The Miami Heat are the defending champions and LeBron James is the reigning MVP and that sets up a great finals that everyone in the NBA is happy about, as the old guard in the Spurs gets to take on the new dynasty in the Heat and James along with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
James has been playing at an MVP level for most of the playoffs and he will need to continue that strong play as the finals begins on Thursday night in Game 1. The Heat have home court advantage after playing in Game 7 against the Indiana Pacers and despite the fact that the Spurs have had a week to prepare, the team will be ready to take Game 1 at home with some strong play from the front, especially James, who will be his usual self.
Game 2 will be another story, as the Spurs are one of the best teams in the league at winning on the road and they will do it again to bring the series to 1-1 as things shift to San Antonio for the next game. James will be the focal point of the offense once again and while the Spurs are rested, the Heat have been tested hard and that will payoff for them as the series goes on. The Heat are likely to take Game 3 if they lose Game 2, but the Spurs will do their best to keep things even in Miami. Tony Parker has been looking excellent since the playoffs began and along with Duncan and Manu Ginobili, the team has their own big three that are trying to win their fourth title together.
The first year with the star trio ended in defeat to the Dallas Mavericks in the 2011 Finals but they recovered to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder last year. Victory though and the pundits will turn their thoughts to whether the Heat are on their way to becoming one of the league's real dynasties - albeit one which will need some rejuvenating.
While the current team is so closely identified with James, the four-times league Most Valuable Player, it is Wade and Udonis Haslem, who have been at the heart of the Heat for the past decade. The same year, Miami drafted Chicago native Wade from Marquette and they were quickly rewarded with play-off runs in 2004 and 2005 and then the franchise's first NBA championship in 2006. The Heat, which had entered the league as an expansion franchise in 1988, had finally entered the elite of the NBA but they found it tough to stay there.
The arrival of James and Bosh instantly transformed the Heat, establishing them as the number one sports franchise in Florida and making them the team everyone else in the NBA wanted to beat. As they have proven this season though, the chants of 'Beat the Heat' now have less to do with the jealousy at Riley's skill in the free agency market and much more to do with the simple fact that in the NBA Miami are the team you have to beat if you want a title.