NBA playoffs. Predictions

And the teams playing in the Finals will be....

Let's start with the Miami Heat. Since losing game #1 of the conference finals to the Pacers, Lebron and Co. have been on a roll, winning the next three games easily. Even if Indiana manages to win game #5 at home, no way do they survive game #6 in Miami. And given the fickle nature of how the Pacers can play -- world beaters one game and milquetoasts the next -- did anybody really think they were going to knock off the two-time defending champs?

Okla City and San Antonio is more interesting. Sure, the Spurs spanked the Thunder in the first two games in Alamoland, but then the Okies held their own serve in games 3 and 4 when they returned to the friendly confines of Tornado Alley. If Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Chewbacca, or maybe that's Ibaka, can't find a way to win a game in San Antonio, they can't advance to the Finals. But yours truly has a sneaky suspicion they will. If they happen to win game #5 in San Antonio to go up 3-2 in the series, remember the Spurs have lost their last ten games in a row at Okla. The Okie fat lady would be ready in game 6 to turn out the lights. Even if both teams hold serve for the next two games, and it goes to a game 7 in San Antonio, I have this funny feeling that somehow, some way, the Thunder is going to pull it off. This, while yours truly has rooted for the Spurs for years, and still think they're the classiest franchise in all of pro sports. I hope I'm wrong, but I think the young studs are going to get them this time.

Either way, methinks neither the Spurs nor Thunder, regardless of home court, could defeat Miami in the Finals. The Heat are too talented, too deep, too experienced, too versatile, and when it counts the most -- besides having a championship pedigree -- they play flat-out hard, ALL over the court.

So, given the Heat are going to 3-peat, only one relevant question remains. How many more years and how many more titles will be enough for Lebron in South Beach before his Ohio roots get the best of him, finally call him home, and he returns to play for Cleveland in his twilight years?

Chances are, he's never going to match Michael Jordan's 6 rings, even if he stays in Miami. The Heat is getting collectively "old", and the back side of their bell curve likely looms soon.

James is signed for two more years with the Heat, and will become an unrestricted free agent in the spring of 2016.

Here's another prediction -- if Lebron wins a couple more titles in Miami, when his contract is up would be the perfect time to go back home. By then the Heat won't be as dominant as they are now, and James makes no bones about his Ohio roots. No, he probably wouldn't win a championship in Cleveland any more than he could in the first few years of his NBA career, but hey, after 3-4 championships and a few hundred million in the bank -- how cool would it be for him to thrill the fans in Cleveland once again, by returning home to where it all started? VERY cool.

And if THAT happens, one more question arises. When Lebron James gets inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame, as he surely will, which team would he choose to enter the Hall as a member of? The Heat or the Cavs? Championships versus roots. He would have to pick.

And wouldn't that be interesting?

But for now, first things first. James and the Heat have 5 more games to win before they are champions for the third year in a row.

And they're going to do it.......