Binge Media Sports: 2014 NBA Finals
Well, here we go again. Welcome back to Binge Media Sports coverage of the 2014 NBA Playoffs. The conference finals have concluded and we are down to the two teams most people thought would be here, the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs. Sound familiar? For the first time since 1998 when the Chicago Bulls met the Utah Jazz in Michael Jordan’s final season (go ahead and count the Wizards time if you want, but I will not), we have a rematch to decide an NBA champion. And you know that San Antonio is out for revenge after being defeated in an epic seven game series a year ago, especially being mere seconds away from a title before Ray Allen saved the Heat. But that was last year, so let’s get to it.
2014 NBA FINALS
MIAMI HEAT v. SAN ANTONIO SPURS
Previous round: Miami def. Indiana 4-2, San Antonio def. Oklahoma City 4-2
Conference finals poll results: 50% voted for Miami, 100% voted for San Antonio
NBA Finals preview: Since the Miami Heat are the two-time defending champions, I’ll start there. Obviously, a three-peat is on everyone’s mind as they enter their fourth straight NBA Finals appearance, which is quite an impressive feat in itself.
Also impressive is the fact that LeBron James is in his fifth Finals appearance in eight years. He’s in the prime of his career and he’s looking to add to his growing legend before having to deal with another summer of “where will LeBron end up next” talk. He may already be one of the best players to ever play and he’s not even thirty yet.
Not to be forgotten about is Dwyane Wade. Remember, he has one more ring than LeBron, as well as his own Finals MVP trophy, and he’s stepped up big in these playoffs after some injury problems throughout the season. It will be interesting to see if his body can hold up through another tough series.
The final member of Miami’s “Big Three”, Chris Bosh, comes into the Finals hot, averaging 23 points in the final three games in the Heat’s victory over the Indiana Pacers. He was also the leading scorer in both of the regular season games against San Antonio this year.
But the Spurs “Big 3” is on a mission of their own. These guys have been together forever and now have the most playoff victories by any trio in NBA history. The beauty in it is that they were all drafted by San Antonio. They’ve won three titles together and have made four Finals appearances, losing only to Miami last year.
Tim Duncan is looking for his fifth title overall and rumors have swirled that if the Spurs can find a way to win, he’ll ride off into the sunset with one for the thumb and cement his legacy as possibly the greatest power forward of all time.
Tony Parker’s ankle injury could play a huge role in this series. As usual, the Spurs are downplaying it, but he sat out the second half of the Game 6 clincher against Oklahoma City. But when he’s on, he’s still great and says he’s ready to go for Game 1.
Manu Ginobili is looking for his own revenge this time around, as he’s taken much of the blame for the defeat last year. He’ll certainly be looking to make an impact and remains an integral part of the Gregg Popovich machine.
The Spurs and Heat split their two regular season games this year, which makes sense as this series is about as even as you can get. San Antonio holds the edge inside, and double teams on Duncan and Tiago Splitter could leave open shooters and the most unselfish team in the league almost always finds the open man. But the Heat counter on the perimeter with solid shooting from Norris Cole and the still and always dangerous Ray Allen. With LeBron and Wade going to the rim as often as they do, the Heat can put up points in a hurry.
Role players will be a big key to this series. The Spurs will be looking for Danny Green to duplicate his Finals shooting from a year ago and Kawhi Leonard will draw the unenviable task of guarding LeBron James, right after exhausting a ton of energy in the last series guarding Kevin Durant. The Heat bench isn’t quite as deep, but Chris Anderson can get physical with the Spurs frontcourt and frustrate them. Yes, they do have guys like Allen and Cole, but they’re going to miss Mike Miller this year.
All in all, I’d say this will be one hell of a series, with most experts predicting another series that goes the distance. It features so many future Hall of Famers and could be the last time we see either of the “Big 3” factions playing together. Either way, history will be made and history starts Thursday night at 9:00 Eastern/8:00 Central on ABC. This series really is too close to call, so I leave it to you to pick a winner. Cast your vote and if you feel the need to justify it, do so in the comment section below or follow me and tweet @THElukenorris.
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