Thunder-Heat matchup at a glance

OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER (47-19, 12-3)
VS. MIAMI HEAT
(46-20, 12-6)

A capsule look at the NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Miami Heat (with playoff stats):

■ SCHEDULE - All games on ABC (13): Game 1 at Oklahoma City, 6 p.m. Tuesday; Game 2 at Oklahoma City, 6 p.m. Thursday; Game 3 at Miami, 5 p.m. Sunday; Game 4 at Miami, 6 p.m. June 19; x-Game 5 at Miami, 6 p.m. June 21; x-Game 6 at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m. June 24; x-Game 7 at Oklahoma City, 6 p.m. June 26 (x-if necessary)

■ STARTERS - Thunder: C Kendrick Perkins (4.7 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 1.5 bpg), F Serge Ibaka (10.7 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 3.3 bpg), F Kevin Durant (27.8 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 4.2 apg), G Thabo Sefolosha (5.5 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.4 apg), G Russell Westbrook (21.7 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 5.6 apg). Heat: C Udonis Haslem (5.5 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 0.8 bpg), F Shane Battier (5.7 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 1.4 apg) or Chris Bosh (13.7 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 0.8 apg), F LeBron James (30.8 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 5.1 apg), G Dwyane Wade (22.9 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 4.1 apg), G Mario Chalmers (11.6 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 3.9 apg).

■ KEY RESERVES - Thunder: G James Harden (17.6 ppg, 5.2 rpg), G Derek Fisher (6.5 ppg, 1.4 apg), F/C Nick Collison (3.4 ppg, 2.9 rpg), G Daequan Cook (2.6 ppg, 0.7 rpg), C Nazr Mohammed (2.3 ppg, 2.0 rpg). Heat: F Battier or Bosh, G/F Mike Miller (4.9 ppg, 2.7 rpg), C Joel Anthony (3.4 ppg, 3.4 rpg), G James Jones (2.5 ppg, 0.9 rpg), C Ronny Turiaf (2.1 ppg, 2.7 rpg), G Norris Cole (1.4 ppg, 0.8 apg).

■ SEASON SERIES - Tied, 1-1. The Thunder forced 21 turnovers and rolled to a 103-87 home victory March 25 before the Heat rallied for a 98-93 win at Miami on April 4. Durant averaged 29 points, but committed a career-high nine turnovers while scoring 30 in the second game. Westbrook made just 13 of 42 shots while scoring 20.5 per game, and Ibaka and Harden each scored 19 points in the Thunder's victory, but combined for only 16 in the rematch. James scored 34 at Miami, doubling his total from Oklahoma City, and added 10 assists and seven rebounds. Wade averaged 20.5 points and Bosh 15.0

■ STORY LINE - Superstars James and Durant go head-to-head in search of their first NBA titles. Considered the favorites last year when they lost to Dallas in the first year with James, Wade and Bosh together, the Heat are underdogs to the Thunder, who are poised to reach the summit despite a core of players only in their early 20s.

■ KEY MATCHUP I - Durant vs. James. LeBron will try to add the Finals MVP trophy to the regular-season award he beat out Durant to claim. Whoever's team wins the series earns an advantage in the debate as to who is the best player in the game. Besides everything James has to do offensively, he must use his considerable defensive skills to slow down Durant, who won his third straight scoring title this season. James is the top scorer in the postseason, averaging 30.8 points.

■ KEY MATCHUP II - Ibaka vs. Battier and Bosh. Ibaka, the NBA's leading shot blocker and runner-up for Defensive Player of the Year, has turned into more than a one-way player. He shot 11 for 11, hitting several jumpers, in the Thunder's Game 4 win over San Antonio that evened the Western Conference finals, and his 55.6 shooting percentage is tops in the playoffs among players who got past the first round. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra must decide whether to return Bosh to the starting lineup or stay with Battier, and both looked like good choices in Miami's Game 7 win over Boston. Bosh scored 19 and made three 3-pointers in his third game back after a nine-game absence because of a lower abdominal injury, while Battier hit four 3-pointers.

■ X-FACTOR - Perkins. He doesn't have the offensive game of Indiana's Roy Hibbert or the Celtics' Kevin Garnett, centers who hurt the Heat in this postseason. But Perkins had his best offensive game of the season with 16 points in the Thunder's regular-season victory over the Heat. If he provides any type of scoring in this series, it will cause problems for a Heat team whose center spot has been in flux all season long.

■ PREDICTION - Thunder in 6

BRIAN MAHONEY/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS