It’s good versus evil, Luke Skywalker versus Darth Vader, Batman versus The Joker. This year’s NBA Final couldn’t be more black and white.

The home-grown Oklahoma City Thunder tip off against the store-bought Miami Heat Tuesday night in OKC in a series of contrasts that we haven’t seen since Larry versus Magic or maybe Hickory High versus South Bend.

The small-market Thunder were built through the draft – four dismal years between Seattle and Oklahoma City resulted in the No. 2, No. 4 and No. 3 draft picks in successive years in which they selected the core of their team: Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden. They practice in a dusty Quonset on the outskirts of town. The only bright lights in Oklahoma’s capital city are when lightning rolls through.

The flashy Heat, on the other hand, were built through the deep pockets of owner Micky Arison and the silver tongue of GM Pat Reilly, who managed in 2010 to get established free-agent superstars LeBron James and Chris Bosh to abandon their small markets in Cleveland and Toronto, respectively, to join 2006 playoffs MVP Dwyane Wade in South Beach. The “Big Three” were introduced with fireworks and arrogantly gloated about “multiple championships” ahead.

In Oklahoma they sow and reap. In Miami they rape and pillage.

Even their stars are opposites. In the white hat is Durant, the league’s leading scorer for the past three seasons – a quiet, humble, team-first guy who isn’t covered in tattoos and is committed to Oklahoma City, having signed a five-year extension with the team in 2010. He’s never been in the National Inquirer and he’s more likely to be signing autographs at a skateboard park than appearing on Saturday Night Live.

The black-hatted James, on the other hand, is all arrogance and self-indulgence. He’s a three-time league MVP and the self-proclaimed “King” of basketball, despite having never won a championship in his nine years in the league. James orchestrated a half-hour, prime-time television special to announce his decision to desert Cleveland, and seemingly never passes up an opportunity to drone on and on about his own greatness.

Fortunately for fans, this championship will be won and lost on the basketball court rather than the court of public opinion.

The Thunder faced tougher opponents en route to the Finals – they beat last year’s champion Dallas Mavericks, the Kobe Bryant-led L.A. Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs, the best team in the regular season. They’re young – Durant and Westbrook are 23 years old, while Harden is just 22, despite his old-man beard – and deep, with players like Serge Ibaka, Kendrick Perkins and savvy veteran Derek Fisher rounding out their top six.

The Heat, on the other hand, looked mortal against the Cleveland Cavaliers and required seven games to dispatch of the prehistoric Boston Celtics in the Eastern Final. With Bosh hampered by an abdominal injury, the Heat became a two-man team because their key depth players – Mario Chalmers, Shane Battier and Udonis Haslem – have been inconsistent at best.

All this should point to an Oklahoma victory and good rightfully defeating evil, but it won’t be that easy. The Heat are far more experienced at high-pressure games, Bosh is healthy and James was lights-out in the final two games against the Celtics. After falling to the Mavericks last year, James appears more driven than ever, which does not bode well for Thunder players trying to defend against him.

At the conclusion of Star Wars, young Luke couldn’t defeat the powerful Lord Vader but the Rebel Alliance managed to blow up the Death Star. Look for something similar here – LeBron will get his boatload of points but the depth of the Thunder will be too much for Heat.

Oklahoma City in six.