Heat and Nets, Spurs and Blazers Open Play

The final two NBA conference semifinals start play this evening with games in Miami and San Antonio.

On the court of the defending champion Heat, Miami fans are going to watch their team square off with the Brooklyn Nets. The Heat advanced to the second round with a four-game sweep of the Bobcats while the Nets eliminated the Raptors in seven games. Surprisingly the Nets swept the season series against the Heat 4-0. In the 25 previous best-of-seven playoff series in which one team won all four regular season games, the team that prevailed during the season won the playoff as well.

Game 2 in the series will take place Thursday night in Miami.

In San Antonio the Spurs are facing the Blazers after eliminating the Mavericks in seven games. The Blazers got this far with a six-game-series win over the Houston Rockets. The second game in this series will be played Thursday night as well, once again in San Antonio. The Spurs and Blazers split the four games they played this season.