The Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs will meet in the 2013 NBA Finals and it's only right to make predictions now before the series even begins. Right off the bat, however, this will be a tough series to predict for a couple of reasons.
The Heat and Spurs have completely different styles. The Heat will try to avoid playing half court offense if things go their way. If they have to play half-court basketball then they rely on the isolation allowing James to penetrate and set the tempo. On the other end, the Spurs would prefer the slower tempo where they can establish their bigs down low and they will rely on the pick and roll all day on offense.
The Spurs defense is relentless, but the Golden State Warriors looked like they figured something out as they were the only team to defeat the Spurs in a playoff game this year. However, the Spurs took it to the Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Conference Finals, proving that their defense is top notch and when their offense doesn't turn the ball over, their team is almost unbeatable.
The Heat showed how great their defense could be as they smothered any scoring attempt the Indiana Pacers made in Game 7. The Heat forced turnovers left and right in Game 7 and the Pacers finished with a total of 21. However, the Heat's defense hasn't been this great consistently throughout the playoffs, which is why the Pacers pushed them to the brink of elimination.
The Spurs don't have scorers the way the Heat do as LeBron James can finish on anybody, however, the Spurs are a smart team and when they decide to take the ball away from a player, they are able to come up with the right plays. You have to favor Gregg Popovich over Erik Spoelstra. If it was based on pure talent, the Heat should be able to win one, but Popovich will quickly make adjustments and find things that can work for them.
The Heat are 2-0 against the Spurs, but San Antonio wasn't 100 percent as Popovich had his guys stay back at home and there was an uproar in the NBA as far as the Spurs were fined for leaving their main players at home. Both of these games finished by a difference of seven points. If that's an indication of what's to come in the playoffs then the Heat have to play better basketball before they get upset in the NBA Finals.
Predictions: Being that the Spurs came out to a slow start against the Warriors in Game 1 of that series due to an extended period of rest, the Heat will win Game 1 and that will set the tempo for the rest of the the series. The Heat have the deeper bench and though Shane Battier has struggled, he could easily return and make a huge difference in the game.
Series Finale- Heat win 2013 NBA Finals in 6 Games
