This was certainly a tale of two tremendously different teams.
One for whom the contest represented a chance to sew up the advantage of home court through the first three rounds of the playoffs. The proverbial cherry on top of a sublime season that may yet end in the most valuable outcome of all.
For the other, it was a showdown predicated on ping pong balls. What ought to be the awkward circumstance of a desired loss was by now actually a banal formality, with only the outcome of defeat offering the promise of brighter days to come.