The rematch for the ages has arrived. The San Antonio Spurs and the Miami Heat will fight for the NBA championship for the second consecutive years. The stakes are higher than ever. For San Antonio it’s a chance to redeem themselves after losing a title that should have been theirs and a chance to win a fifth title to stamp the legacies of Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili. For Miami it’s a shot to get in the record books with Michael Jordan’s Bulls, Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant's Lakers, and Bill Russell’s Celtics as the only teams to win three consecutive titles. A victory in the NBA Finals would also get Lebron James higher on the list of the NBA's greatest players of all time.
Game 6 of last years NBA finals was one of the greatest games ever played in the Finals. Ray Allen’s dagger three with 5.2 seconds remaining shot the heart out of the Spurs. After Allen’s dagger, the Spurs were devastated and could not respond in overtime of Game 6 or in Game 7 as the Miami Heat took the series 4-3. Many blame Coach Gregg Popovich for not having Tim Duncan in for the last 28 seconds because they believe Duncan would of locked down the two rebounds that eventually led to James and Allen three pointers to give the Heat life. Danny Green, Manu Ginobili, and Kwahi Leonard are other players who have been scape goats for their faults in the final minutes of Game 6. Lebron James had some very bad turnovers in the final seconds and there is little doubt that Ray Allen helped save Lebron’s legacy with his last second three.
All season it felt like if the Heat and Spurs didn’t meet again for the epic rematch that this season would be a disappointment. Going into this post-season the Miami Heat locked up the 2nd seed in the Eastern Conference and the Spurs locked the 1st seed in the Western Conference. The Miami Heat had one of the easiest paths to the finals in NBA history. The started with a weak Bobcats team in the Eastern Quarterfinals and easily swept in four games. In the Eastern Semifinals, they faced an old and tired Brooklyn team and won in five games. Finally, they beat a dysfunctional Indiana Pacers team in six games to advance to the Finals. On the other hand, the San Antonio Spurs clawed their way through a tough Western Conference by defeating the Mavericks 4-3 in a nail-biting first round series, then knocking off Portland fairly easy 4-1 and finally beating Oklahoma City 4-2 in a crazy series.
As Dwyane Wade said, “The best two will meet.” Two very different styles of play, the Heat’s run and gun, “big play” offense versus the Spurs old school pass the ball system. Even though the two styles are very different, they make for a great matchup. The San Antonio Spurs have been on a year long mission to avenge what happened in last years finals as the Spurs were 28.5 seconds away from championship number five before the Miami Heat shattered that. When San Antonio faced Oklahoma City in the Western Conference Finals, they were not getting in the way of the Spurs' mission. All in all, it is well known that Lebron James and company will answer the bell and show up. Now, it is up to San Antonio to take what they believe is theirs.
Let's go with the San Antonio Spurs to win the NBA finals in 6 games. It will be a hard, dramatic series but in the end the well oiled machine will find a way to get it done. This series may even go down amongst the greatest NBA Finals in history.