Hold on a second? Miami? Playing against Dallas? What happened?

The Mavs and the Heat must not have received the league memo that stated this year's Finals would be a rematch of the 2005 classic between the Detroit Pistons and the San Antonio Spurs.

A Pistons-Spurs rematch would have pitted the two most dominant teams against each other, with the Pistons eager to regain the title they lost in the waning moments of the seventh game last year.

It would have had the most thrilling one-on-one matchups. It would have been a clash of two systems: the grind-it-out offense of the Pistons against the run-and-gun play of the Spurs.

Make no mistake: The Heat deserves to be in the Finals. Their crafty substitution patterns and their ability to shut down Detroit's perimeter shooting have brought them this far. The Pistons have to be content with four consecutive conference final appearances and their world-defying championship in 2004.

The Mavericks, likewise, earned their shot at the title. By dethroning the Spurs and then the Suns in the playoffs, they peaked at exactly the right time of year.

Still, it's hard to not feel some sympathy for the Pistons, even if you're a Pacers fan. This was the team many compared to the great Chicago Bulls squads of the Michael Jordan era.

This was the team that won 64 regular season games. When four of their starters took the floor at the All-Star Game, they demolished the best the Western Conference had to offer.

This was a team of destiny, it seemed. Nothing could stop their juggernaut. Until Miami showed up, that is.

And put yourself in the role of the Pistons' Joe Dumars. You've just seen your best shot at an NBA title go down the drain. Your most charismatic and dominant player, Ben Wallace, is a free agent. The coach you signed in order to restore locker-room harmony, Flip Saunders, is despised by your star players even more than the previous two coaches were despised.

You don't have a backup point guard or effective big man. You've traded away Darko Milicic, who could have helped the Pistons in the playoffs. Dale Davis will likely retire. You have no draft picks or salary cap space.

If that's you, you're screwed and you need to find a quick solution. Whether Saunders stays another year or not, he's effectively crippled as a leader of the team. Like our president, he just doesn't have the credibility or the moral authority to lead.

Detroit may have to mortgage its future to re-sign Big Ben, but if they don't, it's likely their other star players will want out.

And, from the comfort of his Manhattan penthouse, Larry Brown is chortling and cashing his checks.

The future of the Pistons is the dominant story in the NBA now and overshadows the Finals, the showcase event for the league. Even though Miami boasts two of the best players in the league, Dwayne Wade and Shaquille O'Neal, their backstory is much less interesting than Detroit's.

And while Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is a world-class promoter and attention whore, their team doesn't have the starpower or the glamour of San Antonio or Phoenix. One long-haired German player does not make a team colorful.

Yet, the Mavs are early favorites to defeat Miami. Why? It's the simplest equation. They will score more points than Miami. It's as simple as that.
Shaq has three championship rings already. He's not particularly driven to break his back getting a fourth. Wade can't win a series by himself. And any team with the crybaby Antoine Walker on its roster is surely doomed to failure.