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No. The Kobe/Shaq Lakers was. . .
The Heat might be #2 though, and are #1 for Finals opponents depending on how highly you respect that great Pistons team in 2005.
Yes
No
When you factor in where Duncan and Ginobili are at in their careers, plus them going against a guy who's in the midst of becoming arguably the 2nd greatest player ever, I think it has to be.
No. The Kobe/Shaq Lakers was. . .
The Heat might be #2 though, and are #1 for Finals opponents depending on how highly you respect that great Pistons team in 2005.
Remains to be seen. I'd go with some of the Laker teams or the 05 Pistons. Probably the Pistons, honestly. That 05 team was ridiculously good.
They had TD in his prime and Manu in his youth when they were up against Shaq/Kobe.
Given how the LeBrons have played this year, and given that the overall skill level of the Big Three is less than it was 10 years ago, yes 2013 is a bigger challenge.
Yes, obviously.
Yes, and it's not even close.
Yes, and it is not even close. This is the first superteam that Duncan has faced. Mavs were able to beat the Heat because Lebron and crew weren't quite clicking together. Now, they have a few years under their belts and have a much more solid bench (Allen and Anderson).
Lakers #1
Heat #2
Pistons #3
Mavs #4
This is a tougher Finals opponent than even the Pistons.
Yes, by far. The Heat are a ing juggernaut, and they will have HCA in the Finals.
Dan McCarney @danmccarneysaen 32s Not to look too far ahead, but Memphis was No. 17 defending P/R ballhandlers. Miami? No. 1. Against roll man, too. Huge part of Spurs O.
Scary ...
Remember they play in the East. P/R offenses suck in that league and so do the teams.
If you factor in the decline of the big 3, then of course. As a team though, I think Shaq/Kobe and the 05 Pistons would both beat this Heat team.
I know that this will be the biggest test that this blown by league/media darling Miami team has faced.
bigger challenge than Detroit was. So, yes.
No way. The Lakers were the biggest challenge of the Duncan era.
Just think how many more championships we would have won if they hadn't been standing in our way over the past 15 years!
That 05 PISTONS TEAM was a bunch of WARRIORS!!!!!!!!!!!
Solid list imo, that's exactly how I have it ranked. I would throw in the Suns at #5 even though we never lost to them except during our worst season in the Duncan era where we already overachieved getting to the 2nd round.
I don't firmly have Miami over Detroit though, we can't really say for sure until that series concludes. But how we've matched up, who they have, and on paper, they do look really good.
Miami had a dominant record against the West this year, tbh..
Maybe one more, we might have lost to Detroit though in 04 and Boston in 08 so who knows? I think we win though easily in 01 without LA there! We would have beaten the Sixers in 5 or 6.
Who says we're playing the Heat though?
Providing the Heat win, I think that's a safe presumption... that said, until then, the 05 Pistons currently hold that record...
The biggest challenge was the early 2000s Laker teams.
This is a really amazing Heat team the Spurs are looking at right now. This isn't the three man team Dallas embarrassed in 2011. We basically need Tim to turn the clock back to 2007, Tony to keep it right where it is, the role players have to be on fire from the three, and Manu is going to have to give a legendary performance or two this series. I don't think this Heat team is as good as the 2001 Lakers by any means, but they're one of the better teams of the last 20 years. This is a of a wall to climb; can't wait to see how they approach it.
Regular season stats are overrated. Miami is a good defensive team because they rely on their athleticism more than defensive fundamentals. That's fine against most teams, but most teams don't move the ball like the Spurs do. Not to mention in the playoffs the coaches have time to gameplan for the other team.
A horrible offensive team like the Bulls put 90+ on them 3 times out of 5. The Pacers are equally bad offensively and scored 96+ in 3 straight games. The Spurs will score on this Heat team no problem, it's the defensive end where we will struggle.
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