Spurs turn attention to Heat rematch

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Sunday, June 1, 2014

It didn't take long for the San Antonio Spurs to turn their attention from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Miami Heat.

Just after the Spurs closed out the Thunder with a 112-107 overtime victory in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals in Oklahoma City on Saturday night, Spurs players put their focus on the two-time defending champion Heat, who eliminated them in the Finals last year.

"It's unbelievable to regain that focus after that devastating loss that we had last year," San Antonio's Tim Duncan said. "But we're back here. We're excited about it. We've got four more to win. We'll do it this time.

"We're happy it's the Heat again. We've got that bad taste in our mouths still."

This will mark the first NBA Finals rematch since 1998, when Chicago beat Utah for the last of Michael Jordan's six championships.

Last year, the Spurs held a 3-2 series lead and were leading by five points with 28.2 seconds left in Game 6 at Miami, before Ray Allen's 3-pointer capped a wild rally and forced overtime, where the Heat ultimately prevailed.

Miami then won Game 7 95-88.

"We know we're facing a very talented and tough team, and it's going to be rough," the Spurs' Manu Ginobili said Saturday night. "But of course, we believe in our means and we're going to do our best, as always."

Miami -- the NBA's two-time defending champion -- eliminated Indiana from the East finals Friday night, also in six games.

The Spurs and Heat split two meetings this season, both winning by comfortable margins at home. Game 1 of this year's Finals is Thursday night in San Antonio.

"The two best teams will meet," Heat guard Dwyane Wade said. "We're just happy and excited that we're one of the best."

It's the sixth trip to the Finals for San Antonio, which won titles in 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007.

The Heat are heading to the Finals for the fourth straight season and fifth time overall, beating Dallas in 2006, losing to the Mavericks in 2011, then topping Oklahoma City in 2012 and the Spurs last season.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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