The Miami Heat came as close to losing a championship as any team could and the Spurs did the same on the winning side, which leaves Miami as the favorite in Game 7 as they are the home team and the emotions on the San Antonio side may be too hard to overcome.
Game 7's are one of the most exciting things in sports and based on the way the series has gone, the legacies of both LeBron James and Tim Duncan will be defined in part by what transpires on Thursday night. The Heat came very close to losing the championship, but a few missed free throws here, a Tim Duncan sub there and Chris Bosh was able to take advantage, grabbing a huge rebound with 10 seconds left and dishing to Ray Allen before the Heat tied the game.
The overtime period saw the Spurs take the lead early, but it was Miami who came up with all the big plays, including two from Chris Bosh that saw the forward block shots from Tony Parker and Danny Green, who tried to tie the game at the buzzer with a three but was denied. Allen's shot will go down as one of the best in finals history and after the performance from James, he will continue being looked at as an amazing player. He started off hitting three of 12 shots, but finished with 32 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists for another playoffs triple double and now his legacy could be on the line in Game 7.
James has played well in Game 7 matchups before, including against the Pacers this year's when he had 32 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists to clinch the series and he had another last season against the Celtics. He scored 31 points in the game and it continued his strong play in those matchups, including from 2008 when his Cavs lost to Boston and he had 45 points in the game. James will need to have a similar performance on Thursday for the team to win and Tim Duncan and Tony Parker will be working hard to see that it doesn't happen.
Both Big 3's for each team have legacies and careers on the line and whoever plays better on Thursday will be champions.
