The NBA Finals have come down to the Miami Heat versus the Oklahoma City Thunder, the NBA’s scoring machine in Kevin Durant and the NBA’s MVP Lebron James.
The Thunder came into the playoffs as a number two seed as did the Miami Heat who were nearly bumped out of the Finals by their rival the Boston Celtics. Speculations were that the Miami Heat would be back in the finals as they were last year, where they lost to the Dallas Mavericks 4-2.
The Oklahoma City Thunder came out on top of the west over the San Antonio Spurs to make it to the finals for the first time in OKC team history. They fought back from a 2-0 deficit and won 4-2.
Lebron James and the Miami Heat who took down the veterans of the Celtics in seven games, were on the brink of elimination down 3-2 before clawing back to win the series 4-3. Prior to Saturday, James had never won a game seven.
The match up between Durant and James may be as big as Erving “Magic” Johnson (L.A. Lakers) versus Larry Bird (Boston Celtics).
Last year in the 2011 Finals, Lebron battled Dallas Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki, who destroyed the Miami Heat to win the title. Now it’s two young superstars awaiting their destiny to the status of a legend or the subject of media bashing for the next few months. Similar to the match up between Erving “Magic” Johnson (L.A. Lakers) and Larry Bird (Boston Celtics) in the ‘80s.
There will be much to talk about if Durant and the Thunder win before James and the Heat. Because of the controversial “Decision” and early declaration of bringing titles to Miami, James has been the subject of much criticism. Durant, 23, will face off against the 27-year-old veteran James to see who will have the bragging rights and their first NBA title.
Both teams have played hard all year long to get to where they are now, but now it’s all down to a seven game series and two teams who have played their hearts out to determine who will be the 2012 NBA champions. The Finals start Tuesday June 12th at 7 p.m., the series should be hard fought and both teams are not looking to back down to one another which should make this series all the more entertaining.
Whether you Heat fan or a Thunder fan, no matter who wins, there will be much to talk about as there was before the finals. Who will win game one? Will this affect the entire series? We will find out soon enough and crown another champion, as all the critics and fans of the NBA look on at the edge of their seats for what should be a great matchup.
