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This is it ... the Spurs and Heat will go head-to-head in the final game of the series. Source: Lynne Sladky / AP
It's the game the basketball world has been waiting for - and NBA bean-counters would have been praying for - Game 7 between the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs.
WHEN AND WHERE?
The series-deciding Game 7 takes place at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, and starts at 11am on Friday AEST.
You can follow our live blog with basketball expert Boti Nagy below for instant updates throughout the game.
WHO'S PLAYING
The Miami Heat are the team everyone – apart from a fair amount of Floridians – love to hate. Why? Exhibit A: LeBron James.
Widely considered the best player since the great Michael Jordan, James left his home town side the Cleveland Cavaliers after a cringe-inducing live ESPN broadcast titled The Decision.
That he would flaunt said decision to flee the town to hook up with one of his biggest rivals – Dwayne Wade – in South Beach meant the sporting public didn't need persuading to make him enemy No 1.
James joined A-listers Chris Bosh and Wade at the Heat to create The Big Three, and what appeared to be an unstoppable basketball force.
To the delight of neutrals, they were taken down by a Dirk Nowitski-inspired Dallas Mavericks in the 2011 NBA Finals, giving plenty of ammo to those saying you couldn't buy a championship.
But last year the Heat claimed the crown - with LeBron claiming the NBA Finals MVP award - as the Heat steamrolled the Oklahoma City Thunder by four games to one.
This season, the Heat took their play to another level, at one stage rattling off 27 straight wins, and LeBron was a near unanimous winner of his fourth MVP trophy. However, the feeling is the Heat will have to win on Friday for the big man to enter the pantheon of all-time greats.
The San Antonio Spurs, meanwhile, are the quiet achievers of the NBA.
Coached by the wonderfully grumpy Gregg Popovich (more of him later), the Spurs have won four championships in the past 15 years, their last coming in 2007.
They have never failed to win an NBA finals once they've made it to the final round, a record bettered only by the Chicago Bulls (six without loss).
Of course that proud record could be lost on Friday, and many feel that the Spurs' inability to close out Game 6 means Friday's result is a foregone conclusion.
But with veteran Tony Parker in close-to-career-best form, the ageless Tim Duncan and role players such as Danny Green playing out of their skin, if any team can come up with one last bloody-minded push to glory, it's the Spurs.
WHO'S IN CHARGE?
The Heat's Erik Spoelstra, a 42-year-old who started at the Heat as a video co-ordinator in 1995, is often dismissed as an irrelevance to the Heat's recent success, considering the playing talent he has at his disposal.
But although he lacks the experience and gravitas of his opposite number, that 27-game win streak has bought him a new level of respect in the league.
San Antonio's Gregg Popovich, or Coach Pop, as he is commonly known, doesn't need to earn anyone's respect, and probably wouldn't give a damn whether he got it or not.
One of the most experienced coaches in the history of the sport, his 118 playoff wins as a coach rank him third in NBA history behind only Phil Jackson and Pat Riley, and he holds the record for wins with a single team.
He's also a hilariously spiky presence both during and after games, as the video below clearly demonstrates.
THE SERIES SO FAR
The finals series stands at three games each, after an unusual amount of one-sided contests.
The Spurs shaded a tight opening game in Miami before being humbled at the same venue by 19 points in Game 2.
The first game in San Antonio was an embarrassment for the champions, with the Spurs demolishing them by 36 points.
Famously though, this Heat team do not lose two on the trot (not since January at any rate) and stormed back to take out Game 4 by 16.
San Antonio won their last home game to sit just one game away from glory, which they came agonisingly close to achieving on Wednesday in Game 6 at Miami.
In a game for the ages, the Spurs looked most likely for most of the second half and were five points ahead entering the final minute of regulation time (leading many Miami "fans" to head to head for the exits).
NBA officials even had the yellow tape out for the post-game presentation ceremony (something the Heat players said afterwards they had noticed), but some jittery decision-making by the Spurs helped the home side creep back to within three.
The stage was set for the veteran Ray Allen - one of the greatest three-point shooters of all time - to drain a shot with five seconds on the clock, force the game into overtime and send the (remaining) crowd into raptures
The home side regrouped and eventually prevailed by three points, with Allen again the hero as he nailed some late clutch free throws.
WHO WILL WIN?
The prevailing wisdom is that the Spurs have missed their shot by not sealing the deal in Game 6 - TAB has priced a Heat win at $1.36, with the Spurs $3.20 to prevail.
If you like statistical trends though, the Spurs are due, with the Heat needing to break a trend of win-loss-win-loss-etc that they've managed to cultivate throughout the Conference Finals and this series, a sequence that now stretches to 13 games.
Follow all the action LIVE with basketball expert Boti Nagy below from 11am Friday AEST
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