What NBA 2K13 Can Tell Us About Spurs-Heat in NBA Finals

In a simulation of the 2013 NBA Finals matchup with NBA 2K13, LeBron James and the Miami Heat were too much for Tony Parker and the San Antonio Spurs. It only took five games for the virtual Heat to dismiss the cyber Spurs.

While I predicted the Heat would defeat the Spurs in six games in real life (with a five-game finish as a possibility) I didn't predict they would handle them as easy as they did in the simulation. 

Check out the short highlight reel I put together to tell the story.

The Game Settings

Allow me to share with you the settings that were used to perform the simulation.

An entire playoff tree was arranged and rigged with bad teams to ensure the Heat and Spurs would meet in the finals. Why did I do this?

NBA 2K13 does a great job simulating the NBA postseason atmosphere. I wanted to make sure that came through in the highlight reel.

I went with 12-minute quarters—even though I play on nine-minute periods myself. Seeing as though both teams were CPU-controlled, it seemed more authentic to make the minutes match a real NBA game.

In retrospect, 10-minute quarters would probably have been better. If you watched the video, you saw the scores were a bit high in some of the games.

It didn't affect the bottom line, but it is something to keep in mind for next time.

In terms of the difficulty setting, I cranked it up to Hall of Fame, which is the highest available. I wanted both teams to play their best. That was the extent of my meddling; I didn't alter any team rotations or strategies.

Why Did the Heat Win the Simulation?

LeBron James Was Unstoppable

Everyone is waiting to see what Kawhi Leonard can do while matched up against LeBron for an entire series. If real life is anything like the simulation, Leonard may need counseling when this thing is over. 

The virtual King James averaged 32.4 points, eight rebounds and 8.4 assists per game in the series and easily won Finals MVP.

Dwyane Wade Must Have Flown To Germany to See Kobe Bryant's Doctor

D.Wade played like Flash, or at least like the Wade who showed up for Game 7 against the Indiana Pacers. The virtual Wade was aggressive, dunking and attacking the basket.

For the entire simulated series, Wade played like the elite player Heat fans hope to see in real life. He averaged 25.4 points per game.

The Spurs Couldn't Consistently Keep the Heat Out of the Paint

Miami was a very video game-like plus-108 in points in the paint for the series. Even the virtual LeBron, Wade and Chris Bosh were happy Roy Hibbert wasn't in the paint.

The Spurs were the better three-point shooting team (50 percent from deep as a team), but Miami had its way scoring close to the basket.

What Can You Take From This Simulation?

The bottom line will probably be correct, but the manner in which it happens will likely be different—with the exception of James' stat-line. He's very capable of a 32-point, eight-rebound, eight-assist per game series, so that isn't all that far-fetched.

However, the Heat aren't going to feast on the Spurs in the paint like they did in the simulation. Keep this in the proper perspective, unless real life comes eerily close to fantasy.

You can then tell everyone the game is so real its scary.

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