12-28-2019, 08:32 AM
The rematch is upon us. The San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat will meet for the second consecutive year in the NBA Finals, starting tonight at AT&T Center. The 2013 NBA Finals went seven games, a series that went down in history as one of the all-time greats. Watch it live on TSN and TSN GO and listen to it on TSN Radio at 8pm et/5pm pt. Last year in Game 6, the Spurs were three clear with five seconds left and staff at Miamis AmericanAirlines Arena started roping off areas in anticipation for a celebration. Ray Allen hit a circus 3-pointer to tie it. The Heat prevailed in overtime to force a Game 7, which Miami won by seven in South Beach. San Antonio was literally seconds away from a fifth title in franchise history, all, not so coincidentally, under the leadership of Tim Duncan and head coach Gregg Popovich. The boss was extremely proud of this group. "I think they showed an unbelievable amount of fortitude," Popovich said after clinching a berth in the Finals. "If I can compliment my own team humbly, to have that tough loss, especially the Game 6, and not have a pity party, and come back this year and get back to the same position. I think thats fortitude, and Im really proud of them and even happier for them." And the Spurs welcome the challenge of taming the Heat and exacting revenge. "Weve got four more to win, and well do it this time," boasted Duncan. "Were happy its the Heat again. Weve got that bad taste in our mouths still." That sort of bravado is a little out of character for the mild-mannered Duncan, but perhaps the best illustration of how much the Game 6 loss still hurts. And, its also a testament to the Spurs focus. "They dont like us, they dont. I can sense it from Timmys comments over the last couple of days," LeBron James said after practice on Monday. "They wanted this, they wanted us and well be ready for the challenge. "They wanted us, they got us." This is the first Finals repeat since the Chicago Bulls and Utah Jazz both made it in 1997 and 1998. Chicago of course won both of those to complete its second three-peat. A win in this series and the Heat would earn three consecutive titles. The Los Angeles Lakers turned the same feat in between Michael Jordans Bulls and James Heat, but this Miami group is the first to reach four consecutive Finals since the Boston Celtics did it from 1984-87. "Im in the moment, I dont really think about it," said James. The Heat clinched their spot in the championship round first. They knocked off top-seeded Indiana in six games in the Eastern Conference Finals after sweeping Charlotte in the first round and needing five games against Brooklyn. The Spurs moved on with a Game 6 overtime victory over Oklahoma City Saturday night. San Antonio was pushed to a Game 7 in round one versus Dallas, but handled Portland in five games in round two. It was in the Dallas series Tony Parker injured his ankle. He sprained it and the All-Star sat out the second half of San Antonios clinching Game 6 victory over the Thunder. Thanks to four days of rest, Parker declared himself ready to go for Game 1 Thursday, but the injury could linger. "Im trying to be very positive, trying to do everything I can, eat healthy, get my rest, do all the treatment. I just trust my body," said Parker. "I had little stuff, wear and tear, but Im still here and I trust my body to hold up for the whole series." The two sides split two regular-season meetings with the home team prevailing both times. Including last years Finals, the Spurs are 5-2 in their building against the Heat, but Miami has won four straight over San Antonio and seven of their last eight at AmericanAirlines Arena. In looking for differences from last years Finals to this years, the format might be the biggest change. The NBA implemented a 2-2-1-1-1 format for this Finals as opposed to the 2-3-2 version of a year ago. 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Avery Johnson Jersey .com) - No Sidney Crosby, no problem.WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- The New South Wales Waratahs will stand apart from the potential chaos of the last round of the Super Rugby regular season this weekend. By beating the Highlanders 44-16 last Sunday, the Waratahs clinched first place on the overall table and afforded themselves the only sense of certainty belonging to any of the teams still involved in the playoffs race. They know that whatever happens this weekend, they will have a weeks rest before hosting a home semifinal. For every other team from the second-placed Crusaders to the ninth-placed Blues, who need events of almost miraculous proportions to reach the playoffs, almost nothing is assured. The last and most intriguing episode of the regular season has still to play out. For the Waratahs, with their fate already decided, Saturdays match against the 12th-placed Reds should be little more than an undemanding end to the regular season and a light prelude to their first semifinal in four years. But matches between New South Wales and Queensland, beginning in 1882, are invested with such a potent interstate rivalry, even antipathy, that the Waratahs cannot expect an easy time. Queensland, champions in 2011, have little to salvage from a season in which their performance has fallen well short of expectations, but a win over New South Wales would at least be a small consolation. Waratahs coach Michael Cheika has refused to name an under-strength lineup for the match to spare his frontline players for the semifinal. "You could (injure a player) at any time, in training or regular games," Cheika said. "This is a contact sport, you dont go into it worrying about things like that." In other matches in the final round, the Christchurch-based Crusaders will meet the Dunedin-based Highlanders in a contest for first place in the New Zealand conference. The Crusaders are currently in second place with 46 points and the Highlanders in fourth place with 42, needing a bonus point win to finish ahead of the Crusaders. A single bonus point would be enough to ensure the Crusaders top the New Zealand conference but they neeed a win, ideally a good one, to hold out the challenge of South Africas Sharks for second place and the other home semifinal.dddddddddddd The Sharks wrapped up the South African conference several weeks ago and are currently in third place overall, equal on points with the Crusaders, sharing the Crusaders tally of 10 wins and only eight points behind on points differential. The Durban-based Sharks face the Stormers in the final round -- a team to which they lost only two weeks ago -- and also need to win to enforce their challenge for second place. If both teams win and finish the regular season with 11 wins, points differential may decide which takes the preferred route through the playoffs. The Highlanders need to recover quickly from last weekends six-try mauling at the hands of the Waratahs to take their place in the playoffs for the first time in 12 years. That position isnt yet safe and they could be displaced, depending on the outcome of matches between the ACT Brumbies and the Western Force, the Blues and defending the champion Chiefs. All Blacks captain Richie McCaw has been ruled out of Saturdays match with a rib injury: a minor setback for the Crusaders who can finish no further back than fourth but who are determined to achieve a conference victory and second place. The Chiefs must beat the Blues in Auckland to have any chance of extending their two-year reign as Super Rugby champions. They enter the final round in eighth place and must also depend on the outcome of other matches to gain a top-six finish. The Blues must beat the Chiefs by a clear 38 points and with five tries to preserve their frail hope of a playoffs spot. The Brumbies, in sixth place, and Force, in seventh -- both with 40 points -- also meet in a must-win clash between playoffs hopefuls. The winner of Fridays match at Canberra will advance to the playoffs while the losers season is over. The most anxious role in the final round belongs to the Hurricanes who are currently fifth with 41 points but who have the bye and must allow the outcome of other matches determine whether their season continues. ' ' '