2026 NBA Finals: New York Knicks vs San Antonio Spurs

Knicks-Spurs kick it off tonight in the 2025-2026 NBA Finals.  It's hard not to be as excited as everyone else about San Antonio and Wemby but the Knicks are good.  Really good.  Led by Jalen Brunson, they are a deep team with multiple players who can shoot and score.  This includes one of the best shooting big men ever, if not the best, in Karl-Anthony Towns.  His play around the 3-point line could make for an interesting matchup for Wemby who likes to sag a lot and can do so against traditional bigs.  But Wemby and the Spurs seem to have an energy right now that might be hard to stop.  And New York doesn't have the defense OKC did. San Antonio needs the ball in De'Aaron Fox' hand to keep down turnovers and to be that calming presence.  Wemby will be flying everywhere on defense which makes it tough for shooters and anyone close to the lane alike.  I like San Antonio in this series.  The Spurs can be streaky though and the Knicks have plenty of scorers so I think it will be close and I expect 6 games.

I did enjoy looking back on the 1999 NBA Finals where Tim Duncan and David Robinson led the Spurs over the New York team with Latrell Sprewell, Allan Houston, Marcus Camby and Larry Johnson in 5 games.  While we knew that Spurs team was good and that Duncan was special, did we really know it would lead to 5 San Antonio Spurs Championships?  I've always been a closet Spurs fan dating back to George Gervin, Artis Gilmore, and Johnny Moore in the early 80s, so I definitely have a rooting interest in this series.
 

McFarlane Tim Duncan Figure

I tend to share McFarlane's DC action figures more than I ever do their sports figures but I do love their sports figures just as much.  This Tim Duncan figure was released in 2002.  I'm a Duncan fan like so many others.  He's called The Big Fundamental.  He wasn't flashy but everything he did, he did amazingly well.

    We see a classic Spurs look here.  Duncan's arms and head will move though there really isn't much you can do with his arms that makes him look right.

The back is good again showing the look we're used to.  I took the grandsons to I Had That in Belleville, IL during the Christmas timeframe.  Found Duncan for under $20.  He is used and not in perfect condition, but I had to have it.  You can see a few imperfections on the back of his jersey.

The base is fine with Duncan's name and the Spurs logo.  I don't get why they face opposing directions though in the end it really doesn't matter.

You can see I move his head here, but it doesn't look right.  I think that since they have enough detail on the neck area, which is great, that it just doesn't work well when you turn the head.

There are other McFarlane Tim Duncan figures.  While Timmy dribbling isn't a look I think of when I think of him, I probably won't chase the others.  You can see a Tim Duncan shirt in the background.  I bought that after watching the amazing 2013 Spurs-Heat NBA Finals on TV with my sisters while visiting them in Texas.

An outside shot just for a little different look.  NBA Playoffs start next week so this felt like a fun post leading up to those.  

NBA Trade Craziness: Doncic to the Lakers and the Spurs rob the Kings

The Luke-AD trade really is perplexing.  If you don't want to pay Luka the super max extension and would rather trade him, I'm okay with that.  But no way what they got from LA is the best package they could get for a 25 year-old superstar in Luka.  Why not go into the offseason and start a bidding war and not get a massive haul.  Really, why not?  At worst run it back this season.  Doncic will be back from injury this month.  Let the season play out and then get everyone in the league on the same page - we're open for business.  I keep hearing how Dallas was ticked about Doncic's conditioning, but while that isn't petty, it isn't the reason to take less.  It just feels like a knee jerk reaction. 

I do give all sides props for keeping this quiet though.  If word had gotten out, LA and Dallas lose momentum and the whole deal could have been torpedoed.  Not saying it was a good deal.  Just props on not letting anyone know and letting players or agents drive the bus.

I'm not sure this works for the Lakers short term.  They are the #5 seed today, but does this screw up the chemistry?  And they still have no big.  But assuming Luka signs with them long term when he is eligible in the offseason, this is massive.  They have the franchise's long-term star and direction set.  Until now there was no succession plan to LeBron leaving.  Sure, they have to build around Luka still but that's just what you do.  

And somehow Luka is being painted as a victim in all this.  Yes, he'll lose ~$50M because he won't be eligible for the super max contract extension, but he'll be in LA.   He'll make that up in spades with endorsements and LA is the mecca of basketball.  If he doesn't resign with the Lakers, he can take his talents to free agency and go wherever he wants.  This is a huge win for him, period.  

Feeling left out Sacramento then trades De'Aaron Fox for very little in my opinion.  They get Zach Lavine, who Chicago hasn't been able to give away for a year due to his play, injuries and huge contract.  They get some first-round picks but Charlotte's won't convey and will turn into two second rounders.  The Spurs didn't have to give up one of Atlanta's first round picks which are much more valuable than what the actual Spurs pick.  The Timberwolves pick may be the only pick worth something in the long run.  I know Lavine is having a good year, but I can't see him being a difference maker in Sacramento.  

I know folks are in love with the idea of Fox in San Antonio but I'm not sure if it really works as well as everyone wants it to.  That said, the Spurs are in a great spot.  They have time on their hands here.  Wemby is so young that if it doesn't work out, they can move on from him after his contract ends in 2026 or trade him before that.  And Wemby will still just be reaching his prime.  If it does work out, you extend Fox and it's a good thing.  And Wemby would still be in his prime after that contract.  They'll also have flexibility in all this to add a third star if they want to.  The Spurs should be arrested for this deal.  Craziness!

CBS Sports .com does a great job breaking trades.  Hoopsrumors.com is a great site for anything basketball but especially analyzing things from a calmer perspective.

As part of a 3-team trade, traded by the Los Angeles Lakers with Max Christie and a 2029 1st round draft pick ( was later selected) to the Dallas Mavericks; the Dallas Mavericks traded Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris to the Los Angeles Lakers; the Los Angeles Lakers traded Jalen Hood-Schifino and a 2025 2nd round draft pick ( was later selected) to the Utah Jazz; the Utah Jazz traded cash and a 2025 2nd round draft pick ( was later selected) to the Dallas Mavericks; and the Utah Jazz traded cash to the Los Angeles Lakers. Los Angeles also received a trade exception 2025 2nd-rd pick is LAC own Dallas also received multiple trade exceptions 2025 2nd-rd pick is a right to swap 2029 1st-rd pick is LAL own

 

Spurs get: Fox, Jordan McLaughlin

Kings get: LaVine, Sidy Cissoko, three first-round picks (2025 via Hornets, 2027 via Spurs, 2031 via Timberwolves)

Bulls get: Zach Collins, Tre Jones, Kevin Huerter, their own 2025 first-round pick from Spurs

Atlanta Hawks Trade for Dejounte Murray

 The Atlanta Hawks traded for Dejounte Murray this week.  Great trade for the Hawks.  They did give up a ton of picks but if all goes well those won't be early round picks.  Murray is a great defender which is something Atlanta needs desperately (Trae Young is a horrible defender).  A lot of his scoring happens going to the rim and he is also and outstanding rebounder (8 RPG) and dished out 9 assists per game.  Atlanta now has two ball dominant guards so there is work to do but my hope is this move will be a great building block moving forward.

Does this put them over the top?  No but it goes a long way.  They still need to figure out what to do with John Collins, whom they never should have signed to the big contract, and what the rest of their roster is going to look like. They traded sharpshooter Kevin Huerter to the Kings.  I don't get it.  They picked up a draft pick and role players.  Probably a cost saving move but to what end?  We'll see what's nex.

Trade: Traded by the San Antonio Spurs with Jock Landale to the Atlanta Hawks for Danilo Gallinari, a 2023 1st round draft pick ( was later selected), a 2025 1st round draft pick ( was later selected), a 2026 1st round draft pick ( was later selected) and a 2027 1st round draft pick ( was later selected). Conditional 2023 1st-rd pick is CHO own 2025 1st-rd pick is ATL own 2026 1st-rd pick is a right to swap 2027 1st-rd pick is ATL own

Trail Blazers Defeat Spurs

After seeing Atlanta fall to the San Antonio Spurs Tuesday night I was also able to catch the Portland Trail Blazers play San Antonio last night.  It was Portland’s second game in two nights on the road as they fell to New Orleans on Tuesday.  The Blazers prevailed 110-106 in a tough game despite some late game miscues.  Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum starred while new addition Jusuf Nurkic also had a good game.  Lillard led the team with 36 points on 12 of 22 shooting (3/8 threes).  McCollum added 26 hitting both three’s he took.  I like what I see from Nurkic.  He gave them a solid game at center ending the night with 16 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 steals.  Kawhi Leonard had a great game for San Antonio  34P, 9R, 6A, 3S, 2B) while LaMarcus Aldridge added 19 points.  It wasn’t enough in the end.  After erratic play early, Portland put together a late surge to put them up enough to hold off the Spurs.  Lillard and McCollum were once again the driving force and won them the game.  Great to get to see the Trail Blazers play.  They are usually on TV too late at night for my old man schedule.  Also nice to see them win as the season has definitely been a disappointment (30-37) after winning 44 games last year.   

Portland is very reliant on their backcourt as scoring from their forwards has never materialized.  This will have to be addressed at some point.  They gave contract to Maurice Harkless and Al-Farouq Aminu but they aren’t getting much back for the money spent.  Nurkic looks really good right now and I am loving that trade with Denver.  I do think if Portland can get a bit more punch from the front line they can compete with better teams.  Some better defense is also up there on the list of needs.  Evan Turner ($16M) and Allen Crabbe ($18.5M) are really tying up a lot of money and, while they are very good in their roles, they can’t be paid that much money to give the team nine and 10 points respectively.  I expect that to change once McCollum’s four year contract extension kicks in next season.  As is, all the pressure and shots are coming from the back court and every team knows that.  I believe the future is bright for Portland.  They have two dynamic young stars that if surrounded by a good supporting staff, can take this team far.  I still think they can make it to the playoffs this year as well (currently 2 games out of the playoffs) but as always there are good teams in the West that they will have to catch up to and overtake.  I have hope…    

Hawks Lose to Spurs

Was able to catch a good portion of the Atlanta Hawks - San Antonio Spurs

game Wednesday night.  I rarely get to see the Hawks play so it was a treat.

Atlanta lost 107-99.  The Spurs looked pretty good even without LaMarcus

Aldridge and Tony Parker, and Kawhi Leonard not playing up to his normal

standards.  No big surprises for me.  The Hawks are who I think they are.

They are a very good team that could still make noise in the Eastern

Conference playoffs if everything falls right but they just don't have a

scorer to put them over the top.  They have guys who can get buckets but no

true blue get you a basket guys.

 

Milsap is very good but won't necessarily take them to the next level - at

least not alone - and Atlanta may regret not trading him at the deadline if

he walks in free agency.  Dennis Schoder is a good young point guard and Tim

Hardaway has become a good scoring option but Kent Bazemore is not the

scoring threat they had hoped he would develop into while Thabo Sefolosha is

good supporting player but that is it.  Dwight Howard is playing well but as

in this game his free throws cause him to be off the floor in close games.

Pickup Ersan Ilyasova is a nice addition to the team but comes off the

bench.  I just can't see Atlanta ever being better than a fifth (currently)

or fourth seed but also wouldn't be surprised if they drop further in the

standings.  They need a dynamic wing player.  We'll see how it plays out but

I think the playoffs will end similarly to years past which isn't that good.

Gregg Popovich and How I Felt Back Then

This year is the 20 year anniversary of Gregg Popovich taking over the Spurs’ head coaching duties. At the time he was the team’s general manager and I remember how I thought this was such a raw deal.  Then Coach Bob Hill was off to a 3-15 start that year but he was also coming off two seasons in which the Spurs had won 62 and 59 games respectively.  He was no slouch.  In 1996-1997 the team also dealt with a ton of injuries to include star David Robinson.  It just didn’t seem right nor sit well with me then.  I thought it was a bush league move but obviously Popovich was smarter than we all thought.

And the rest is history right?  With Robinson out the bulk of the year they were 17-47 under Popovich but won the lottery and the right to choose Tim Duncan.  What a coup that was.  The franchise never looked back and won five championships in the 20 years that have passed.  Just shows you that you just don’t know.  I love what they have done and how they’ve done it.  A model franchise.  Here’s to ya Pop.     

San Antonio Spurs Defeat Golden State Warrior to Keep Home Streak Alive

The Spurs improved their home win streak to 35 games while holding probable MVP Stephen Curry to 14 points.  Golden State was playing without Andrew Bogut and Andre Iguodala.  That isn't said to be an excuse for Golden State.  As much as they go small, Bogut wasn't a huge loss.  Iggy being out hurts but this team is talented enough to beat anyone without him.  Greg Popovich brought Tim Duncan off the bench (he played 8 minutes) matching the small ball Warriors to some degree and also put Kawhi Leonard on Draymond Green defensively to help guard the pick and roll.  It worked.  Golden State didn't look comfortable and if you can get a shooting team off just a bit then you have a chance.  San Antonio played well on defense while Golden State definitely had their chances.  If they hit some open looks this game is much different.  But they didn't hit them all and  looked off their game.  I'm not saying the Spurs are primed to beat the Warriors in the playoffs but it also can't be ignored.  Nor can the fact that Golden State blew out San Antonio earlier in the year.  But San Antonio looks different to me.  Earlier in the season LaMarcus Aldridge didn't seem that comfortable in the offense where now he looks to be wholly integrated.  I so hope there is a seven game Conference Finals game against each other in these team's future.  It would be great.  It was a good game last night and I think they could give us a great series of games. 

Trail Blazers Season Ends (Yeah this is a little late)

This is a little, well quite a bit, late but I wanted to put a cap on the Portland Trail Blazer season.  Actually San Antonio did that ousting Portland in the second round in five games.  I thought it might go six but they ran in to a Spurs team that was on a mission after barely beating Dallas in round one.  This just wasn't a good matchup for Portland and having no depth hurt this team.  The Spurs stifled the Trail Blazers as the Blazers only shot 41% from the field.  In retrospect we could just say nobody was going to beat the Spurs but the Trail Blazers played well in round one and I still don't think a six game series was too much to ask for.  Portland also turned over the ball 35 more times than the Spurs.  That is crazy for a five game series.  Nicolas Batum alone averaged over four per game.    

No matter how it ended it was a good season for Portland.  54 wins and beating Houston in six games in round one was a win as far as I'm concerned.  Now Portland needs to add quality depth in the off season.  The starting five is good but there is next to nothing in terms of production coming off the bench.  They didn't have a pick in last night's draft so developing what they have, trades or free agents seem to be about the only way to go.  We'll see how things look after the summer.  Many teams are looking to move players as they jockey for the best free agents on the market.  A few quality pick ups and this team could be in the second round again and maybe more.  They just have to continue to improve as a team and get a real bench.  It is nice to have a good season in the books and hope for the same or better next year. 

San Antonio Spurs Dominate in Route to 5th Championship

This was not the NBA Finals I was expecting.  It was the one I had hoped for but I did not expect what I saw.  Watching San Antonio lose a heart breaking series last year I dreamed of a rematch in which the Spurs take out the Heat.  While his comments scared me, I wanted Tim Duncan and the Spurs to say "We want the Heat".  I would want nothing less.   They should be pissed they lost last year and should want to take out the "last year of having to live with it" on Miami. 

Other than game two this was a total domination by the Spurs.  And game two was very winnable had it not been for four straight missed free throws in the fourth quarter and iffy defense by Duncan on Chris Bosh in the last 30 seconds of the game.  All the talk has been about the Spurs' dominating play, the coaching, the passing and the play by Spurs players not named Duncan, Tony Parker, or Manu Ginobili.  But none of it was overstated.  San Antonio was all over the place on defense never letting LeBron or other Heat players get comfortable on offense.  The Spurs' offense was either running and gunning or constantly in motion.  Miami could never keep up on defense.  San Antonio seemed to have found the fountain of youth while Miami looked like a team who just couldn't stay with them.  Coach Gregg Popovich seemed to know what to do each game and when to do it.  Whether it was moving Tiago Splitter to the bench for the last three games or lighting a fire under Kawhi Leonard he didn't seem to make a mistake.  And the "non big three" players all did their part.  Even Patty Mills was a starred during game five. 

Miami for it's part looked lost and beaten down.  Wade isn't the star he once was and Bosh wasn't a banger but a spot up three pointer guy.  Heck Chris Anderson had more rebounds than Bosh.  It wasn't pretty.  No matter how bad it got Erik Spoelstra never had an answer.  His tinkering didn't work.  I think it was two things.  The talent around LeBron wasn't there and they didn't adjust when the Spurs' suffocating defense took away what had worked for them all year.  San Antonio was just too good to allow the Heat to win on pure talent like they could against everyone else in the NBA.   

Again San Antonio dominated.  It wasn't even close.  Look at the series box score.  You thought when Miami went up 16 early in game five that the Spurs would have to claw their way back.  It wasn't even close.  They blew Miami away the rest of the game when Miami should have been able to steal a game.  I should have wanted a close series but every now and then you have to love a good ole butt whooping.  Especially when the story behind it is revenge.  And there are many stories besides just the fact they lost to Miami last year.  The Spurs are a team that has many angles to it.  A nice story at Grantland talks about this team.  They dominated in the regular season and sans an unexplainable hiccup against the Mavericks in the first series of the playoffs they were just as dominating in the post season.  They may not be one of the top five teams of all-time but I think they have made the top ten.  Even if they aren't I'd love to see them face off against any of those lineups.  San Antonio was fun to watch.  The Grantland article talks about it.  Commissioner Adam Silver said while presenting the trophy to the winning Spurs how San Antonio showed the world how beautiful basketball is (I'm paraphrasing).  But it was so true.  Their style is exciting and selfless.  The stats from this year's team are mind blowing.  No player average over 29 minutes per game or over 16 points per game while winning 62 games.  That just doesn't seem to add up but that is what makes this team so great.  Ok, I'm done gushing now but I loved watching this series.  It was fun to see the good guys win and see them enjoy a well deserved championship.  I hope I can be back here next year talking about their greatness again.  No matter what they do next year this team is one I won't soon forget. 

Trail Blazers Beat Rockets in Seven and Will Play Spurs in the Second Round

Portland edged out Houston thanks to a spectacular last second shot to win their first round matchup with the Rockets.  I thought this would be a close series and it didn't disappoint.  Damian Lillard's three as time expired in game six closed out a series that was hard foughtand any Portland fan, to include myself, has to be happy about.  You wanted Portland to close this out at home in game six and watched teams like Atlanta, Memphis and Toronto fail to do so only to lose in seven.  This was huge.  The starting five of the Trail Blazers played well with Lopez the only starter not to average 15 points or more per game.  And he still had a good series averaging 9 points, 8 boards and almost 3 blocks per game.  Of course the stars are Aldridge (29/11/2.7 blks) and Lillard (25/6/6.7 asts).  This is what you want to see.  Those guys stepping up and taking it to the opponent come playoff time especially when you have a bench that won't give you a ton of quality minutes (only Mo Williams had more that 13 minutes a game off the bench with 25 per).  While I didn't get to see every minute of every game I did get to see quite a bit and it was great.  I really thought they played as a team.  Didn't mean they were always in sync but I believe the starting five can hang with just about anyone out there. 

Now they move on to play the Spurs.  I figured Dallas would only get one victory at best but the Mavericks took it to San Antonio who had to win the series in seven games.  Not sure exactly what to take out of that.  It could really irritate them, hopefully have worn them out or not affect them at all.  It seems like a crap shoot when determining what a series like that will do to a team.  Considering the veterans and coach I'd say it could be the former.  No matter I think this will be another good series.  I'd love to say Portland wins but the Portland stars are matched up with guys of equal talent and savvy.  While Tim Duncan may not be better than LaMarcus Aldridge at this point in his career I am a big believer in Tim and think it will be a completely different series for Aldridge than what we saw in round one.  Houston didn't have a great matchup and Aldridge took advantage.  Duncan is that guy that has been around forever and can make the best of power forwards look bad.  Lillard will be matched up against Tony Parker who can match his intensity and can play defense.  Lillard can run him around the floor and will get his assists but he isn't the best defensive point guard around so this could be tough.  I think it is a push at the other positions.  That said the edge goes to San Antonio who also has a deeper bench (they had eight players average 16 minutes in round 1).  Hopefully I'm jinxing Yaz and the Spurs.  Nothing personal my friend.  I expect some close games but again the veteran presence and coaching of the Spurs should make this a six game series with the Spurs advancing.  Hopefully Portland can rise to the challenge building off what they did last series and maybe pull out the upset.  That is the fun part.  We won't know until the games are played... 

Miami Heat Win NBA Title #2 in the LeBron James Era

The Miami Heat win their third NBA title with a game seven win over the San Antonio Spurs.  LeBron had his best game of the series and cemented his title as King James despite a "lackluster" series in which he averaged 25.3 points, 10.9 boards, seven assists, 2.3 steals and almost a block a game and "only" shot 44% (35% on threes).  While his performance could be picked apart for the first five and a half games, the last quarter of game six and game seven he was on and carried this team to a championship.

Game 7:  To me this game came down to depth and LeBron and Wade stepping up.  Combine an effective three point shooter, in this case Battier, with those two having good games and they are tough to beat (i.e. the regular season).  Chalmers didn't have a great game but added a 30 foot three point shot to close out the third quarter.  To me that really hurt after Manu had gotten the Spurs up by two with 5 second left in the quarter.  I thought having Parker on the bench at the end of the game and Ginobili's really quick/forced three point shot with 28 seconds left doomed the Spurs. 

I think this was a great series even though some of the games weren't close.  Spurs fans will always replay the  "what if" scenarios in their mind as will the players.  The fact they didn't win shouldn't be a detractor from what Duncan, Pop and the rest of the Spurs have done for what seems like forever.  Should they have won it?  Probably.  But I think most people believe Miami was the better team going in and San Antonio was the sexy pick.  It just wasn't to be.  It was either LeBron or Spoelstra who said it takes a little luck to win games like game six and it went their way.

What I did enjoy seeing after game seven was the respect the players and coaches all showed each other.  The series was notable for the lack of trash talking, chest thumping,  and players getting into other player's faces.  I liked that.  It carried over after the series as you saw Pop taking time to actually say something and embrace the Heat before leaving the floor (and he did it with a smile on his face).  The Heat gushed over the Spurs as a team every time they spoke.  Again it was very refreshing to see two teams who were professional to a player just go out and play very hard with the intent to win and not to show anyone up or play the fool.  Good job.     

Like many I was really rooting for the Spurs.  Luckily I'm not a die hard Spurs fan because this series was so hard to watch and I know those fans are hurting.  "The agony of defeat..." probably puts it most apt...

Random series related links...
Yaj - Game 7 Recap

Interview with LeBron After the Game Seven Win

Spurs Thoughts on Game 7 Loss

48 Minutes of Hell Look at the Spurs Loss of the NBA Finals

Random gripe:  I get why teams will roll the ball up court to preserve time on the clock.  It annoys me when teams do it as much as Miami did in this series.  They did it early in the game when there was no reason to.  They didn't know if they needed extra time on the clock.  In some games they did it when they were winning.  Were they preserving time for Spurs?  Just a little thing that annoyed me.   

One of the great things about this series is I was able to watch the last three games with my sisters and their families to include by brother-in-law Curtis who got me hooked on the NBA in the late 70's with a game called Statis Pro Basketball.  We played a gazillion of those games and watched many a game together which was a blast.  Doing so again this last week was awesome and a great memory I'll always have of this series.   

Next is free agency, the draft, and hope that our teams will be challenging for a championship next year.  Or in the case of Atlanta Hawks and Portland Trail Blazer fans that each at least made the playoffs...

NBA Finals

I'm on the road and haven't been able to put much here and to tell you the truth Yaj does a much better job of analyzing the games and the series.  I'm putting my thoughts there.  I suggest everyone go to his blog to see what he has to say about the series.  The link is below.  You won't be disappointed.

Yaj's Blog

NBA Finals: Spurs vs Heat

First, I think Miami wins this series.  I also think it will go seven games.  I also think it will be a great series.  Considering my history of picking this bodes well for the Spurs.  And I will be rooting for the Spurs every bit of the way.  I'm not what I would consider a fan of the Spurs but I loved the old George Gervin, Artis Gilmore days and was a fan of many of their players over the years (Alvin Robertson, David Robinson, Sean Elliott, and others).  So I've followed them for some time and my pal Yaj is a huge fan so Spurs discussions are not hard to come by.  See Yaj's coverage of the Spurs this postseason here. 

I won't go too in depth here because, one, I'm not that smart and I really just want to throw out how I feel about the match ups.  For me this begins and ends with LeBron James.  Guarding him will fall to Kawhi Leonard.  He is a good defender but James is just short of Superman.  Good luck Kawhi.  Of course he will get help and I know Gregg Poppovich is gearing his defense to maybe not Stop LeBron but to limit the damage he does.  Make him take tougher shots, no easy drives to the basket, etc, etc.  Same think every other team has tried to do with varying success.  You just have to know he will get his 25 points, 7 boards and 6 assists.  What you don't want him to do is take over games where he elevates the Heat on his shoulder and his teammates all look the Robin to his Batman.  I think making his teammates better is his best attribute.  Bottom line:  make things tough on him while not allowing the Heat players to get into any type of rhythm.  On the other side Leonard is having a good playoffs and I hope the stress of guarding James doesn't hurt his overall play. 

Dwyane Wade must play better.  He doesn't have to score 20 a night but he must at least hit layups and those close to the basket shots he hasn't been able to hit consistently in these playoffs.  The good news is Manu Ginobli is also playing poorly so his job on defense may not be so tough.  Danny Green needs to continue his good play if Manu can't find his game.  Chris Bosh just has to show up, rebound and play a little D.  He was so outclassed by Roy Hibbert.  In this series he just can't put up any four point four rebound efforts or the Heat are in trouble and Tiago Splitter is an opponent he should be able to get his stats against.  Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole get to guard Tony Parker.  Parker is probably the hottest player coming into the Finals.  Can they keep up with him and play defense that will make him actually work?  I think they have as good a chance as any but those aren't the best odds.  Tim Duncan has the edge against any power forward (probably Udonis Haslem) Miami can put up against him.  He is running the floor great and I'm hoping he still has some water from the fountain of youth around.  How can you not like Gregg Poppovich over Eric Spolstra?  Poppovich will truly be the master if he can help San Antonio pull out a win in this series. 

I think Miami is the better team.  Much of that is because of LeBron James.  Indiana proved the Heat are flawed and can be beaten.  But they were a different type team.  I can't wait to see how this series plays out.  There will be those players who come out of nowhere and have great games and some of the stars who have bad nights.  That is normal.  It will be all the little stories inside the games that will make this special.  I am excited and can't wait.