Thunder To Face Miami Heat In NBA Finals

The Oklahoma City Thunder had to wait until Saturday night to find out their opponent for the 2012 NBA Finals, after defeating the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday.

The Thunder can now begin preparing to face Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, and the Miami Heat, who defeated the Boston Celtics, 101-88 in game seven of the Eastern Conference Finals, Saturday night.

This was the matchup most NBA fans wanted to see, with two of the NBA's biggest stars, Lebron James and Kevin Durant, going head-to-head. The emergence of the Spurs in the West, and Miami's poor play down the stretch of the regular season made that seem more like a fantasy by the end of the regular season.

The Thunder split the season series with the Heat, blowing out Miami in Oklahoma City on March 25, 103-87. The Thunder had 13 steals in that game, and also forced 21 Miami turnovers, which the Thunder turned into 28 points.

The matchup between the two in Miami was a classic, with the Heat coming out on top, 98-93, on April 4.

The first two games of the series will take place in Oklahoma City, with the series shifting to Miami for the next three. Games six and seven will be back in Oklahoma City if necessary.