The NBA Finals kick off Thursday night at 9 p.m. ET, with the heavily favored Miami Heat hosting the visiting San Antonio Spurs to the American Airlines Arena in South Beach.
The odds makers have the Heat taking the NBA Finals over the Spurs, in relatively easy fashion.
Miami is strongly favored to defeat the Spurs and defend the NBA title, according to online betting site Bovada.lv. The Heat are -240, meaning a $240 bet would require to win $100 should they take the series. The Spurs are +200, earning $200 for $100 bet.
Despite the odds, San Antonio's Kawhi Leonard says he's prepared to take on the toughest defensive assignment of his two-year career with Miami's LeBron James, according to NBA.com.
"It's just a great challenge for me to try to help my team win by playing good defense on him," Leonard said. "I just accept the challenge and am ready to play."
Leonard has already had some tough defensive assignments, up until this point, in defending Golden State's Stephen Curry and Memphis' Zack Randolph.
After averaging 24 points and 10 assists in an upset of the Denver Nuggets, sweet-shooting Curry was held to 18.2 points and 6 assists against the Spurs - excluding a 44-point, 11-assist effort in a Game 1 loss by the Warriors.
Randolph averaged 18.4 points and 10.8 rebounds while bullying the Oklahoma City Thunder in the paint, but was limited to 11 points and 12 rebounds against the Spurs. His production included a two-point, seven-rebound effort in a Game 1 loss to San Antonio.
With that type of defense played against those caliber players, Leonard will be seeing a combination of both while defending James.
"He's great on offense and defense," said Leonard, who has a 7-foot-3 wingspan. "He can pass, he can shoot the ball, gets offensive rebounds and defensive rebounds and he can guard the best player on the other team."
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