MIAMI HEAT: BACK TO BACK NBA CHAMPIONS

They validated themselves and proved all the critics wrong again. The Miami Heat may have won the title last year, but they just got branded with a brand new name: Back-to-back NBA champions. After winning a thrilling seven-game series against a veteran and battle-proven team in the San Antonio Spurs.

Photos ©NBA.com

In a series where prior to Game 7, the odd games went the way of the Spurs and the even games went the way of the Heat. A series where Spurs guard Danny Green broke an NBA Finals series record with 27 three pointers in the entire series. A series where the Spurs veteran Big 3 of Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, and Manu Ginobili went up against the Heat's version of the Big 3 in LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. Where all the role players stepped up in big games like Miami's Ray Allen, Shane Battier, Mike Miller, Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole to San Antonio's Kawhi Leonard, Gary Neal, Danny Green, Boris Diaw and Tiago Splitter. A series where big shots and plays were made on both ends of the court.

But when it all came to Game 7, when the Spurs could not deliver the big punch to grasp the title for a fifth time in their history and when the Heat took advantage of every lapse the Spurs gave them. The Heat once again stood atop of the mountain in the basketball world. LeBron James who led the Heat in their quest for a repeat and scored at will in Game 7, was named the Finals MVP for the second straight season. The series loss for the Spurs marks their first defeat in an NBA Finals series in franchise history after coming out successful in their  four trips to the NBA Finals prior to this and once again, the home team came out on top in a Game 7 situation where no road team since the 2-3-2 format for the NBA Finals has won in Game 7.

Once again, congratulations to the Miami Heat. Your 2013 NBA Champions.

Give credit as well to the San Antonio Spurs. They fought hard in a great series like this one.

Now here are the scores from all games of the series:

GAME 1 @ Miami: Spurs 92-88 Heat

Spurs leaders:

Points: Parker 21, Duncan 20, Ginobili 13

Rebounds: Duncan 14, Leonard 10, Green 5

Assists: Parker 6, Duncan 4, Ginobili 3

Heat leaders:
Points: James 18, Wade 17, Bosh 13, Allen 13

Rebounds: James 18, Bosh 5, Haslem 4, Miller 4

Assists: James 10, Cole 4, Wade 2, Chalmers 2

GAME 2 @ Miami: Spurs 84-103 Heat

Spurs leaders:

Points: Green 17, Parker 13, Neal 10

Rebounds: Leonard 14, Duncan 11, Blair 4

Assists: Parker 5, Leonard 2, Diaw 2, McGrady 2

Heat leaders:

Points: Chalmers 19, James 17, Allen 13

Rebounds: Bosh 10, James 8, Chalmers 4, Andersen 4

Assists: James 7, Wade 6, Bosh 4

GAME 3 @ San Antonio: Heat 77-113 Spurs

Heat leaders:

Points: Wade 16, James 15, Miller 15

Rebounds: James 11, Bosh 10, Haslem 3, Battier 3, Anthony 3

Assists: Wade 5, James 5, Bosh 4

Spurs leaders:

Points: Green 27, Neal 24, Leonard 14

Rebounds: Duncan 14, Leonard 12, Splitter 5

Assists: Parker 8, Ginobili 6, Joseph 4

GAME 4 @ San Antonio: Heat 109-93 Spurs

Heat leaders:

Points: James 33, Wade 32, Bosh 20

Rebounds: Bosh 13, James 11, Wade 6

Assists: Chalmers 5, James 4, Wade 4, Cole 4

Spurs leaders:

Points: Duncan 20, Parker 15, Neal 13

Rebounds: Leonard 7, Duncan 5, Parker 4, Green 4

Assists: Parker 9, Green 4, Ginobili 2

GAME 5 @ San Antonio: Heat 104-114 Spurs

Heat leaders:

Points: James 25, Wade 25, Allen 21

Rebounds: James 6, Bosh 6, Miller 5

Assists: Wade 10, James 8, Battier 3

Spurs leaders:

Points: Parker 26, Ginobili 24, Green 24

Rebounds: Duncan 12, Leonard 8, Green 6

Assists: Ginobili 10, Parker 5, Diaw 3

GAME 6 @ Miami: Spurs 100-103 Heat (OT)

Spurs leaders:

Points: Duncan 30, Leonard 22, Parker 19

Rebounds: Duncan 17, Leonard 11

Assists: Parker 8, Ginobili 3, Splitter 2

Heat leaders:

Points: James 32, Chalmers 20, Wade 14

Rebounds: Bosh 11, James 10, Miller 7

Assists: James 11, Wade 4

GAME 7 @ Miami: Spurs 88-95 Heat

Spurs leaders:

Points: Duncan 24, Leonard 19, Ginobili 18

Rebounds: Leonard 16, Duncan 12, Green 5

Assists: Ginobili 5, Parker 4, Duncan 2

Heat leaders:

Points: James 37, Wade 23, Battier 18

Rebounds: James 12, Wade 10

Assists: James 4, Allen 4, Bosh 2, Chalmers 2

Heat win series 4-3

Another season of NBA basketball has come to an end, we'll see you again next season.

K-Smoove