By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)
On Saturday night, thanks to the big shot ability of Manu Ginobili and the old man post moves of Tim Duncan, the Spurs will able to cast aside a young, athletic Thunder team to earn themselves another crack at the Miami team that broke their hearts a season ago. With San Antonio a made free throw or a grabbed defensive rebound in Game 6 away from halting Miami’s run at back-to-back titles, the Spurs were arguably the closest to victory of any vanquished finals team in NBA history. Fortunately for the Spurs, unlike a trial by combat, the NBA occasionally affords clubs the opportunity to avenge a loss in later seasons. Let’s take a look at how such rematches have played out in the past.
Throughout NBA history, there have been 12 instances of two teams facing off for the title in consecutive years. However, this year will be the first time it’s happened since the Bulls and Jazz squared off for the second time back in 1998. You’ll surely hear about the parallels to that series more than a few times over the next week. Like the current finals match-up, that battle featured arguably the greatest player of all time (Jordan), taking the court with another hall-of-famer (Pippen), to send home a squad whose hallmark was team chemistry and exquisite ball movement. The comparison with LeBron and Wade going up against the Spurs is almost impossible to ignore. Unlike the Jazz though, San Antonio has already won its share of titles with this group. Furthermore, you can see that exactly half of the 12 rematch finals (re-finals? we need a term for this) were won by the team that fell short the first time. The Spurs will look to set that balance in their favor and exorcise the demons of the historic Ray Allen three.
There’s a reason it’s been 16 years since the last finals rematch. The league has grown to 30 teams, there are shorter NBA contracts and easier player movement through free agency, and league executives, for the most part, are able to dissect what previously worked for a team and either replicate it or figure out a way to stop it. All of these factors make it exceedingly difficult for any one team to reach the final two in consecutive years, let alone the same team from each conference. So when the games begin on Thursday, regardless of who you’re rooting for, take the time to appreciate a possible NBA dynasty in Miami, and one of the greatest 15-year runs in NBA history in San Antonio. It may be quite some time before you see another match-up like this one.
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