On the road to the "repeat", or the second consecutive title (the third final in three years) the reigning NBA champions, LeBron James's Miami Heat, will face the San Antonio Spurs, returning from an imperious as authoritarian " coat" perpetrated against the unfortunate Memphis Grizzlies, razed to the ground by the Texans in just four games and with embarrassing ease to say the least.
Much tougher, and again against the odds, the qualifying of Miami, which had to wait for game 7 to get ahead of the Indiana Pacers. Who knows, therefore, LeBron and his companions will not show up tired in the first match of the final that starts tonight, and who knows that the "old men" Texans, names of the caliber of Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan, very champions but not exactly first hair, in the end they won't have to thank Indiana for having "pumped" the Florida team, while they rested in San Antonio waiting for the last act.
The last act that therefore takes place on the Italian night with game-1 at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, with the Heat therefore having the first two (and possibly last two) games to play on the friendly parquet. Although the game philosophies embraced are profoundly different, the identity and character of both teams have been forged on the basis of similar cultures and analogous principles, including ethical ones, so dear to their respective coaches: the corporate organisation, the almost militaristic nature of the group and the clear defensive imprint imparted to the respective game systems, certainly represent the most evident common points between two elite partnerships within the stars and stripes basketball panorama. From tonight we get serious: may the best man win.
