NBA Playoffs 2014: Preview and predictions
By Brad Rowland
2014 NBA FINALS
Miami Heat vs. San Antonio Spurs
Rematch? REMATCH! Last season’s NBA Finals were legendary in how they transpired, especially late in the series, and the rematch could be even better. Miami took a step back in the regular season this year, and that included LeBron James coasting a bit (sorry, LBJ) and Dwyane Wade missing more than a third of the season with various maladies (copyright, Gregg Popovich). In fact, if we examine the series on paper by this season alone, the Spurs would be the easy selection as the team with the significantly better record and net rating.
Except, this series isn’t being played on paper.
LeBron James is nearly impossible to pick against at this stage in his career, especially after Miami was able to overcome all obstacles in grabbing last year’s title. With that, though, San Antonio has been insanely impressive in responding to that high-level adversity by arguably coming back even better in 2013-2014 and blasting through all comers.
From a match-up perspective, the Heat have no one to deal with Tim Duncan, but they were able to curtail Tony Parker last season (using LeBron James on defense) and that is a trump card that Erik Spoelstra can deploy. On the other end, Kawhi Leonard has had another season to develop and he’s a monster, but there is nothing on this planet that can slow down LeBron when he has it going, and that has to be at the forefront of any conversation regarding the Heat.
What am I trying to say?
Well, this series is dead even. Dead. Even.
After flipping back and forth from one side to the other at least a half dozen times, I’ve settled (“settled”) on a projected NBA Champion, but for die-hard NBA fans, this is as fun as it gets, and to be frank, I hope this series takes place for the second straight year. It’s been a tremendous NBA campaign, and we’re in for a great two months, so stay tuned!
Spurs in 7.