Season series: Tied 1-1
How they got here:
This is the final everyone had been hoping for, as Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder battle LeBron James and the Big 3 of the Miami Heat in a match-up of the NBA's top players and top teams.
Along the way to the final, each round has gotten progressively harder for Oklahoma City.
A year ago, the Thunder faced the Mavericks in the Conference final and the Mavericks came out on top. In the opening round this year, the Thunder exacted revenge on the defending champs as they swept them in just four games.
In Round 2, the Thunder took down another former champion, the Los Angeles Lakers. This time it took five games as OKC simply made the Lakers look old.
And in the conference final, it was a meeting of what many believe to be the NBA's two best teams as the Thunder battled the San Antonio Spurs.
Over the first two games, San Antonio looked unstoppable as they easily bested the Thunder. But when the scene shifted to Oklahoma, things changed.
After the Thunder won Game 3, momentum changed and OKC went on to win four straight, an impressive feat considering the Spurs had won 20 in a row.
Over in the East, the road has been rockier for Miami.
In the first round, the Heat took down a frustrated New York Knicks team in impressive fashion as Amare Stoudemire was left with a wounded hand after punching a fire extinguisher.
The Heat opened their second-round match-up with the Pacers in top form, as they cruised through the series opener but also lost the services of Chris Bosh to an oblique injury for the rest of the round.
After shockingly losing the next two games, James and Dwyane Wade stepped up to lift the Heat to the conference final.
In the Eastern final, the Heat were again forced to battle through adversity as they clearly missed the services of Bosh.
After winning the first two games in Miami, the Celtics battled back to take the next three despite Bosh's return in Game 5.
However, James again stepped up when the chips were down and carried Miami past Boston in Game 6.
In the deciding game, the aging, wounded Celtics ran out of gas and Miami reached the NBA Finals for a second straight year.
Key matchups:
This is clearly the match-up everyone was waiting for.
The two best players in the game will go toe-to-toe for all the marbles.
Now that is the obvious part of the equation, but this match-up will create a whole new challenge for both of these sides, especially Durant, as they will now have to step up their game on the defensive end of the floor. It will be interesting to see if the extra energy these stars will need to exert on the defensive end will take away from their offensive output. James already covers the opposing teams' top player, so this will present a new challenge for Durant. The Heat can also shift Shane Battier onto Durant, while the Thunder can use Thabo Sefolosha and James Harden on James as well. Sefolosha was key against the Spurs as he helped lock down Tony Parker. Dwyane Wade vs. James Harden
These two players may not have to face each other all that much except for in crunch time because Harden comes off the bench, but expect both shooting guards to log plenty of time on the floor. Wade may have been slowed in the conference final by an injury, but he has yet to confirm the speculation. What is fact is that Wade disappeared at times against the Celtics. He only made 15 of 54 in first halves vs. Boston. Wade will also have to try and work past Sefolosha, a terrific defender. Could be a tough series for the Heat guard.
Keys to the series:
Are we seeing the beginning of a return to the ‘80s, when the NBA final seemed to constantly run through Boston and Los Angeles?
With few other strong, young nuclei around, the Thunder and Heat could kicking off a long-term rivalry in 2012.
For once, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra does not appear to be over-matched on paper. Actually, the same could be said for Thunder coach Scott Brooks. Two of the NBA’s top coaches will go toe-to-toe here, and you have to wonder who will come out on top.
The much-maligned Spoelstra seems calm, no matter the situation, and both he and his rival made the right adjustments in getting their respective sides to the final.
While the Thunder have faced less adversity, Brooks was able to get things turned around after two games against San Antonio.
While the Durant-James battle will grab headlines, another highlight to watch is the battle between the Thunder's explosive offence and Miami's stingy defence.
The Heat defence plays tight on the ball and attempts to force the opposing offences to try and go one-on-one, which actually plays into the hands of Westbrook and Durant, who are at their best when they are driving to the rim.
On the other end of the floor, the Heat's ability to get their opposition into foul trouble will surely be a test for the less-experienced Thunder. They’ll have to move their feet and deny post position in order to win.
Many will talk about the Thunder’s inexperience, but while they are a young team, they’ve been together for a while and did reach the conference final a year ago. Yes, this is a major step beyond that, but this team seems poised and has a trio of veterans -- Derek Fisher, Nazr Mohammed and Kendrick Perkins -- with championship experience to steady the ship.
Looking around at the match-ups here, two of each team’s Big 3 face off, but it will be interesting to see how Bosh and Westbrook take advantage at their positions.
Bosh will have his hands full inside with Serge Ibaka and Perkins. He is going to need one or all of the Heat’s rotating cast at centre -- Joel Anthony, Udonis Haslem and Dexter Pittman -- to step up their games in order to take care of the battle inside. The teams split a pair of games in the regular season, with the winner of each game also coming out ahead in the battle on the glass.
On the other end of the floor, Westbrook must outplay Mario Chalmers. That does not mean he must outscore him, but it does mean that he needs to take advantage of Chalmers when possible and make certain that Chalmers doesn’t get to take open jumpers. Against the Celtics, Chalmers made some clutch shots, but he may not get the same amount of open looks as the Thunder will not need as many double teams or play nearly as much zone defence as the Celtics.
Big question:
KD or LBJ? King James, the reigning MVP, has controlled the court so far, but now he faces a player who is every bit his equal. The winner of this battle should be the winner of the series.
Best bet:
There were plenty of scary-looking roadblocks for the Thunder on the way to this match-up, but they proved to be more than up to the task. The Thunder are rested and, more important, healthy.
On the flip side of the coin, two of the Heat’s Big 3 are battling the injury bug. (At least we know Bosh is.)
With those injuries, and a weaker supporting cast, it seems like an uphill struggle for the Thunder.
Thunder in six.
Who will win the NBA title?
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