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Miami at Oklahoma City
When: 9:00 PM ET, Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Where: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
THE STORY: With this year's conference finals featuring showdowns between young up-and-comers and grizzled veterans, youth prevailed both times. That should make the 2012 NBA finals between the Miami Heat and the Oklahoma City Thunder one of the most fast-paced matchups in recent memory. The two superstar-laden teams begin the championship Tuesday night in Oklahoma City. The Thunder reached the finals with a six-game win over San Antonio. Miami ousted the Boston Celtics in seven.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, ABC, TSN
ABOUT THE HEAT: Miami is playing in its second straight Finals and is led by mega-star LeBron James, who willed his team to victory with sensational performances in Games 6 and 7 against the Celtics. James scored 76 points and hauled in 27 rebounds over the final two games of the series after Miami found itself on the verge of a shocking upset at the hands of the Celtics. James will be accompanied by fellow star Dwyane Wade and a suddenly healthy Chris Bosh, whose low-post presence will make life difficult for the Thunder front court combo of Kendrick Perkins and Serge Ibaka. Miami's big weakness is its reserve corps, which will be in tough to match the productivity of its Oklahoma City counterpart.
ABOUT THE THUNDER: So much for San Antonio's air of invincibility. Going into the third game of the West finals, the Spurs had won 20 straight games and looked virtually unstoppable. Four games later, it was the Thunder who were celebrating after reeling off four straight wins over a shell-shocked Spurs squad. Three-time NBA scoring champion Kevin Durant and electric point guard Russell Westbrook lead the way for Oklahoma City, while star sixth man James Harden provides instant scoring off the bench. Add in a reliable post presence in Perkins and one of the league's elite shot blockers in Ibaka, and it's clear the Thunder are full value for their first NBA finals appearance since relocating from Seattle.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. The teams split a pair of regular-season meetings, with the home team prevailing each time.
2. The matchup features each of the last five scoring champions in Durant (2010-12), Wade (2009) and James (2008).
3. James, Wade and Bosh scored all 28 Miami points in the pivotal fourth quarter of Game 7 against Boston - Miami's first victory in a seventh game since 2004, Wade's rookie season.
