Predictions - I've been dead wrong of late (I thought Boston would win Game 7 and that the Spurs would never lose again), but I might as well continue.
I have OKC in either 5 or 6. I just don't see Miami having enough firepower to be able to hang, especially with Dwyane Wade looking more like Mo Williams. Ironically, Heat-Thunder was just about everyone's preseason Finals pick.
Some other thoughts:
- I don't necessarily like Lebron James too much nor do I like the Heat, but boy do I hope they win, just for the sake of reinstilling some intelligence into our basketball conversation. (Though that's probably way too much to ask for.) There's just so much emotion-driven asininity right now in our journalistic coverage of Lebron/NBA--led by one writer in particular--that it's become almost unbearable. If he can win, while it won't vindicate him, that's not what I care for. It will get us back to talking about f**king basketball and not the forces of good vs. evil and other childish nonsense.
- I've been saying this since the signings, but the Heat window is so, so, so much smaller than people make it out to be. People make it seem like they have some 10-year window of dominance when Dwyane Wade's best years might already be behind him. The Heat will always be in the picture with Lebron and Bosh still relatively young, but they need to do a much better job of scouting young talent rather than signing aging vets like Battier. A team with Lebron/Wade doesn't need veteran savy - they need fresh blood.
- If Durant and Lebron match up (though I think you'll see Sefalosha on James most of the time) that is the best head-to-head Finals matchup since..._______? Hakeem and Shaq? Can't think of something better than that in the interim.
