2012's 5 Sexiest NBA Finals Scenarios

It's not quite on par with the Super Bowl in terms of popularity, but there always seems to be some sort of aura around the NBA Finals that gives you goosebumps and leaves the hair standing up on the back of your neck.

Truly, it's the place where legends are born.

From Willis Reed limping out to score the first four points for his New York Knicks to Magic Johnson scoring 42 points as the Los Angeles Lakers' starting center to Michael Jordan overcoming a flu to score 38 points in a crucial Game 5 that would end up shifting momentum to the Chicago Bulls, there's something about these games that leaves an impression on us for life.

Even today when we see the rivalry of the Lakers and Boston Celtics brought back or Dirk Nowitzki leading his Dallas Mavericks to their first title, this feeling has been able to make the transition.

When you pit the best team in the East with the best team in the West, you know you're going to be due for a series between two stellar teams that feature 30 individuals who are doing all in their power to win.

Every NBA Finals is the stuff of legends. However, we narrow it down and point out five intriguing and sexy matchups that we'd love to see take place when we reach that point.

Whether it's pitting one player against another or one team against another, these five matchups would be incredible to see come Finals time.

Kevin Garnett vs. Tim Duncan

It's the all-retirement home NBA Finals as the Boston Celtics get set to take on their geriatric counterparts in the West in the San Antonio Spurs.

It's highly doubtful that those two teams do match up.

The Celtics have a gauntlet to go through with the strong defense of the Chicago Bulls and the quickness and athleticism of the Miami Heat, and the Spurs have to hope that injuries and age don't catch up to them against a stacked Western Conference that features the likes of Oklahoma City, the L.A. Lakers and Clippers and the defending champion Dallas Mavericks.

Don't forget that these matchups are purely scenarios and not predictions.

It would be a dream to see two of the NBA's greatest power forwards of all time face off one last time on the NBA's biggest stage. The Celtics' Kevin Garnett and the Spurs' Tim Duncan are two first-ballot Hall of Famers and are arguably two of the 10 best big men to ever step onto the hardwood.

Even in their later years, Duncan and Garnett are still arguably among the league's top power forwards. Their defense has yet to lack and they can still take it into the post and drain the mid-range at a consistent rate.

Whether you have KG knocking down 20-footer after 20-footer or Duncan making that bank shot that's been a staple of his career since the Stone Age, these two are not lacking in fundamentals and are still keeping up with these freakish athletes that are joining the NBA.

When either of them makes the All-Star game, it's not because of their lifetime work, but because they're still the most consistent big men in the game.

What makes this matchup so interesting is their differing personalities.

Garnett's an extremely emotional leader that's willing to do whatever it takes to obtain a victory for his team. He's an in-your-face and hard-nosed defender that's not going to let you be comfortable. Even if he's on the bench, the chances are likely that you'll still hear Garnett chirping on the bench and getting inside your head.

Duncan is the complete polar opposite.

He's a silent assassin that's going to get inside your head by making bank shots from 15 feet, somehow beating you in the post despite having 10 years on you and purely using fundamentals to wear you down over time.

Even though Garnett will use his mouth to get you out of your element, Duncan simply lets his game do the talking for him.

Duncan and Garnett have met in the postseason before with Timmy's Spurs defeating Kevin's Timberwolves in 1998 and 2001, both in four games and both in the first round.

If there's any chance of this ever happening again, it's going to be this year. Duncan's knees are completely nonexistent and Garnett's game hasn't been as efficient with the way he's been missing the mid-range jumpers this year compared to the rest of his career.

It would just be a delight to see two of the greatest players from the former generation taking each other on for possibly one final time on the NBA's biggest stage.

Dwight Howard vs. Andrew Bynum

Our grandparents will say how they miss the matchups between Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain.

Our fathers will revel in the days of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar taking on Robert Parish in the 1980s, and then witnessing Hakeem Olajuwon eviscerate the likes of Patrick Ewing and David Robinson with his magical footwork in the 1990s.

Even they too will talk about the days of Shaquille O'Neal being the most unstoppable human being on the planet. Some of us may remember him as this goofy character who become nothing more than that huge guy who jumps into the stands from time-to-time, but there are still plenty of viewers out there who remember that he was once a 30-point and 20-rebound machine who couldn't be stopped.

When our children ask us about our days watching the NBA, do you wonder if we'll ever talk about matchups between Dwight Howard and Andrew Bynum?

Probably not, because the NBA has become an athlete's game where the 6'8" forward who can jump out of the building is now the dominant figure, and not the 7' center who has the body of a redwood tree, but the footwork of a ballerina.

Those days are gone.

No longer are centers being worked on because of what big liabilities they have become. Seven-footers come so infrequently that you have to give them an excessive amount of money, while continuing to worry about the prospect of them suffering a career-ending injury because a smaller player took a misstep and careened into the center's brittle knee.

That's why seeing a matchup between Howard and Bynum would be so thrilling to see again, because they are the last two centers worth seeing. We were able to see them match up in 2009 with Bynum's Lakers winning with ease by a 4-1 margin, but both players were still raw and lacked the talent that they currently possess.

With Bynum finally being healthy and living up to his potential and Howard finally developing something near an offensive game, this matchup between the two titans has become worth viewing. Instead of viewing two young players with nothing more to rely on other than potential, we get to see two gargantuan centers duke it out in order to decide an NBA Finals.

If the Lakers and Magic do meet, this will be the matchup that's going to decide who will come out on top. Each player can easily shut down the paint with their defensive prowess and shot-blocking abilities, while also attempting to outdo one another in terms of scoring, rebounding and swatting shots into the fifth row.

In 2012, we have a far more refined Dwight Howard and a healthy Andrew Bynum. These are the last two centers in the NBA that can strongly influence the outcome of a game and could be of huge significance if the Lakers and Magic do meet in the Finals for the second time in four years.

If Howard and Bynum make their influences felt, they end up allowing their teammates to start doing the work instead.

However, if their teammates can't get it going, we'll be subject to watching a battle between the NBA's top two centers.

Derrick Rose vs. Russell Westbrook

Remember when point guards used to just be the little guy on the court that was there just to pass the ball around?

Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas and John Stockton could all get the crowd out of their seats, but they weren't doing so by dunking from just a little inside the free-throw line. They were dishing out insane assists that could thread a needle and take out a sniper from a mile away. This was during a time where point guards were point guards.

As time progressed, it seems that we began to see more combo guards.

Yes, there are still guys like Steve Nash and Rajon Rondo, but how often do you see the NBA's top point guards playing with a pass-first state of mind, instead of the the more popular shoot-first? These floor generals want a larger role in the action and they've taken the step by becoming more dependent on their scoring.

Also, point guards can dunk now. I'm not sure where this came from, but it seems like every 6'3" guard that enters the league can dunk over every 7-footer and grab a stack of quarters at the top of the backboard. I'm not sure what's been in the water for the past two decades to make this happen, I'm just disappointed that I didn't get any.

These two guys aren't pass-first, but it's not like we care.

In a matchup that features Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook fighting it out at the point, we couldn't care less if they never passed the ball because of how athletic and prolific they can be when looking to score. When you have two of the league's most athletic finishers around the rim going at it, you're actually hoping that they don't pass it.

Rose at least attempts to involve his teammates as he averages a little below eight assists per game, but Westbrook might as well be Oklahoma City's shooting guard considering that he's posting up far below six assists per.

Surprising when you notice that he had averaged eight assists per in the previous two seasons; that's higher than what Rose has ever averaged in assists per.

No matter as we won't even notice when they do pass. In fact, we'll be disappointed if anything. When we see Westbrook and Rose on the court, we all want to see them do one thing—and that's drive into the lane and explode for either a huge dunk or a miracle layup that they execute by contorting their body in a way that would make an acrobat jealous.

The athleticism, quickness and scoring prowess of each of these players gives us so much reason why we want to see a Thunder and Chicago Bulls Finals.

However, there actually might be one other individual matchup that we would enjoy seeing more.

LeBron James vs. Kevin Durant

We simply don't get this matchup enough.

Only twice were we able to see Kevin Durant and LeBron James take each other on, with neither coming out on top as the Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder split the two-game series.

In fact, they weren't as memorable as we expected for the most part, aside from Eddie House's game-winner in the first game, James' consecutive dunks in the span of 10 seconds and Durant going bonkers with his jump shot.

Oh, and let's not forget about Dwyane Wade's insane dunk over Kendrick Perkins. Since their meeting last March, however, the two teams have yet to see each other and won't be able to distinguish who is arguably the best team in the NBA until they meet up in Oklahoma City near the end of the month.

If we see the Thunder and Heat match up in the Finals, which is a huge possibility, we want to see the teams' two small forwards go at it.

James and Durant are currently 1-2 in the MVP race with LeBron holding the edge on account of his stats, improvement to every aspect of his game, ability to involve teammates and defense, which clearly outshines Durant's.

Of course, let's give Durant some credit.

He's not second place in the MVP race for no reason. He's arguably the best pure scorer in the NBA and one of the most deadly offensive threats we've seen in quite a long time.

He can shoot you out of the gym while using those lengthy arms to dunk over you when he drives. He's surprisingly quick and strong, and has no problem in breaking your heart in the final seconds.

James definitely has the edge in the defensive department, but sometimes there's no defense that can limit Durant. His release is unbelievably quick and has range up to 30 feet. The most you can do is hope that he drives and that someone stops him before he's able to reach his ridiculously long arms to the rim for a dunk.

Durant would certainly have his work cut out for him, though.

James is nearly impossible to defend in a one-on-one setting and Durant's lack of a wide frame is going to hurt him on many occasions when LeBron is playing aggressive and driving. As deadly as it is for Durant to shoot from deep, James has the advantage of being able to take the higher-percentage shot after bringing it in and getting a shot near the rim.

At the moment, a matchup between the Heat and Thunder seems like the most likely NBA Finals.

No disrespect to the fans of the Chicago Bulls or Los Angeles Lakers, but these two are the best teams in their conferences and no record is going to prove otherwise.

Unless the Bulls can stop this five-game losing streak to the Heat, I don't see how they could possibly defeat Miami and make it to the NBA Finals.

Miami Heat vs. Los Angeles Lakers

Is this not the matchup we were all waiting to see when LeBron James and Chris Bosh went to the Miami Heat?

After two consecutive titles, surely we all wanted to see how the Los Angeles Lakers stacked up against this supposed superteam that just picked up arguably the best player in the league to play alongside another guy who could also be argued as one of the best currently playing the game.

This was destiny and it needed to happen.

Seeing Kobe Bryant play against LeBron James and Dwyane Wade while watching Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum take on Chris Bosh in the post would be a legendary finale to any NBA season. What this game represented was a possible transition of power from the former generation to the next.

Unfortunately, we didn't get to see that last year as the Dallas Mavericks took out the Lakers in the semifinals and then the Heat in the NBA Finals. It was believed that it would be the only year it could happen with Bryant getting another year older, Bynum's always questionable health and the way Gasol fell apart in the postseason.

Surely there would be a more athletic team that would come along and push the Lakers down the ladder in the Western Conference.

How wrong we were.

Bryant is currently the league's leading scorer and is scoring at a rate that we haven't see since the year before Gasol joined the team. Without Lamar Odom, Bryant has responded to the urgency with some of the best basketball we've seen in years and he's now gotten the Lakers near the top of the West—and with the high possibility of making it to the Finals.

The Heat? All they have to do is beat the Chicago Bulls. I know that sounds cocky, but what team can match up with them?

The New York Knicks, possibly, but they have yet to show the defensive intensity or cohesion that's going to be necessary to defeat the Heat.

The Boston Celtics would also be a challenge, but you have to imagine that the Heat's athleticism would prove to be too much.

So it appears that we have another year to possibly see these two match up for one legendary Finals that features three certain Hall of Famers.

Throw in three more All-Stars and you have one of the most star-studded NBA Finals in a long time. As entertaining as those Lakers and Celtics series were in 2008 and 2010, they didn't have the athleticism and speed that James and Wade could provide.

This would be one of the most entertaining Finals matchups in the history of the game.

Watching Bryant and Wade go at it, Metta World Peace doing everything in his power to get inside James' head and Gasol and Bosh fighting for position is something the public wants to see.

They just might get it this year if the Lakers can prove that depth isn't a problem and the Heat can continue to come up big in late-game situations.