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24-Second Thoughts On Game 6

June 19, 2013  ·  12:52AM

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24 – So, LeBron James hit the court two hours early to get his pregame work in, huh? That says the man recognizes the magnitude of this moment and has prepared himself properly to man up to it. As ridiculous as it sounds to criticize the four-time MVP and the world’s best player, LeBron knows he has not left his mark on this series. If the Heat go down tonight, it won’t be without a desperate fight from LeBron, which is exactly the way it has to be when you are the best player in the game. Season on the line, you have to show up and set the tone from the start on both ends.

23 – I love that Heat coach Erik Spoelstra stuck with Mike Miller in his starting lineup. As much as you need a defender in the game to slow down “Dancin’ “ Danny Green, Manu Ginobili and the Spurs’ other shooters, you need shot-makers on the floor in an elimination games. Miller is aggressive early, which exactly what the Heat need him to be in this situation.

22 – Kawhi Leonard is absolutely fearless. Goes at LeBron on the break, ‘bows him out of the way and finishes with the hoop and the foul. Drains a corner 3-pointer two possessions later. The Spurs are aggressive early, Leonard and Tim Duncan in particular, showing absolutely no hesitation.

21 – Dwyane Wade bangs knees with Ginobili with 7:42 to play and you could see it was a Ginobili’s knee cap smashing the inside of Wade’s left knee. We have to see how bad it was for Wade, who clearly took the worst of the collision. If they win tonight and force a Game 7, how does that blow impact Wade for the finale?

20 – Kawhi “Captain Corn Rows” Leonard just posterized Miller on a sweet feed from Tony Parker. I’m not sure what’s more impressive: Leonard’s eight early points or the fact that he’s the last man in the league still rocking corn rows (and doing it without any fancy designs or anything special; just straight ol’ school, straight-to-the-back corn rows). The 70s are proud of you, young fella! BTW, the Spurs are up two and DDG hasn’t even taken a shot yet.

19 – Duncan is working on a perfect night right now (6-for-6, 12 points and 3 rebounds). I wonder how history will remember Duncan? It certainly seems like we all take him for granted in the present. We don’t appreciate the greatness of his game and fact that he’s more than just the most fundamentally sound power forward to play this game, perhaps ever. He won’t have the flashiest highlight video to look back on in 20 years. But there aren’t but a handful of players who will be able to say they played at an elite level for as long as he did during his Hall of Fame career.

18 – Heat pulling out all the stops tonight; Chris “Birdman” Andersen, Mario Chalmers and even Shane Battier‘s 3-point bankshot to tie the game. It’s going to be that kind of night, I can feel it. ‘Rio already has 10 points in the first quarter and is 4-for-5 from the floor. If he’s aggressive like this all night, the Spurs are going to have to figure out a way to keep him from duplicating the work he did in Game 2.

17 – Chris Bosh was wrong … DDG is still getting open looks from deep. Still knocking ‘em down, too.

16 – Duncan has 25 before halftime with a hand in his face on every possession. The Spurs are 14-2 in closeout game since 2003 for a reason.  His nickname is The Big Fundamental! He’s 11-for-13 and dominating the Heat in every facet of the game right now. He’s putting on an absolute showcase right now, outscoring Miami’s Big 3 by his lonesome, 25-21. The rest of the Spurs matched his 25 first half points and they lead by six at the break.

15 – The Spurs’ 17-4 run to finish the second quarter might very well be the most impressive stretch by either team in this entire series. Duncan, Boris Diaw, Leonard … unreal effort, unbelievable mettle and just a complete demolition of the Heat on both ends during the run. The Spurs own the Heat inside with a 32-12 scoring edge in the paint in the first half.

14 – Where you at LeBron? Nine points (on 3-for-9 shooting) is not going to get your team to a Game 7.

13 – Third quarter starts without Wade. Ray Allen is out there for him. It has to be that knee. No word from the Heat PR staff until after the game, per Doris Burke’s sideline report.

12 – The Heat’s night in a nutshell to this point: LeBron has Parker guarding him in the low post, Heat swing the ball all around the floor until Bosh gets it on the opposite baseline bricks a jumper off of the far side of the rim. The Heat are completely out of sorts on offense right now. The only thing saving them right now is that they are turning the Spurs over (courtesy of Ginobili, whose Game 5 magic has worn off completely).

11 – Leonard is having the sort of bully-ball game you expected LeBron to have. The Spurs’ 11-0 run here late in the third quarter is one of those backbreaking stretches in a game like this. The Heat’s inability to slow them down is startling. Credit the Spurs for sticking to what they do best, and that’s unleashing all of the weapons in their arsenal to take away what you do best. The Heat are being overwhelmed on their home floor the same way they were in 2011 against the Dallas Mavericks in a Game 6.

10 – Wade is on the bench changing his shoes with 10.3 seconds to play in the third. Maybe he has an extra pair for LeBron, because if they Heat don’t come up with something to change the momentum in this games in the next six minutes, the Spurs are going to break them down the stretch with their execution and claim title No. 5.

9 – “Shoeless” Mike Miller with the 3-point dagger to cut the lead 77-73. Spoelstra imploring his team to “trust each other” at this stage of the season sounds a bit strange. But the message seems to be working. The comeback is officially on, with the Heat’s rally lineup (LeBron, Miller, Allen, Birdman and Chalmers) on the floor. Granted, the Heat’s rush has come with both Duncan and Parker resting on that Spurs bench.

8 –  Bully LeBron has finally come alive and he’s ridiculous force of nature when he plays like this. He’s overpowering Leonard, Duncan, Ginobili and whoever else gets in his way around the rim. Desperate times call for desperate measures, apparently. A block on Duncan under the basket triggers a break the other way and LeBron ties the game at 82-82 with a layup at the 6:37 mark. Allen gives the Heat the lead on a reverse layup with 6:03 to play. Crazy turnaround for the Heat and it’s all been fueled by the man without the headband, who is in full blow attack the rim mode right down the stretch. Heat on a 22-7 run right now and LeBron has 11 points during the run.

7 – Wade comes back for Miller with 3:48 to play, taking away the other long distance shooter (along with Allen) who caused the Spurs so much trouble during the comeback. Those shooters forced the Spurs to cover the perimeter and leave lanes for LeBron to drive to the rim and change the entire flow of the game for both teams. We’ll see if that substitution comes back to bite the Heat in these final minutes.

6 – Duncan and Parker are scoreless in the fourth quarter inside the final dos minutos of the biggest game, so far, of the Spurs’ season. How they are within three points is beyond me. It’s a testament to the system and all of the cold-blooded role players on that roster.

5 – Parker with the step-back 3-pointer over LeBron to tie the game with 1:27 to play erases all doubts. He’s going to snag his second Finals MVP trophy if the Spurs win this thing. Huge turnover by Chalmers and Parker converts on the other end, shades of Game 1 dancing through the building, Spurs up 91-89 with 58 seconds left. This is nuts.

4 – LeBron turnover under the basket, Spurs on the break and Ginobili is fouled with 37.2 left. Sinks both free throws and a 93-89 Spurs lead. Unreal. Another LeBron turnover and Ginobili is fouled again and drains the second of two free throws. 94-89 with 28.2 left. LeBron goes from the goat to the hero and now back to the goat in the final seconds. I say that Wade-for-Miller substitution changed the flow for the Heat. Could very well cost them this game.

3 – LeBron bricks a 3-pointer and gets the ball back after a wild scramble and drains the 3-pointer that cuts the lead to 94-92 with 20.1 to play. Money time for both teams here and Duncan is not on the floor (gotta have your best rebounder on the floor, Pop! I don’t care what is going on …). Leonard misses the first of two free throws but sinks the second with 19.4 to play. Oooohhhhhh!!!!!!! Allen drains the corner 3 to tie it up with 5.2 to play. Winning time, with LeBron on Parker and TP air balls the  last shot of regulation. Unreal finish to the first 48 minutes. Allen might not have the Finals 3-point record anymore, but it was his shot that keep this game alive. Five more minutes of what has turned out to be the best game of the entire season. I’ll take it.

2 – Overtime is like a mini-movie of the entire series in five minutes, complete with turnovers, big shots, clutch rebounds, timely blocks, stunning mistakes, star turns from everyone from Duncan, Parker and Leonard to James, Wade and Bosh, whose work rebounding and on defense help propel the Heat to a Game 7.

1 – Fitting end to a fantastic game. Allen knocks down two free throws for the winning margin and Bosh comes up with the clutch block on DDG at the buzzer. All those Heat fans booing Bosh earlier in this game can thank their lucky stars they had him tonight because he did the dirty work (rebound and kick to Allen was as clutch as the block at the end) down the stretch to help deliver the Heat. Allen with nine points in the fourth quarter and overtime, doing exactly what a future Hall of Famer is supposed to do, helps save the Heat, as well. But if LeBron hadn’t come alive in the fourth the Spurs would be popping bottles in their locker room right now. Game 7 here we come!

jh

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Posted in 2013 NBA Finals: Spurs-Heat, 2013 The Finals, HT News / Comments (134) /

Key to Game 6: First 5 Minutes … Maybe

June 18, 2013  ·  2:06PM

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MIAMI – San Antonio has the advantage in games, Miami has the advantage in urgency. And there’s not much Spurs coach Gregg Popovich can say that is going to change any of that, heading into Game 6 of the 2013 Finals Tuesday night (9 p.m. ET, ABC) at AmericanAirlines Arena.

There’s not much that Popovich can say, frankly, that could change much of anything for his team. At least as he tells it.

“This group’s been together for a while now, the core group,” Popovich said after San Antonio’s morning shootaround session. “I kind of have the feeling that by now, when I start to speak, they either roll their eyes or they shut off their ears or, like Timmy [Duncan], he looks at me and says, ‘I got it’ and I don’t have to say anything.

“They’re all pros. As I’ve said a lot of times, they’ve got kids, they’ve got families, they all know what their jobs are. That’s one of the reasons we’re in The Finals. That’s why Miami’s in The Finals. They do their jobs.”

The job for the Heat is clear: Survive, for a chance to do it all again in a Game 7 that would be played Thursday. Flex whatever edge playing at home provides. Beat a savvy opponent that is 3-0 in close-out games this postseason.

The job for the Spurs might be just as daunting: Get it done now. Don’t be thinking about a backup plan for Game 7 while trying to nail down Game 6. Bring that road focus (San Antonio is 29-19 in away games since the start of the season).

Oh, and do it against LeBron James and the NBA’s defending champions at their most desperate and driven.

Facing an opponent that’s facing elimination, the Spurs know the Heat and coach Erik Spoelstra will hold nothing back. Any scheme, any lineup, any gamble will be in play as needed.

“You think about different scenarios that an opponent might use,” Popovich said. “Usually you’re wasting your time because it’s just basketball. We all do what we do. We try to throw in a wrinkle, we try to do this or do that. But basically teams are who they are.”

Who Miami is in Game 6 might be made known real fast, Spurs guard Danny Green said. Green already expects more attentive coverage from the Heat defense – a nod to his 25-of-38 3-point shooting so far in the series, as vowed by Heat forward Chris Bosh at his team’s shootaround. The more defensive resources Miami devotes to him, Green said, the more likely something else in San Antonio’s offense will come open.

Mostly, Green thinks the champs will hit the court hard, in every way possible, in the first five minutes after tipoff. And that, he said ,will be good for both sides.

“I think a lot of guys are tired. Have a lot of butterflies,” Green said. “I think that first five minutes, you kind of settle in and get more of a handle on the game. And how the rhythm’s going to go and how the referees are going to call it. How they’re attacking and how we’re attacking. How well we’re shooting.

“The first five minutes is what we adjust to.”

The first five minutes might be more of an esoteric, “feel” thing – because it has predicted nothing so far between these teams. At 7:00 of the first quarter, San Antonio has led four times and been tied once, with no correlation to winning or losing the game. Even in Miami’s two blowout victories in Games 2 and 4, the Spurs each time led by five after five.

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Game 6 Pressure High On Both Sides

June 18, 2013  ·  10:11AM



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HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – Based strictly on what we’ve seen from these two teams thus far, Game 6 of The Finals should include plenty of drama and a Heat win by a comfortable margin. That would force a must-see Game 7 for the 2012-13 NBA championship, the ultimate stage for deciding a champion.

But it’s like LeBron James said, “the most important game is Game 6. We can’t worry about Game 7.”

The only game to worry about for both sides is Game 6, as the pressure on both sides will be sky-high. The Heat are in desperation mode to keep the series alive for a Game 7 while the Spurs need to avoid Game 7 at all costs.

Down 3-2 w/ final two games at home (since ’85)
Year Team Opponent Result
1985 Boston L.A. Lakers Lost in 6
1988 L.A. Lakers Detroit Won in 7
1993 Phoenix Chicago Lost in 6
1994 Houston New York Won in 7
1998 Utah Chicago Lost in 6
2006 Dallas Miami Lost in 6
2010 L.A. Lakers Boston Won in 7
2011 Miami Dallas Lost in 6

The basics:
Game 6 tips off Tuesday night at 9 ET on ABC.

The Heat have no room for error tonight on their home floor, and the atmosphere at AmericanAirlines Arena should reflect that tension. A team that won a NBA-best 66 games during the regular season (and a whopping 27-straight at one point) has to win the next 48 minutes to keep their season alive. The Big 3 experiment and legacies for all involved are on the line. The Heat are in survival mode, fighting for the right to utilize home-court advantage in a Game 7.

Meanwhile, the Spurs are 14-2 in road close-out games since 2003. And they don’t want any part of a Game 7 in the Heat’s house. The pressure is on for them to end this thing tonight and claim their fifth title in their championship era. The Spurs didn’t need the validation of what they’ve done over the years, but No. 5 puts Tim Duncan, Gregg Popovich and both Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili (neither of whom were around for the first title in 1999) onto the hallowed list of the NBA’s greatest champions.

The narrative:
Did the Indiana Pacers expose weaknesses in the Heat that the Spurs have continued to exploit? It certainly seems that way, especially defensively. The Heat surrendered 113 points and 114 points, respectively, in the two games they lost in San Antonio and allowed the Spurs’ shooters to go wild. They’ve been unable to scramble effectively on the perimeter to cover all of the shooters and couldn’t find their way in transition.

It’s not about role players doing the dirty work either. James and Wade have struggled as much as anyone on the Heat roster on defense. Neither one of them has shown any defensive consistency and both could be spotted jogging down the floor in Game 5 as the Spurs converted fast-break opportunities.

Their activity level, on both ends, in Game 4 was the difference in the Heat’s lone win in San Antonio. They’ll need to bring it again to keep this series going. If the Heat are truly at their best when they’ve been punched in the face and when their backs are against the wall, so to speak, then they should be outstanding tonight. (more…)

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Posted in 2013 NBA Finals: Spurs-Heat / Comments (42) /

Win 2 (Games) Or Fail To Win 2 (Rings)

June 17, 2013  ·  3:21PM

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MIAMI – If the Miami Heat can’t win two in a row, they can’t repeat as championships. It’s that simple.

Games are the building blocks of championships. Sixteen of the former equal one of the latter. There are multiple ways to get there, from a fo’, fo’, fo’, fo’ level of dominance that no team in NBA Finals history ever has quite achieved to a relatively mediocre 16-12 record if all four rounds of best-of-seven competition went the max. No one has done it that way, either.

But Miami has no options left. The team whose regular season was defined, and maybe gilded, by its ability to string together victories better than all but one of its predecessors – the Heat’s 27 straight ranks second only to the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers – now must win Games 6 and 7 of the 2013 Finals this week at AmericanAirlines Arena. Either that or fall short of the legacy it staked out for itself in the summer of 2010 and turn what purportedly was going to rival the Lakers, Celtics and Bulls in a run of rings into something more befitting the Atlanta Braves.

This bizarre, one-step-forward-one-step-back ritual has been going on for more than a month now.

But the wiggle room is gone and the reality is one that necessarily flies in the face of sports’ grandest cliché: As much as the Heat say they want to play one game at a time, they must have two. There’s no getting around that and, probably, no forgetting it either as LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and the rest take the court for Tuesday night. The San Antonio Spurs will have the luxury of playing 48 minutes, but the Heat will be staring and maybe gulping at the prospect of 96.

How did this happen?

The Heat spent much of the three days between Games 4 and 5 talking about the same stuff. Enough is enough. Now is the time for our best road performance of the playoffs. Only enough wasn’t quite enough. And now wasn’t the time after all.

At least Miami is home for whatever remains of the championship series. Eight teams have been in the same pickle since the Finals went to its 2-3-2 format in 1985 – down 3-2 in the series – and three have dug out to win the NBA title: the Lakers in 1988, Houston in 1994 and the Lakers again in 2010.

Like this Heat, those teams faced mighty opposition too (the “Bad Boy” Pistons, the Pat Riley-led Knicks and the original blueprint “Big Three” Celtics). It’s entirely possible that what the Spurs put together Sunday was all about pride and saving face, exiting their arena for the summer on a high note and making some final fond memories of what might have been the last Finals home game for this particular group (Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili).

That will be stirred into Miami fans’ hopes at least a little, because the alternative is downright unnerving. The Heat drip both talent and entitlement in equal doses and – though they talk of the respect they have for San Antonio’s run of excellence over 14 seasons – still come across as if these Finals are all about them.

The Spurs might be breaking it to Miami in the harshest way possible that the series just might be about them instead. They might wind up as equal to or better than the Heat over a span of six or seven games.

“We’re just trying to will it to happen,” Duncan said. “We hope we can respond better next game than we have after wins. That’s the one thing we want to clean up. Every one of us wants this very badly, from the top on down.”

Well, what d’ya know? The Spurs want to play better after winning. The Heat is frantic again after losing. That speaks volumes about Miami’s leadership, maturity and maybe even arrogance.

Any extended playoff series is about adjustments and there have been plenty. Also, the longer a series goes, the more flaws become visible on both sides. If this goes seven, whoever wins will be a three-time loser in the Finals.

Still, San Antonio made 60 percent of its field goals in the most pressurized game it has played this season. It didn’t exploit Miami’s greatest vulnerability, with a mere 36-34 edge in rebounds in game 5. The Spurs even survived 19 turnovers, which is like Superman surviving Kryptonite underwear.

Somehow, through it all, Boris Diaw, the Parisian doughboy, stymied the four-time Most Valuable Player through long stretches of Sunday’s game, a surprise switch-up from usual defender Kawhi Leonard. Parker reacted like a bull reacts to red whenever he saw Heat guard Norris Cole trying to guard him.

And Parker couldn’t help smiling and shaking his head at how neglectful the vaunted Miami defense has been on Danny Green, the unheralded role player who suddenly owns the NBA Finals record for most 3-pointers in a series (25) and is an improbable Finals MVP candidate for the team with the 3-2 lead.

The Heat, once again, was consistent only in inconsistency. Their adversity dials weren’t cranked up enough, this only being Game 5 of the NBA finals.

“There were times where we crawled back into it,” coach Erik Spoelstra said, “but we were not very efficient, did not move the ball the way we needed to, didn’t have the necessary patience in those key times, end of the first, end of the third. … We just weren’t executing with any kind of precision.”

James and Wade, in particular, were kept out of the paint or bothered whenever they entered. Defensively, neither showed the level of effort – which translates into leadership – required for the game’s highest level.

The two spoke afterward about fixing this or that, but whatever they need for Game 6 was there inside for Game 5. It just stayed untapped.

San Antonio tapped in instead.

“You just keep playing,” Popovich said. “We didn’t change defenses or put in a trick play or any of that kind of stuff. At this point it’s about competing. Players playing well and competing.”

The “Big Three” Heat will be facing the fifth and, if they’re lucky, sixth elimination games in their three postseasons together. They have trailed nine times in their 12 playoff series.

The most pertinent predicament to this: in the 2011 Finals, Miami went home down 3-2 to Dallas. Four quarters later, they went home, period.

“We challenge ourselves to see if we’re a better team than we was,” Wade said. “Everything happens for a reason and this is not a bad reason at all to go home for Game 6 on your home floor.”

At no point, however, in their 27-game winning streak did Miami beat the San Antonio Spurs twice in three nights.

Of the Spurs, Wade said: “They understand winning that last game is one of the hardest things you’re going to do.”

Miami can’t even think that way yet, forced to focus now on winning that next game.

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Film Study: Spurs Go Iso In Game 5

June 17, 2013  ·  12:26PM

SAN ANTONIO – From an Xs and Os standpoint, these Finals were billed as the San Antonio Spurs’ pick-and-roll game vs. the Miami Heat’s traps. Then came Game 5, when the Spurs switched things up and put themselves on the brink of their fifth championship with isolation basketball.

More isolations were not necessarily a part of the Spurs’ game plan. In many ways, the opportunities presented themselves, beginning with when Norris Cole checked into the game.

Cole replaced Mario Chalmers with 4:32 to go in the first quarter. And on four of the Spurs’ next five possessions, Tony Parker went right at him, getting two buckets in the paint and drawing two fouls. Parker again blew by Cole on the final possession of the first half, going about 55 feet in 4.1 seconds …

On that first possession, while his teammates were running a play, Parker just went straight at Cole. On two others, he didn’t bother using Tim Duncan‘s screen, instead backing out so he could get Cole one-on-one. And in the middle, he went straight at Cole in transition.

Both Parker and Cole checked out after that and the play before the half was Parker’s next chance to go at him. It was a matchup that Parker obviously wanted to exploit, and he did it for nine points on five possessions in the first half.

Cole played just 2:21 of non-garbage time in the second half, entering the game when Parker was taking a rest. But Parker found other matchups he liked, taking advantage of the Heat’s switches on pick-and-rolls to attack Shane Battier, Mike Miller, Dwyane Wade and Miller again …

On each of those possessions, Parker was initially guarded by LeBron James. But on pick-and-rolls involving two non-bigs, the Heat were switching. (Chris Bosh and Udonis Haslem, conversely, would step out, wait for Parker’s defender to get back to him, and then recover to their own man.)

Switching takes some of the bite out of the Heat’s aggressive defense, keeps that second defender *out of Parker’s vision, and allows him to pick which defender he wants to attack. If the Heat are switching and Miller or Ray Allen is on the floor, it should almost be automatic that their man sets a screen for Parker.

* Go back to the Game 2 Film Study and check the screenshot with Chris Andersen keeping Parker from making a penetrating pass.

Parker led all scorers with 26 points and was a perfect 10-for-10 from within 10 feet of the basket on Sunday (James and Wade were each 5-for-14, by the way). Seven of those buckets came via isolations, another two came when he attacked Miller or Chalmers in transition, and the last came when he went away from the screen against James.

So none of the 10 baskets were a result of Parker going with the screen, which has been the bread and butter of the Spurs’ offense for the last few years. Teams make adjustments in a playoff series, and Parker picked a good time to throw a wrench in the Heat’s defensive game plan.

Manu Ginobili also picked a good time to play his best game of the season, scoring 24 points and dishing out 10 assists. He too did a lot of damage in one-on-one situations …

The Heat will have to rethink their switching scheme for Game 6 on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET, ABC). They may need to trap all screens (small-big or small-small) to get the ball out of Parker’s hands, force his teammates to make plays, and avoid the one-on-one matchups that he exploited on Sunday.

“They just absolutely outplayed us,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said after Game 5. “At times, they were just picking one guy out at a time and going mano-a-mano. That will change.”

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Right & Wrong: Ginobili, Green Deliver

June 17, 2013  ·  11:10AM

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SAN ANTONIO – With Manu Ginobili‘s 24 points and 10 assists in the San Antonio Spurs’ Game 5 win Sunday night over the Miami Heat, each member of each team’s Big Three has now had a big moment.

In Game 5, LeBron James (8-for-22 from the floor), Dwyane Wade (10-for-22) and Chris Bosh (7-for-11) didn’t shoot great, but they did combine for 66 points, 16 rebounds and 19 assists. Sounds like a winning formula just as the statistics of the Spurs’  Tony Parker, Tim Duncan and surprise starter Ginobili do: 67 points, 15 rebounds and 16 assists.

With such even production, what was the difference in the Spurs’ 114-104 win in Game 5?

The role players.

San Antonio’s continue to come up big. Danny Green hit six more 3-pointers and scored 24 points. Kawhi Leonard went 6-for-8 from the floor for 16 points, plus eight rebounds and three steals. Boris Diaw used his girth to make James uncomfortable for much of the game.

With Ginobili in the starting lineup, the Spurs’ first five all scored between 16 and 24 points. For Miami, Mike Miller and Mario Chalmers combined for seven points on 2-for-11 shooting.

RIGHT: Spurs coach Gregg Popovich‘s decision to insert the struggling Ginboili into the starting lineup paid tremendous dividends. Playing alongside Parker more often allowed Ginobili to play off the ball more with less defensive attention — and often with Miller on him — and he was aggressive with his drives. He knocked down his first two shots early in the first quarter and dished a couple of assists and confidence that had been so elusive rushed back. Ginobili finished with a season-high 24 points and 10 assists and the Spurs moved to 23-2 this season when Ginobili has at least six assists.

WRONG: One reason Popovich put Ginobili in the starting lineup is because Heat coach Erik Spoelstra changed up his starting lineup for Game 4, going for offense with a smaller lineup that included Mike Miller instead of rugged forward Udonis Haslem. Off the bench, Miller was on fire, canning 9-for-10 shots from the beyond the arc. In two games as a starter, Miller is a combined 0-for-2 from the field (both shots from 3-point range) for zero points in nearly 46 minutes.

RIGHT: A few days ago Danny Green said he’s still waiting for someone to pinch him and wake him up. Yeah, well, the Spurs would like for that person to stay away for at least one more win. Green is on an historic hot streak and after he dropped another six 3-pointers in Game 5 on 10 attempts, he’s 25-for-38 (65.8 percent) from beyond the arc. He surpassed Ray Allen with the most 3-point baskets ever in an NBA Finals — and it’s only Game 5. He’s hit four, five, seven, three and six 3s in the first five games. Remarkable.

WRONG: The Heat’s defense on Green. As Parker said after Game 5, how in the world is Green open, ever, beyond the arc at this point in the series? Now, as Green said, he’s not actually open every time, he’s hitting contested 3s as well. The Spurs move the ball so well that it’s impossible to contain Parker, Ginobili and Duncan and still protect the 3-point arc. If the Heat want to stay alive for a Game 7, they’ll have to figure this out.

RIGHT: Dwyane Wade has really dialed back the clock. He had the huge 32-point, six-rebound, four-assist, six-steal Game 4 and followed it up with 25 points and 10 assists in Game 5.

WRONG: Have the tables turned for the Heat? Should we now be saying Wade can’t do it alone? James had his struggles in Game 5, scoring 25 points on 8-for-22 shooting, which included a ghastly 2-for-11 in the second half and 1-for-5 in the fourth quarter with just one free throw attempt in 10:54.

RIGHT: Another example of Pop pushing the right button at the right time was his use of Boris Diaw in Game 5. Diaw logged nine and 11 minutes, respectively in Games 1 and 2 and didn’t play at all in Game 3 before logging another 11 minutes in Game 4. In Game 5? Diaw played 27 minutes and much of that time was spent putting his weight on James, who finished 8-for-22 from the floor.

WRONG: Another example of the Heat getting nothing out of a role player is Chris “Birdman” Andersen — not that it’s his fault. He’s become a victim of Spoelstra’s small-ball lineup. A significant contributor in the East finals against Indiana, Birdman didn’t miss a shot until Game 7 of that series. He played the first three games of this series until Speolstra inserted Miller into the starting lineup and starting bringing Haslem off the bench. So not only have the Heat gotten no scoring out of Miller, they’ve kept their energy guy on the bench.

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Spurs’ Green Light Snags 3-Point Record

June 17, 2013  ·  1:26AM

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SAN ANTONIO – There was a reaction shot of Miami’s Ray Allen floating around the Internet within minutes of Danny Green‘s fourth 3-point field goal Sunday in Game 5 of the 2013 Finals at the AT&T Center.

Danny Green's Game 5 shot chart

Danny Green’s Game 5 shot chart

It showed Allen — the NBA’s all-time 3-point champion and, until Sunday, the record holder for most “makes” from distance in a Finals series — rubbing his head and grimacing immediately after Green’s 3-pointer in transition put the Spurs up 66-60 at 9:40 of the third quarter.

Allen’s sour reaction had everything to do with Miami’s defense leaving Green unguarded yet again and little or nothing to do with the fact that it was Green’s 23rd 3-pointer of the series, which meant it was Allen’s record of 22 got eclipsed.

But the juxtaposition just added heft to what Green has been doing in this championship series, from its opening tip to San Antonio’s wire-to-wire 114-104 victory in Game 5 for a 3-2 edge.

A second-round draft pick, a scrub on LeBron James‘ last Cleveland team, a fellow who was cut twice by the Spurs before wising up and talking his way into another chance, has been pummeling the NBA’s defending champs at a record pace, right in the grill of the league’s 3-point king. Allen, who ranks No. 1 both in 3-pointers taken and made over his 17-year career, hit 22 of his 42 shots while spotted around the arc in the 2008 Finals for the Boston Celtics. That series lasted six games.

Green already has hit 25 on 38 attempts, and this one’s just five games old. (more…)

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Road Ends For Miami, Title Quest Continues

June 16, 2013  ·  2:59PM

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Heat-Spurs: Finals Hub

SAN ANTONIO – The road trips end for the Miami Heat on Sunday night when, win or lose in Game 5 of the 2013 Finals against San Antonio (8 p.m. ET, ABC), the Heat will fly and unpack as a group for the last time in 2012-13.

It wasn’t a winding road for the defending champions as much as it was a bumpy road with one big right turn: After going 11-11 in away games through Feb. 1, Miami went 18-1 the rest of the regular season. It is 6-3 on the road so far in the playoffs.

“Our guys have confidence winning anywhere,” coach Erik Spoelstra said at the team’s shootaround session Sunday morning at The Episcopal School of Texas on the northern outskirts of San Antonio. “That’s never really been a concern. Some of our best games have been on the road. You need veteran poise, experienced leaders to be able to do that.

“Now the challenge is, can we play our best game of the series on the road versus a worthy opponent who’s going to come in desperate?”

The Heat players and coachs are tired of the win-one, lose-one pattern into which they have lapsed since the start of the Eastern Conference finals. Several members of their group have said “Enough is enough” to the defensive lapses and slippages in effort or concentration that have turned them into a .500 club for most of the past month.

Yes, the competition has gotten more keen but that’s when champions are supposed to dial up their games, too.

That’s what happened in February after Miami churned along at a .500 pace through its first 22 road games. Focus understandably was a challenge for a team whose season would be defined by what it did in May and June, but the 11-11 start included double-digit road spankings from New York, Memphis, Indiana, Milwaukee and even Detroit.

Defensive letdowns – of the sort that allowed for San Antonio’s 113-77 rout in Game 3 Tuesday – were cleaned up as Miami began to sense the finish line even before it could see it, and the quality of play necessary to repeat. So instead of giving up 97.4 points as they had in those first 22 road games, they limited opponents to 90.7 over their final 19.

Not coincidentally, the Heat’s 27-game winning streak began with a 15-point victory over the Raptors at Toronto. They were just as good on the road as at home (19-1) after that. Miami’s 29-12 road record is as good as or better than any Finals team since the 2008 Boston Celtics. Its 6-3 playoff mark is an improvement from the first two springs of the “Big Three” era, when Miami went 5-5 on the road while splitting a pair of Finals.

“We knew to defend our title, playing on the road was a huge part of it,” forward Chris Bosh said after the regular season of the turning point back in February. “We stopped making excuses and got the job done.”

Through the 11-11 stretch, there were several things that Miami needed to fix and clean up before it could turn the road in its favor. But now, after four-and-a-half months in which they have gone 24-4?

“Hotel food gets old,” backup Shane Battier said, laughing. “That’s all I got. You want something deep and philosophical? Hotel food gets old.”

One more thing about road work in The Finals: San Antonio, which was 23-18 and 7-2 in the playoffs away from home, shouldn’t count on winning Games 6 and 7 in Miami, if it comes to that. No road team has in the 2-3-2 format.

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Can Spurs Crank Up The 3-ball?

June 16, 2013  ·  12:30PM

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SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Spurs are a remarkable 34-for-68 from beyond the arc in the last three games. But the number that stands out more is 16. That’s how many 3-point attempts they took in losing Game 4, which equaled the number they made in winning Game 3.

Attempting 16 shots from 3-point range isn’t enough for a team that averaged 21.0 in the regular season and can bury an opponent with an avalanche of 3-balls.

“They have a great defense, you have to give them credit,” Spurs point guard Tony Parker said of the Miami Heat’s ability to close-out on 3-point shooters and take away shots. “We just have to play better.”

Tonight’s Game 5 (8 ET, ABC) is critical for both teams. But it could mean do-or-die for the Spurs, who will have to play Games 6 and, if necessary, 7 on the road. The Spurs know they can squeak out a win if the 3-pointer isn’t falling — they took Game 1 in Miami going 7-for-23 thanks largely to just four turnovers — but they’re far more deadly when the long ball is falling and the home crowd reaches a fever pitch.

A key tonight is how well San Antonio moves the basketball, keeps Miami’s trapping defense scrambling, avoids turnovers and creates those open looks for its 3-point shooters. In the two games San Antonio has won, it has committed 17 total turnovers. In the two losses, the number is 36.

“We need to be efficient just with our execution more than anything,” said Danny Green, who is 19-for-28 (67.9 percent) from beyond the arc in the series. “It would be nice to make shots, but if we execute defensively and offensively, move the ball and continue to run our sets the way we’re supposed to and not turn it over, it will give us a better chance.”

Other items of note:

  • Parker said he has received virtually round-the-clock treatment on his ailing right hamstring. “I feel pretty good,” he said. “Hopefully I can play two halves at the same level.” Parker scored 15 points in the first half of Game 4, but went scoreless in the second half and played just three minutes in the fourth quarter. He described his hamstring as feeling “weak” in the second half.
  • Spurs forward Tiago Splitter has had a forgettable series to this point, averaging 5.8 ppg and an anemic 2.8 rpg in 21.3 mpg. He’s gone from shooting better than 63 percent in both the second round and conference final to 38.1 percent against Miami, an awful percentage for any player, but especially one who spends most of his time around the basket. That’s also where he’s been rejected more than once. There was the LeBron James stopper at the rim in Game 2 and Splitter embarrassingly found himself getting blocked by Dwyane Wade and Shane Battier in Game 4. “Miami’s had a lot to do with that,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “They’ve done a good job on him and he hasn’t been able to finish. He’s done what he always does, but he hasn’t finished the same and it’s because of Miami’s defense.”
  • Heat coach Erik Spoelstra shook up his starting lineup for Game 4 going with shooter Mike Miller over rugged forward Udonis Haslem. Will Popovich follow suit? Splitter’s weak play in Game 4 led to him logging just 14 minutes, his second-lowest mark of the playoffs, and to taking a seat to start the second half. Boris Diaw got the call, but Popovich said Sunday morning that he as of now he plans to stick with his usual starting five. However, he did leave himself some wiggle room: “That could change.”

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Big Or Small — Does It Matter?

June 15, 2013  ·  5:32PM

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SAN ANTONIO – Not only did the Miami Heat change their starting lineup in Game 4 of The Finals, but they played small (with only one big man on the floor) for the full 48 minutes. The result was a 16-point victory.

Over the course of the series, the numbers make it clear that the Heat have been better, particularly on offense, when they’ve played small.

Heat pace and efficiency, 2013 Finals

Lineups MIN Pace OffRtg DefRtg NetRtg +/-
Big 50 89.0 80.1 101.0 -20.9 -23
Small 131 90.3 119.3 105.5 +13.9 +29
Garbage time 11 89.5 68.9 116.3 -47.4 -11
Total 192 89.9 106.6 104.9 +1.7 -5

Pace = Possessions per 48 minutes
OffRtg = Points scored per 100 possessions
DefRtg = Points allowed per 100 possessions
NetRtg = Point differential per 100 possessions

The Spurs’ big lineups have played better (+2.0 points per 100 possessions) than their small lineups (-13.8), but that discrepancy is less than half that of the Heat’s. So you could say that the series has been determined more by what kind of lineup Miami has played than by what kind San Antonio has played. The Heat’s offensive advantages when playing small are obvious. The extra shooter either makes defenses pay for paying extra attention to LeBron James, or gives James more space to operate.

So, is staying small the key to winning two more games? Not according to Dwyane Wade, who said that the lineup change “had no big impact” on the Heat’s performance in Game 4.

“I don’t think that had anything to do with the reason we played better,” Wade said before the Heat practiced on Saturday. “I think we just played better, for one, because there was some … if we lose that game, it’s trouble. We might not make it back to Miami. So in a sense, we had a little nervousness in us. We played with that nervous energy. And we did what we normally do. We respond where we need to.

“So I think we were going to play a better game, not matter who is on the floor.”

Whether they’re playing big or small, Wade believes it’s about the Heat’s mentality. We saw Thursday how good they can be when the Heat’s Big Three play active and aggressive on both ends of the floor. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Saturday that the team’s last few wins have come when James, Wade and Chris Bosh “had our three highest defensive grades, the way we chart it.”

The problem, of course, is that the Heat have only had that nervous energy – or urgency, if you will – in games following a loss. And to win two straight championships, they’re going to have to win two straight games.

That could happen in Games 6 and 7 back in Miami if the Spurs win Game 5 on Sunday (8 p.m. ET, ABC), but James believes the time is now.

“I think it’s time,” James said. “I think we’re well overdue when it’s time for us to win consecutive games. I think we’re at 11 or 12 straight consecutive win loss, win loss, win loss. I think it’s time. Enough is enough for our team. I’m not saying it’s going to result in us having a win, but we need to play with the same sense of urgency as if we were down 2-1 or whatever the case may be tomorrow night. And we can’t wait around.”

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