It’s what Heat Nation has been waiting for:  the epic face-off.  Tonight at 9:00pm EST on ABC, tune in to watch your Miami Heat take on the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

Coming off an impressive 4-2 series win over the Boston Celtics, the Heat look to continue their hot streak in the bubble against the #1 seeded Lakers in the West. Lebron James and the Lakers are looking to bring LA its first championship since 2010.

There are many storylines in this matchup. Lebron James is playing against his former team, the Heat, after he left them back in 2014 on bad terms. Also, it will be interesting to see how the young core of the Heat will perform with the high pressure that the NBA Finals brings. In a series where all of the analysts have picked the Lakers to win, the Heat come into tonight’s game as heavy underdogs. This is nothing new for the Heat as many of the players have been overlooked throughout their playing careers. Bam Adebayo summed it up after their Eastern Conference win, “We’ve been underdogs our whole lives. Everybody up here has a chip on their shoulder from something”. In a 7 game series against two top-five players in the league, Anthony Davis and Lebron James, the Heat will definitely have to embrace the underdog role.

RYAN’S PREDICTION:

Here is my prediction for the series and for tonight’s game: I think Game 1 tonight will be a feeling-out process for both teams, considering that the last time these two teams played each other was back in December. I think if the Heat’s shooters can find open looks and shoot a good percentage from the 3 point line, they will have no problem keeping up with the Lakers in scoring. The only thing that concerns me is how physically large the Lakers are, as they have an array of big men they can sub into the game. Therefore, rebounding will be tough against them. I think every game is going to be a battle from start to finish, but tonight, the Heat take Game 1 and beat the Lakers. My player to watch for tonight is Duncan Robinson. The Lakers do not have much depth at the guard position and I think Robinson will be able to get off a lot of 3’s and make a huge impact. Look for him to score early and help close out the game late in the 4th quarter. I think this series will go the distance and finish with a Game 7 for all the marbles, where the Heat will come out on top. Maybe I’m crazy. Maybe I’m biased, but I am excited to see the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals.