After a great NBA playoffs, The NBA Finals 2013 start tonight in Miami with the Heat vs the Spurs. 

The Miami Heat have been expected to return to the Finals all year long as the defending champs but the San Antonio Spurs were a surprise to many.  

It seems that every year the Spurs are always counted out as too old at the beginning of the year, then they have a great regular season run but have come up short in the playoffs in recent years since winning their last Championship in 2007. 

This year has been different. The Spurs had a great regular season and then took care of business in the playoffs this year, even sweeping the Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Conference Finals, allowing them a long rest going into the Finals tonight. This could make a team rusty, but since the Spurs have older veterans, the rest should have been a good thing for them.

Tony Parker was even in the MVP discussion at points in the year, but most eyes were on James, Durant and Anthony to win the MVP race. 

The Heat had a strong regular season and even pulled off a 27 game winning streak at one point. They started their playoff run strong by dominating and sweeping the Milwaukee Bucks and then taking care of the tough but short handed Chicago Bulls in 6 games. 

The Indiana Pacers gave the Heat all they could handle in the Eastern Conference Finals taking them to 7 games. In the end, the Heat were just too much and Lebron showed again that he was the best player in the world. 

Lebron went up against the Spurs in the 2007 NBA Finals when he was with the Cleveland Cavaliers and got swept. He has said publicly that there is no revenge going up against the Spurs in this years finals, but we can all be certain that Lebron will call upon that Finals loss for more motivation. 

The Heat would be the favorites going into the series if all healthy, but Wade hasn't been himself and Bosh has had one of the worst playoff runs of his career. So, even thought the Heat are the defending Champs, the Spurs are getting just as many votes to win the series. 

No matter who you are picking, most expect a hard fought, 7 game series that could be one of the best Finals in recent years with two experienced, championship level teams. 

Who do you have winning the Finals?