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Heat Have Big Advantage In Game 7 Experience

Original story from CBS Miami

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Experience or youth?

It’s often the difference between winning and losing in sports and Game 7 will feature plenty of both for the San Antonio Spurs and the Miami Heat.

Despite the perception that San Antonio is older team, it’s actually the Heat who has the oldest average age of players in the Finals. That’s why it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that the Heat also have the most Game 7 experience heading into the decisive game Thursday night.

Including the 2013 Eastern Conference Finals, which also went to a Game 7, the Heat have a combined 48 games worth of Game 7 experience, in any postseason series. However, only one Heat player, Ray Allen, has ever played in an NBA Finals Game 7.

Incidentally, Allen lost in his only NBA Finals appearance in 2010 against the Los Angeles Lakers.

The San Antonio Spurs have three players with NBA Finals Game 7 experience; coincidentally they are also the Spurs’ three best players of the last decade, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobli. In total, the Spurs’ roster has 15 games of Game 7 experience.

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