-game Finals series and barely above the all-time low in the Finals.

But this should be no taint for the Spurs, who have beaten some of the weakest Finals opponents ever in the 1999 Knicks without Patrick Ewing, and 2003 Nets. It's more the failure of the Eastern Conference to provide significant competition in the Finals since the end of the Bulls dynasty of the 1990's, and likely will continue to bring calls for some sort of seeding system for the playoffs that builds to the best matchup instead of ending with among the most one-sided.

Since Michael Jordan retired after the 1998 Finals, the West is 7-2 in the NBA Finals with the Spurs winning four and the Lakers three. Only Detroit in 2005 made it a seven game series with the Lakers, who are 12-3 in their three titles and the Spurs 16-6 in their four.

So the talk immediately became of dynasties, as it has been since the Spurs dominated the first two games, how no team in any American team sport has won four titles in the last decade and how the Spurs now join the Celtics, Lakers and Bulls as the only teams with at least four championships in NBA history.

A fifth next season? Nah.

No, we're not going to let them enjoy it.

Slide show NBA Finals Take a visual tour of Spurs' sweep of Cavaliers more photos

It is something of a relief, especially for Manu Ginobili, who came on strong in Game 4 after a stinker in Game 3 when he was without a field goal. Ginobili had 13 fourth-quarter points Thursday among his game high 27. But he was the one who committed the silly foul on Dirk Nowitzki in Game 7 of last year's conference semifinals with Dallas in a game the Spurs appeared to have won at home. So there went the chance to repeat for a first time in 2006.

"There's only one team that's going to finish with a smile," said Ginobili. "It wasn't our turn last year. But we came up strong in this playoff series. And that's why we are so happy. But you are not going to win every year."

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It's especially difficult in the Western Conference, which is loaded with the Suns and Mavs, who both had better records than the Spurs this season, and the potentially tough Rockets, Nuggets and Jazz, the improving Warriors and who knows what will happen with the Lakers and Clippers. And then there's Greg Oden and Kevin Durant coming. It won't be easy.

And they'll be shooting at the Spurs again all season.

Last year's finalists, the Heat and Mavericks, didn't even get out of the first round in these playoffs.

Which is why it's the Suns' time.

If only to see someone score 100 points in a Finals game, which happened in just one game last year, and that was in overtime.

But it's not just for fan aesthetics.

No one has a bigger chip on their shoulder now than the Suns.

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