The Spurs Vs. The Heat 2... This Time It's Personal!

I'll freely admit it.  Even though we all know to not underestimate the Spurs, I thought after last season's exhausting Game 7 defeat in the Finals, I thought the Spurs may finally be out of gas.  After about 2 months into the season, I thought, "Fuck they might just do it again."

Well here we are, and the Spurs are four wins away from making me and everyone else (outside of San Antonio of course) look stupid yet again.  They definitely have more of a chip on their shoulder now than ever before.  Timmy and Co. had never tasted defeat in the Finals before last year- and they almost pulled it out then against the juggernaut known as "The Heat."  Redeeming themselves with a championship trophy was a must for the Spurs; doing it against the Heat is just the icing on the cake.

The Heat aren't going down without a fight though.  LeBron is pissed he didn't get his fifth (and Jordan-tying) MVP.  He wants his third ring, and get that elusive "three-peat" that Jordan had, and being the first team in over 10 years to do just that.  (Lakers '00-'02)  After all, three rings isn't quite "not five, not six, not seven" rings now is it?  He craves more, so he has to get it done now.

The Heat's biggest questions are as follows:

1. Will Wade's ever deteriorating body hold up for possibly another 7 games?

2. What will they get from their role players?  (Everyone is a year older, and Mike Miller is gone.  Can you count on Ray Allen to save you again?  Is Rashard Lewis in the starting lineup really the answer?)

3. How much will not having home court affect them?

The Spurs questions are:

1. Can Kawhi Leonard reasonably control LeBron?  (If not, who else do you use?)

2. Do you match the Heat and play small ball?  Or stick it to their lack of big men?

3. What is the status of Tony Parker's injury?

Parker's injury could very well swing the series either way.  Honestly the same way Wade's nagging injuries could.  The major difference is that San Antonio don't have LeBron who can literally do everything for the team, so Parker's injury has much more impact to San Antone than Wade's is to Miami.

If Duncan gets his 5th ring, where does that place him on the all time greats list?  Would he then retire? Redeeming himself by beating the young punks?  Does that then make the Spurs, and not the Lakers the best team since Jordan's Bulls?  San Antonio has only lost one title in comparison to the Lakers' two.  The Spurs have also been consistently better than LA or any other team for that matter (Since the '98 Bulls).

It would also be reasonable to assume that this Heat team stays together if they win their 3rd ring, to then chase however many more they can get.  But, one would think they would need some major upgrades to their bench at this point.  On the flip side, should they lose do they go their separate ways?  You would assume Wade would never leave, but Bosh is sort of an enigma and maybe is yearning to be an alpha male again. (Bosh isn't irreplaceable, but it would be tough to find another big man who is just as good that fits in as nicely as he does.)  The more important question would be does LBJ leave?  I can't in any rational world see him going to that mess in Cleveland, but other teams would definitely come calling- scratch that, all 29 other teams would.

With a win, Wade would get ring number 4, which is impressive, but there would be an asterisk on the last 3. LeBron's 3 rings would tie him with another small forward named Larry Bird, which brings up all sorts of debate, which we can get into later if the Heat do win.

With all these elements heading into these Finals, even if it's a four game sweep either way, there is a hell of a lot on the line in terms of legacy.  More so than usual anyway.  So here we go, round two, Spurs vs. Heat. The old guard vs. the young guard.  The unstoppable force meeting the immovable object.

AND THIS TIME IT'S PERSONAL!!!