Things different about this years finals than the last ones.

[CeltsGarlic]

Name 'em.

1. Ginobili got better.

2. OP is much nicer this time

[Im so nba'd out]

white mike is gone

chalmers is worst

marco belinelli is on the spurs

lebron is better

[Purch]

The Spurs bench is better than it was last year

I say this because

1. They rely a hell of a lot less on Bonner
2. Diaw has been a much more agressive and better player this season
3. Patty Mills got into MUCH BETTER shape, and provides much more stability than the back up pg situation they had last year.
4. Manu has remembered how to play basketball, and doesn't seem to force it nearly as much


Their Starters

1. Parker worse than last year
2. Tim worse than last year
3. Tiago much better than last year
4. Kawhi and Green are the best perimeter defensive combo in the league( both top 15 in defensive rating nearly all season)
5. Kawhi is a much better offensive player

Coaching

1. The Spurs are much less fixed on lineups as they were last year. They started 28 different lineups this season, and as a result of that they're able to adapt to nearly any situation.

[JohnFreeman]

Wade is healthier.

[Nash]

Big one:

- Wade is the 2nd best player in this series. He was at best #4 last year and on 1 knee.

And another one:
-Norris Cole improved defense could save Lebron from wasting his energy on running after Parker.

[joeysms55]

Wade healthier
Parker worst
Danny Green won't be ridiculous in the three for the first 5 games to keep the spurs in the game.

[Purch]

Big one:

- Wade is the 2nd best player in this series. He was at best #4 last year and on 1 knee.

And another one:
-Norris Cole improved defense could save Lebron from wasting his energy on running after Parker.
Good one. Now Would you say Bosh is better or worse than last season?

[JohnFreeman]

Good one. Now Would you say Bosh is better or worse than last season?
Bosh just came off that great confidence boosting game against the Pacers

[VengefulAngel]

Bosh is more of a perimeter threat, which helps bron and Wade. This series will be dictated on Bosh's ability to hit the 3 as that shot will always be available.

[Keno]

prime lebron, healthy wade, and bosh has found his stroke (pause) at the right time.

[3LiftHeatCurse]

Name 'em.

1. Ginobili got better.

2. OP is much nicer this time

Ginobili got older.

LeBron got better.

[secund2nun]

Biggest factors different from this vs last year that are in Miami's favor:

The freshness of both teams: San Antonio had a big freshnness advantage last year. This is often ignored. Miami has a moderate advantage this year. Last year Miami had just 2 days rest before the finals coming off a brutal 7 game series while the Spurs had 9 days rest before the finals. This year Miami has 5 days rest while the Spurs have 4 days. Also Miami played 17 games prior to the finals last year while the Spurs played 15. This year Miami played 15 and the Spurs played 18.

Also Miami coasted this regular season while last regular season they expended a lot of energy especially during the win streak. The big 3 is playing less mins in the playoffs as well especially Lebron (38 mpg vs 42 mpg) and Lebron's last 2 games have basically been half games because of foul trouble in game 5 and extended bench time and the 4th quarter off in game 6 bc the blow out. He rested during the 2013 summer but was playing in the Olympics in the 2012 summer along with Bosh. Lebron is gonna be a lot fresher this finals than last finals.

Wade is healthy: Wade was injured last year. He is healthy and much better this year. He was awful vs Indy last year while he killed Indy this year. He was pretty good yet inconsistent vs the Spurs last year but now that he is healthy he will probably top that performance by a decent amount. His midrange game is much better this year than last. He is cutting more often and better as well because of his health.

Bosh is playing better: Bosh has stepped up his play. He said it himself that he wanted to prove he could handle Hibbert this year after being destroyed last year and he did a very good job. I can't imagine Duncan outplaying him to such an extent this year with the way Bosh has stepped up his game and Duncan being another year older. Also Bosh is a better 3 point shooter this year shooting 41% from downtown....providing more spacing.

Familiarity with the Spurs: This will benefit Miami a lot more than it will the Spurs imo. We all know the Spurs will do the same thing against Miami on defense with packing the paint and on offense with ball movement opening up 3s and going to Duncan in the post because both are optimal strategies against Miami. Miami will be going into this with experience against that from last year. They will be prepared for the pack the paint strategy. Last year they seemed a bit caught off guard for some reason. It was not until late in the finals that Lebron realized that he has to move a lot more when he doesn't have the ball instead of camping out at the 3 point line. Wade has done more cutting as well.

Growth in Chemistry: While the Spurs have the maximum chemistry possible after 10+ years together the Heat were in just their 3rd year last year. They had 3 RS and nearly 3 full playoffs worth of experience. This year they have 4 RS and nearly 4 full playoffs worth of experiences. It's like going from the JR to SR season. There is better chemistry, experience, ball movement for the Miami team this year.

Murphy's law: The Spurs had 2 role players in Green and Neal that went off. I don't think they have 2 role players that go off as much this year as last. That was a historic streak by Green. Lebron and Wade's midrange games were off last finals yet they still won despite the pack the paint force them to shoot midrange strategy. Their midrange games can't be any worse than last year.

Also people talk about luck for game 6 of the finals (which it was a lucky win) but don't talk about how game 1 was pretty lucky for the Spurs.

Refs:

The Spurs shot a lot more FTs than the year last year. The Heat had the fewest FTs in NBA history for a team in a 7 game series. This year it can't get anyworse, but only better. By default it will probably be somewhat better.

Spurs a year older/Parker's injury:

Duncan and Manu are a year older. Parker is gimpy yet again but this team from the start of the series instead of the middle of the series like last year.

[TheCorporation]

-Spurs have HCA
-Diaw improved
-Parker got worse

-LeBron playing on another level, agian
-Wade looked GREAT against the Pacers (look out Spurs)
-Cole improved
-Anderson rebounded very well vs the Pacers (his per 36 is 12/12 for the playoffs)
-Rashard Lewis looked promising after beating up on Indiana
-Mike Miller is gone
-Greg Oden/Michael Beasley super duo combo! lol

[BuffaloBill]

Kawhi Leonard and Splitter are way more aggressive. And Spurs bench is better.



And Spurs have a huge homecourt advantage. 2-2-1-1-1 and 2 day rest before every spurs home game

[EnoughSaid]

The only two that really matter for Miami is that Wade is healthy and that Chris Bosh is playing very well and hitting his stride just in time.

For San Antonio, it seems that Manu has picked it up tremendously, but Parker isn't as big of a factor.

Also as people have mentioned before, it's. 2-2-1-1-1 series this time with the Spurs having HCA.

[fiddy]

Ginobili got older.

LeBron got better.
steroids seems to work well for bran

[TheCorporation]

steroids seems to work well for bran

Yep, it's steroids. I bet if you took steroids you'd play just like Bran. That's the secret :lol :lol

[AcquiringSteak]

lebron is ready for how they're going to play him, more usage of the jumpshot isnt going to surprise him like it did through games 1-6