Heat at Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs wish to atone for last season’s collapse against the Miami Heat when the highly anticipated rematch in the NBA Finals begins on Thursday in San Antonio. The Spurs led by five with 28.2 seconds to go in Game 6 of last year’s finals before the Heat rallied to win and then claimed the title with a Game 7 victory. Miami is vying to become the first team to win three straight titles since the Los Angeles Lakers (2000-02).
The finals rematch is the first since the Chicago Bulls defeated the Utah Jazz in back-to-back years in 1997-98. San Antonio defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder in six games in the Western Conference finals while the Heat won the Eastern Conference crown by dispatching of the Indiana Pacers in six games. Spurs point guard Tony Parker is expected to play in the opener despite further injuring an ankle in the series finale against Oklahoma City on Saturday. The Heat are in the finals for the fourth straight season since LeBron James opted to take his talents to South Beach.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, ABC
ABOUT THE HEAT: The possibility looms that James will opt for free agency on July 1 and he continues to dodge the topic of whether or not he will stick with Miami. The standout forward is averaging 27.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and five assists in the postseason as the Heat went 12-3 over the first three rounds. What isn’t up for debate is that James badly wants to win another title as he certainly took notice of the comments from Tim Duncan, who insisted San Antonio will win this time around. “They’ve been preparing for this moment – we have as well,” James told reporters. “No one is entitled. This is no one’s championship. It isn’t ours, it isn’t theirs. It’s two teams fighting for it.”
ABOUT THE SPURS: Parker told a French radio station on Tuesday that he will play in the opener despite the injury that caused him to miss the second half of the finale against the Thunder. Parker suffered the injury in Game 4 of the first-round series against the Dallas Mavericks and tweaked it again in Game 4 of the series against the Thunder before the pain sidelined him. “I gritted my teeth,” Parker told RMC Sport in France. “I did not mean to abandon my teammates. But the pain was too strong in the sixth game. I could not really play anymore.” Parker is averaging 17.2 points and 4.9 assists in the postseason.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Spurs are in the NBA Finals in consecutive seasons for the first time in franchise history.
2. Miami is the first squad to reach the NBA Finals in four straight seasons since the Boston Celtics (1984-87) and is only the fourth team overall – the Los Angeles Lakers (1982-85) and Boston Celtics (1957-66) being the others.
3. The teams split two regular-season meetings, each winning by double digits at home.