2014 NBA Finals Preview

The time has arrived. After six long months of hard fought battles, the big dance finally has its partners. We started this journey way back in October with 30 teams all keeping their eye on the prize. Now we are down to the final two, with a chance to walk away with the Larry O'Brien trophy as the NBA Champions. This years matchup is an exact repeat of last years championship tilt.

That's right its an exact replica of last season as the Western Conference Champions the San Antonio Spurs get set to take on the Eastern Conference Champions the Miami Heat. This marks the 12th time we will see a rematch in the finals, the last one being in 1997 and 98 when the Utah Jazz took on the Chicago Bulls. this year, the format for the finals has changed. in the past it would be a 2-3-2 set up, where the higher starts the series at home, then plays three on the round and finishes up the series with two more at home, should it go the full seven games. Now this year, the format changes to what we see with hockey and baseball in the 2-2-1-1-1 format for a full seven games. This marks the 12th time in league history, the fifth since the NBA-ABA merger of 1976, that we have had a rematch in the finals. The defending champion has gone 6-6 in those 12 matchups.

This is Miami's fourth straight appearance in the Finals, becoming the first team since the 1987 Boston Celtics to make it to four straight NBA Finals, and only the fourth team in NBA history to achieve that goal. The other teams to do it were the 1960 Boston Celtics, the 1985 Los Angeles Lakers and the 1987 Boston Celtics. Miami is looking to become the first NBA team to three-peat since the 2002 Los Angeles Lakers. In order to get to this finals, Miami eliminated the Charlotte Bobcats in a sweep, following it up by eliminated the Brooklyn Nets in five games. In the Eastern Conference Finals, they would once again play against the Indiana Pacers in a rematch of last year's Conference Finals, winning in six to reach the finals.

As for the Spurs, this is their sixth appearance in the NBA Finals. San Antonio was dominant heading into the postseason, going on a 19-game winning streak, ending with a 21-4 record their last 25 games. In the first round, they faced their rivals, the Dallas Mavericks, beating them in seven games. In the Conference Semifinals, they eliminated the Portland Trail Blazers in five games. In the Conference Finals, they eliminated the Oklahoma City Thunder in six games, and for the first time, having back-to-back Finals appearances, as well, ending a 9 game losing streak at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City. This is an opportunity for the Spurs tow in their fifth title in franchise history.

Here are the date, time and TV channels for every game in this series:
June 5 9:00 pm Miami Heat vs. San Antonio Spurs AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas ABC
June 8 8:00 pm Miami Heat vs. San Antonio Spurs AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas ABC
June 10 9:00 pm San Antonio Spurs vs. Miami Heat American Airlines Arena, Miami, Florida ABC
June 12 9:00 pm San Antonio Spurs vs. Miami Heat American Airlines Arena, Miami, Florida ABC
June 15 8:00 pm Miami Heat vs. San Antonio Spurs* AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas ABC
June 17 9:00 pm San Antonio Spurs vs. Miami Heat* American Airlines Arena, Miami, Florida ABC
June 20 9:00 pm Miami Heat vs. San Antonio Spurs* AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas ABC

So now that we know how they got to where they are, and when they are going to play each other, lets take a look at what each team is going to have to do to pull this series out.

For the Spurs this is not only a shot at redemption against the Heat, its also a chance to submit a legacy for one of the great teams and franchise of this generation. San Antonio still feels a bit haunted by what happened last year, being 5.3 seconds away from a fifth crown only to have it slip through their fingers. Gregg Popovich has his club ready and raring to go in this finals. Some thought the Spurs would be down after last year, but they pulled it together and had the best record in the entire league, seeming ready to go for it again this year with the Heat.

This years Spurs club has somewhat rebuilt their team from a year ago. They still have their big three of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. That big three was given more rest during the regular season than it was a year ago, a move that is starting to pay off here in the playoffs. Manu Ginobli has returned to form so far in this year's playoffs. Manu, in this playoffs alone, is averaging 14.3 points, 4.1 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 1.7 steals a game. This coming from a guy who had little confidence a year ago, and at one point was considering leaving the game. But he is back, healthy and back to his old form. Manu isn't the only one who has had a solid playoffs, Tony Parker has been on his game this year too. He, along with Tim Duncan, have been working the pick and roll almost to perfection in this playoffs. San Antonio has made more improvements over last years club.

They have stock loaded their roster with shooters as well. Parker, Ginobili adn Duncan have all been having great palyoffs. Now throw in the mix the roll players like Kawhi Leonard, Tiago Splitter, Boris Diaw coming off the bench, and the big surprise of the playoffs Danny Green. Green, alone, has been shooting 48% in this years playoffs, meaning that the Spurs have another clutch shooter to go to if the big guys aren't cutting it.

As good as the Spurs offense has been, their defense has been almost as good. San Antonio has been able to mike life miserable for the big stars on the opposition, guys like Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, LaMarcus Aldridge, Damian Lillard and Dirk Nowitzki. All of those guys were held below their season averages in scoring against the Spurs defense. San Antonio not only managed to pull that off, but they did so with little effort, they made it look so easy. Splitter and Leonard have been a driving force behind that, helping put the Spurs in the finals, coming out of the very tough Western Conference.

Miami is looking to do something that hasn't been done in ten years, win three straight titles. They have also become the fourth team to make it to four straight finals. The Spurs had a tough trip through the West, while the Heat seemed to have an easier path. It's been pretty well documented that the East is the weaker of the two conferences, and the Heat handled it as such. Miami managed to go 12-3 during the playoffs against the East, but now they have a tougher test against the Spurs. Right now the Heat really look like a beast just waiting for a true test.

Miami has been scoring at a pretty clip in this years playoffs, posted a league-best +9.4 net rating during the second half, a figure powered by an excellent 119.9 offensive rating. Yeah that's dominate. There have been two real big reasons for that, Lebron James and Dwayne Wade. With Wade, there were times last year and earlier in this playoffs, when he looked a little off his game. But there is an encouraging sign for Heat fans with the way Wade has played lately. Wade is averaging 18.7 points and shooting 51.9 percent in the playoffs, both way up from last year, which is a really good sign. Here's another example of a good sign for the Heat, during all 15 games the Heat have played in this years playoffs, Wade has scored in double digits in each of them.

While Wade has managed to turn his game around, the Heat still have the best player on the planet in Lebron James. Sure there is a good supporting cast on the Heat, but lets face facts, the team can really only go as far as their 29 year old star is going to carry them. Lebron is shooting at about 56.2% during this years playoffs, which is going to be a handful for the Spurs defense. The Heat have the talent to score, but their defense and depth might be a tad bit of a problem. When they lost the two games to the Pacers, the Heat were outplayed and you could see the lack of depth. That could be a problem in the finals.

Prediction:
This is shaping up to be another solid matchup and will most likely be as entertaining as last years meeting was. There are a few notable differences between this years matchup and last year. The Spurs will be coming into this finals a little more rested than a year ago. San Antonio is a deeper team than the were last year. They are more battle tested than Miami is. Lets face facts the West in the NBA is almost leaps and bounds better than the East this season. The fact that the Spurs are still standing at this point proves that this could be their year.

Home court advantage is going to play a factor again this season, just like it did a year ago. San Antonio has home court this year, a place they have been so dominating this season its not even funny. Miami will put up a good fight but the Spurs will be too much.

Spurs in 7!