The best of the best

There’s no doubt they both deserve to play in the NBA Finals that begin this morning in San Antonio (Manila time). The San Antonio Spurs topped the regular season with a 62-20 record and disposed of Dallas, 4-3, Portland, 4-1, and Oklahoma City, 4-2 to capture the Western Conference crown. The Miami Heat finished second to Indiana in the regular season with a 54-28 mark and never went beyond six games in disposing of Charlotte, 4-0, Brooklyn, 4-1 and the Pacers, 4-2, in the playoffs to bag the Eastern Conference diadem.

Despite a higher seeding and enjoying the homecourt advantage, Indiana took it on the chin from the Heat. All Miami needed was one win on the road to clinch at home. The Heat beat the Pacers, 87-83, at Indiana in Game 2 then finished off coach Frank Vogel’s cocky chokers in a blowout, 117-92, in Game 6. Miami is unbeaten at the American Airlines Arena in the playoffs this season, holding serve twice against Charlotte, thrice against Brooklyn and thrice against Indiana.

It was particularly important for LeBron James and company to stamp their class over Indiana because after all, the Pacers posted a better regular season record of 56-26. Coach Erik Spoelstra left nothing to chance after a 93-90 road loss in Game 5 and blasted the Pacers into submission in Game 6. As for the Spurs, they’ve lost only once at home in the playoffs, a 113-92 setback to Dallas in Game 2 of their first round series. San Antonio has won three on the road compared to Miami’s four.

With what they’ve done in the regular season and the playoffs, San Antonio and Miami are clearly the best of the best in the NBA. No team can argue that either made it by luck. They worked hard to get to the Last Dance and now, the war to end all basketball wars begins.

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Last season, Miami and San Antonio figured in the finals with the Heat enjoying the homecourt advantage and capturing a second straight title by winning Games 6 and 7 at home. The Spurs had a 3-2 edge going back to Miami which hosted Games 1 and 2 under the Finals format of 2-3-2 instituted in 1985. This season, the NBA has done away with the 2-3-2 system which appears to put the higher seeded team at a disadvantage by playing the three middle games in eight days on the road. The NBA Board of Governors voted unanimously to return the 2-2-1-1-1 system that is applied in the pre-Finals stages of the playoffs. The 2-2-1-1-1 format was actually used in the Finals from 1957 to 1984, except once in that stretch.

The Finals rematch is the first back-to-back pairing since Chicago battled Utah in 1997 and 1998 with the Bulls, starring Michael Jordan, prevailing twice. For Spoelstra, it’s his fourth straight Finals appearance since the Heat lost to Dallas in 2011. For San Antonio, it’s the Spurs’ first back-to-back Finals. When the Spurs won in 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007, they didn’t make it back to the Finals the next year to defend the throne.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has won four NBA titles and Spoelstra, two. Pops came close to winning the crown last year and was a free throw away from clinching in Game 6 on the road. A coaching decision put 6-8 Boris Diaw in for 6-11 Tim Duncan with the Spurs on top by three, time down to 19 seconds. Pop figured Diaw would be quicker to chase down a three-point shooter on a switch in a pick-and-roll than Duncan but the downside was losing size for the possible defensive rebound. As it turned out, James took a triple that missed and Chris Bosh grabbed the offensive rebound to pass it to Ray Allen in the corner for a three. Allen sent Game 6 into overtime and Miami held on to win. Bosh may not have taken the offensive rebound with Duncan around instead of Diaw but that was Pop’s gamble.

It took a year for Pop to gain the opportunity for redemption and now, the time has come. But redemption won’t come easily. Miami is a tough defensive team and in the playoffs, the Heat’s 12 wins came by limiting opponents to an average of 89.8 points. In Miami’s three losses, they gave up 101.3. The Spurs don’t do badly in defense, too, and in their 12 wins, they’ve held opponents to an average of 93.8 compared to 108.2 in their six losses. But it’s in offense where San Antonio makes a distinct impact, averaging 110.5 points in 12 wins to 98.7 in six losses.

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The stats indicate the Spurs win with balanced offense as five San Antonio players are averaging in double figures – Tony Parker 17.2, Duncan 16.5, Manu Ginobili 14.3, Kawhi Leonard 13.3 and Diaw 10.0. A cause for some concern is four of the five are 32 and above with Leonard, 22, the exception. How their legs hold up in a gruelling series against Miami is a question mark particularly as Parker, 32, isn’t 100 percent with hamstring and ankle issues. Duncan, 38, and Ginobili, 36, need to be healthy for the Spurs to contend seriously.

Teamwork is what is generating offensive opportunities for the Spurs. They’re averaging 21.3 assists in the playoffs and hitting 39.2 percent from beyond the arc. Five Spurs are shooting 36 percent or higher from three-point range with Danny Green, Diaw and Marco Belinelli connecting better than 40. San Antonio’s assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.75:1 smacks of high efficiency and that level of play can’t be compromised when going against a gritty defensive team like Miami.

The Heat relies on the Big 3 – James, Dwyane Wade and Bosh, averaging a combined 61 points in the playoffs or 62 percent of the team’s output. James’ average numbers are incredible, 27.1 points, 6.8 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 38.3 minutes. In Miami’s 15-man lineup, eight are 30 and over with Allen the senior statesman at 38. But none of the elders plays like an old man, not even Chris Andersen who looks older than his age but plays younger than his 35 years. They’re all tough as nails. James’ ability to play both ends at an exceptionally high quality is infectious.

Like San Antonio, Miami doesn’t mind taking threes. The Heat is hitting at a 39.5 percent from that distance with eight players shooting at least 35. Norris Cole, Bosh, James Jones and Shane Battier are all knocking down three-point bombs at a rate of over 40 percent. Miami’s advantage is the Heat do a better job of closing out strong on shooters than the Spurs because they’re quicker, more athletic and more physical on a man-for-man basis. Miami doesn’t give up too much when Spoelstra plays a small lineup unlike the Spurs.

While San Antonio relies on finesse, Miami leans on power. The team that is able to impose its style of play throughout the series will win the title. If the Spurs run their offense fluidly and they stay healthy, Pop could get his revenge. If the Heat bodies up, clogs the passing lanes and plays physical against Duncan, Miami should repeat. It could come down to a match-up between offense and defense. San Antonio is the sentimental favorite, what with Duncan in the twilight of his career, but Miami plays with no mercy and should wrap up the series in five or six.