“We’re excited about it. We’ve got four more to win. We’ll do it this time.”
This is how Spurs big man Tim Duncan responded when asked how he felt about getting another shot at the Miami Heat for the title. Few words spoken by a humble player that turned some heads because it may be the only quote by Duncan to ever make a headline in his illustrious career. A surefire future Hall of Famer and arguably the greatest power forward to ever lace them up, let it be known that the Spurs had one mission. After a dismal off-season reliving the memories of Ray Allen’s corner 3 to shift the series leading to a Heat championship, the Spurs are looking to get that bad taste out of their mouth by taking care of business this year.
“They don’t like us. They don’t, I can sense it from Timmy’s comments over the last couple of days.… They want us, so they got us.”
This is how Heat superstar Lebron James fired back to Duncan’s comments. There is clearly a mutual respect between the two as ultimate professionals who have been to the mountain top, but they both know what is at stake. This will be James’ 5th appearance in the Finals at age 29 and Duncan’s 6th appearance at age 38, but it will be the 3rd time these two have faced off against each other for the Larry O’Brien Trophy. Duncan sweeping Lebron’s Cavs in 2007 and Lebron beating Duncan’s Spurs last year in 7 games. Considering this is the rubber match and likely the last time we will see Duncan in a Final at this stage of his career, this go around seems to be the most enticing.
It should be interesting to see what kind of lineup Popovich goes with after having so much success going small, benching his center Tiago Splitter in Game 5 of the OKC series but also knowing how well the Heat play small ball. The only teams that have really given the Heat any sort of problems in the playoffs since Chris Bosh returned from an abdominal injury in Game 5 of the 2012 Eastern Conference finals are the Spurs and the Pacers. Both teams that pride themselves on playing big and bullying opponents, forcing Miami to slow down and do the same in order to survive in the post. Pop will also be faced with the questionable ankle of his all-star point guard Tony Parker. Though Parker stated that he will play in game 1, they will have to monitor his minutes effectively.
With the emergence of sharpshooter Rashard Lewis against Indiana, it gives Miami a much need option at the 4 considering how bad they were offensively last year against the Spurs when Udonis Haslem played that role. With the growth of role players like Tiago Splitter, Danny Green, Khawi Leonard and the emergence of bench players like Boris Diaw, Patty Mills and Marco Belinelli the Spurs supporting cast has improved from last year, while the Heat have gotten older and arguably declined. It will more than likely come down to the big 3 of both teams in crunch time, the long time veterans Parker, Ginobili & Duncan vs. the world champions James, Wade & Bosh.
Regardless of what happens I think it is safe to say that the ‘Super Team’ that Pat Riley assembled just 4 summers ago will be considered a success after making at least an appearance in each Final since James and Bosh joined forces with Wade in 2010.
I also think it is safe to say that 9:00 PM ET Thursday night cannot come soon enough!
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