San Antonio Spurs vs. Miami Heat

The Spurs had a while to prepare and now they have to defeat the defending champions to win the franchise’s fifth NBA title.  The Spurs are not short on experience, but they might be short on athleticism.  But they make up for that with excellent coaching from Gregg Popovich.  He is the best at making adjustments on the fly during the game and he will likely have to make a few with the fast paced Miami Heat.  San Antonio’s big weapon is the pick and roll with Tony Parker and Tim Duncan.  Miami’s big men, Chris Bosh, Chris Andersen and Udonis Haslem are not ideal at defending it.  Should Tony Parker continue to slice his way through Miami’s frontcourt to the basket, it might be another quick series for the Spurs.

Miami had a tough seven game series with the Indiana Pacers and that long series has given the Spurs plenty of tape to study.  What many teams have had trouble with though is how to contain LeBron James.  San Antonio doesn’t really have one player that can contain LeBron without help.  When that happens the Heat have many shooters that LeBron can then pass too for open shots. Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh have had a rough playoff run, but this will be a redeeming series for them if they can do more to help take the pressure off LeBron.  It should be a tough series for Miami, but when they start to get it going their opponents have a tough time catching up.

Key Players: G Tony Parker and G Dwayne Wade

Results: Heat in 7 games