Spurs

MIAMI -- There's really no other way to say it. The Old Big Three beat the Bold Beat Three. It's too late to keep thinking the San Antonio Spurs are old, outdated and, of greatest substance, underdogs in the NBA Finals, their golden-oldie trio pushing them to a 92-88 victory over the Miami Heat in Game 1 on Thursday. The AARP jokes can be shoved aside for a game, maybe longer, after Tony Parker banked in a can-you-believe-it leaner with 5.2 seconds left.He beat the shot clock by a millisecond after he pivoted under a flying, flailing LeBron James, having somehow continued his dribble a few seconds earlier after slipping and falling on the court at AmericanAirlines Arena.

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Heat vs. Spurs: How they match up A look at the two teams before Game 1 of the NBA Finals LeBron James is right when he says he's way better than the player who couldn't carry Cleveland past San Antonio in the 2007 NBA Finals. It's also true that James' Miami Heat has a much better supporting cast than those Cavaliers did. The problem for Miami in these Finals could be what hasn't changed much since then: the Spurs. The core of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili is playing as well collectively as it ever has, and Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich has perfectly aligned his role players Tiago Splitter, Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green to provide big-time contributions.

MIAMI - It truly is a case in which you can throw out the previous games between the teams. The Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs will meet in the NBA Finals, but don't expect the series to resemble their two games during the regular season. In fact, Thursday's series opener is the first time both teams will play one another at full strength. "It's crazy that it worked out this way, that we are both in the Finals," Heat guard Dwyane Wade said. What's even crazier is how their regular-season series played out. The teams were supposed to meet in a star-studded, nationally televised game in late November.

-- Paul McCartney rocked FedEx Forum on Sunday night in the sixth stop on his worldwide tour. The legendary singer, who turns 71 next month, had ended a recent show by assuring fans he would be back. The San Antonio Spurs have a trio of aging stars who can relate to being pestered about their futures. And they wish everyone would let it be. "If we listened to you guys," point guard Tony Parker recently said of the media, "we would be done in 2008. We don't think like that.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - It was a promise made by one future Hall of Famer to another. The San Antonio Spurs would get back to the NBA Finals, Tony Parker assured Tim Duncan last year amid another season that fell short of the franchise's championship expectations. Parker made sure of it Monday night at FedEx Forum, shrugging off a poke to the eye to deliver a game-long smackdown during the Spurs' sweep-sealing 93-86 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - They bluffed. The Memphis Grizzlies came out and pummeled the San Antonio Spurs with quick hands and swatting arms, their swarming defense helping to forge a huge early lead. Then the Spurs fixed their wayward offense and the Grizzlies reverted to long stretches of the ragged play that has characterized a series that could soon be over. Tim Duncan was an ageless wonder in overtime for a second consecutive game, helping San Antonio tilt things heavily in its favor with a 104-93 victory Saturday night at FedEx Forum in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals.

- It will be the same home court, the same boisterous fans, the same rally towels that were in play in the first round of the playoffs when the Memphis Grizzlies returned to FedEx Forum trailing the Clippers, two games to nothing. It's just that something will be missing Saturday in Game 3 when the Grizzlies try to take the first step back from a 2-0 deficit against the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference finals. The hatred. Instead of Blake Griffin's elbows there will be Tim Duncan's finesse.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Uh-oh, 2-0? The San Antonio Spurs find themselves in a familiar place, having won the first two games of the Western Conference finals for a second consecutive season. This is where their season unraveled in stunning fashion last year amid a barrage of baskets by Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden. The Spurs lost four consecutive games, a season-ending slide that seemed all the more improbable considering they had won their previous 20 games.

SAN ANTONIO - He did it with lobs into the post, simple bounce passes and wild flings into the corners. Wherever Tony Parker put the ball Tuesday night at AT&T Center, the San Antonio Spurs usually turned it into a basket. Including the one they needed most. Tim Duncan took one of Parker's passes late in overtime and made a floating jumper that helped the Spurs hold on for a 93-89 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals.