The Miami Heat will make their sixth Finals appearance tonight at 9 p.m. It marks the third consecutive decade the Heat have reached the NBA’s biggest stage. And they’ll face the Los Angeles Lakers, the franchise Pat Riley coached to establish his status as “one of the greatest minds the game has ever had,” in the words of LeBron James.

Although it won’t happen on the court, perhaps the biggest storyline of this Finals is Riley vs. James. In the summer of 2014, James left Miami in free agency after Riley said in a press conference “you got to stay together, if you got the guts” and “you don’t find the first door and run out of it.” Years later, Riley told Wright Thompson that James watched a World Cup game while he led a presentation pitching James on returning.

And for Riley, Jimmy Butler made the commitment to the Heat he wished James had done.

As far as injury reports, rookies Chris Silva and Gabe Vincent are listed as questionable for Miami. James, Anthony Davis, Danny Green and Alex Caruso are all probable to play.

Probable Starters:

Miami —

• Jimmy Butler
• Jae Crowder
• Bam Adebayo
• Duncan Robinson
• Goran Dragic

Los Angeles Lakers

• LeBron James
• Anthony Davis
• Dwight Howard
• Danny Green
• Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

Broadcast Info

• TV: ABC
• Streaming: fuboTV (via ABC)
• Radio: The Ticket 790AM & The HEAT Radio Network (Mike Inglis, Ruth Riley Hunter)
• Spanish Radio: WAQI 710AM & The HEAT Spanish Radio Network (José Pañeda, Joe Pujala)

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