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24-Second Thoughts On Game 6

June 19, 2013  ·  12:52AM

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 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 name 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 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 NBA 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 (73) /

24-Second Thoughts On Game 5

June 16, 2013  ·  11:26PM

24 – Manu Ginobili making Gregg Popovich look like the genius he is by starting him (much the same way Mike Miller made Erik Spoelstra look like a hoops Einstein by starting his veteran shooter in Game 4). Manu’s energy and effort early on will likely set the tone for the Spurs, who need a spark after getting handled the way they did in Game 4. Bald spot or not, Ginobili remains a champion and will show a champion’s heart in this game. Guaranteed.

23 – Tim Duncan and Chris Bosh are absolutely going at it in the post. You have to wonder how this series might have gone for the Heat if Bosh had played like this in Games 1, 2 and or 3 … he doesn’t have to get the better of Duncan. He needs only make Duncan work overtime (they are trying to front him on every offensive possession) for his offensive touches and put the pressure on him to defend Bosh in a similar manner on the other end of the floor.

22 – The Spurs’ balance is ruling the day early. They open a 10-point lead late in the first quarter bolstered by said balance and some great defensive work … make that a 12-point lead after another fantastic stop and scramble that results in a Kawhi Leonard dunk with 60 seconds to play. Their 29-17 lead was really 5-on-3. The only Heat players to score until the final seconds of the quarter were Bosh, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James. Ray Allen scored the Heat’s only other basket

21 – Leonard has been exposed as a no-frills performer, rivaling Duncan for the title of the most boring (in a good way) player in this series. But how anyone can watch this guy work on both ends of the floor and conclude that he’s anything other than a star in the making is beyond me. He’s been spectacular working against LeBron basically the entire series. His 3 from the corner pushes the lead to 32-19 at the end of the first quarter.

20 – Danny Green for 3 … again. Welcome back to The Finals roller coaster folks. This series swings so wildly in one direction or the other on a given night that it’s impossible to get a feel for which team has any real rhythm. I don’t know if that’s a credit to the team that’s hot or an indictment of the team that’s getting torched. Either way, it makes for spectacular viewing. Green has tied Allen’s record for 3-pointers made in The Finals (22), with a shot over Allen, and we’ve got more than six minutes until halftime.

19 – The Spurs have absolutely no one who can cover LeBron in the post consistently, just as the Heat have no one who can cover Duncan in the post consistently. At least no one can single-cover either one of them on a regular basis. If we get another close game it’ll be interesting to see if Popovich or Spoelstra goes there on a final play.

18 – Parker with a sweet drive and finish to wrap up a breakneck first half for both teams. Spurs are shooting a wicked 62 percent in the first half with four of the five starters in double figures already and the fifth (Leonard) has nine. Loving the bounce back on both sides. Pop says it best, “this game is a big boy game.” The fact that both coaches continue to implore their guys to crank up the tempo is perhaps my favorite part of this series. It’s rare that you see teams willing to play to what could be the others strength on purpose. Supreme confidence on both sides. Splendid.

17 – Jay-Z comes up with three minutes of funky stuff, coming July 4, at the end of an instant classic first half that sends Twitter and Facebook into a frenzy.
(more…)

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Posted in 2013 NBA Finals: Spurs-Heat, 2013 NBA Playoffs, 2013 The Finals / Comments (103) /

Back-And-Forth Finals Sets Up Game 5

June 16, 2013  ·  10:41AM

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SAN ANTONIO – The games haven’t been close, but the series has gone back and forth. Now, The Finals and the 2012-13 NBA championship is down to a three-game series. And if you say you know what’s going to happen next, you’re lying.

The basics:
Game 5 tips off Sunday night at 8 ET on ABC.

This is the 11th time that The Finals have been tied 2-2 since going to the 2-3-2 format in 1985 (see table below). The winner of Game 5 has gone on to win the title in seven of the previous 10 instances. The home team has won six of those 10 Game 5s and and gone on to close out the series on the road (in Game 6) three of the six times. Each of the four times the road team has won Game 5, they’ve gone on to win the series back at home.

The narrative:
To win two straight championships, the Heat need to win two straight games. But they haven’t done that since the conference semifinals. Since stepping up in competition, they’ve yet to put two championship-caliber performances together.

The inconsistency starts with starters Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Mario Chalmers, who have averaged 43.0 points on 50 percent shooting in the Heat’s last six wins and just 34.2 points on 36 percent shooting in their last five losses. But there’s also been a lot more defensive energy in the wins. And for the Heat, stops often turn into better shots on the other end of the floor.

Games 6 and 7 (if necessary) will be in Miami, but LeBron James believes the time is now for the Heat to finally back up a win with another.

The subplots:
When things get tight for the Spurs, Manu Ginobili is often the guy who comes up with big plays. But Ginobili has been out of sorts all series and is shooting 11-for-35 (31 percent) over his last five games, including 3-for-19 (16 percent) from 3-point range. He has more turnovers (13) than buckets in that stretch and has the worst plus-minus (minus-36) in The Finals.

Given the likelihood that their role players aren’t going to shoot as well as they did in Game 3, the Spurs need Ginobili as a secondary playmaker when Tony Parker is both on and off the floor. And if the sixth man doesn’t get out of his funk, the Spurs probably aren’t going to win the series.

The Heat’s ability to get into the paint and to the line will always be critical. They’ve averaged 61.0 points in the paint and at the line in their two wins and 42.5 in their two losses. Their jumpers were also falling in the two wins, but they must play inside-out and not settle for the perimeter shots that the Spurs are often begging them to take.

Xs and Os:
Neither team is going to make any serious tactical adjustments after four games. At this point, assuming that both teams will bring the proper energy for such a crucial game, it comes down to execution. The Spurs want to play like they did in Game 3 and the Heat want to play like they did in Game 4. And it’s really as simple as that.

The Spurs, who have totaled 36 turnovers in their two losses, must first take care of the ball. Getting Tim Duncan some low-post touches would be great, but they can’t force things against the Heat’s denial. On pick-and-rolls, their bigs must create passing lanes for Parker to get them the ball.

Defensively, San Antonio must get back in transition, keep James from getting to the basket, and find Mike Miller and Ray Allen before they get near the 3-point line.

Miami obviously needs to be active and aggressive defensively, force turnovers, and get out on the break. But their weak-side defense is just as important as their strong-side denials and traps, because the Spurs have the shooters to make them pay for double-teams. If their rotations aren’t crisp and organized, Game 5 might look a lot like Game 3.

Who’s hot?
Amazingly, the Heat didn’t need threes from Miller (0-for-1) or Allen (1-for-4) in Game 4. But that doesn’t mean that the Spurs can leave them open. Miller is still a scorching 9-for-11 from beyond the arc in the series, while Allen is 7-for-13. James has assisted on half of their 16 total threes.

Danny Green (19-for-28 on threes) and Gary Neal (12-for-22) continued their hot shooting on Thursday. They’ve been assisted by 10 different teammates on the 31 total threes.

Whatever happened to…
Mario Chalmers? The Heat’s point guard came up huge in their Game 2 win, leading all scorers with 19 points on 6-for-12 shooting. Then he went 0-for-5 in Game 3 and missed his first two shots of Game 4. He did hit two big threes in the third quarter on Thursday and big performances from the big three meant that the Heat didn’t need much production from him, but Game 5 could be different.

If Wade or Bosh can’t put two straight All-Star performances together or if James doesn’t shoot well from the outside, Chalmers will need to step up.

Game 5 results with Finals tied 2-2, since 1985 (winner in CAPS)

Year Away Score Home Score Series result
1985 Boston 111 L.A. LAKERS 120 L.A. in 6
1988 L.A. Lakers 94 DETROIT 104 L.A. in 7
1992 CHICAGO 119 Portland 106 Chicago in 6
1994 Houston 84 NEW YORK 91 Houston in 7
1997 CHICAGO 90 Utah 88 Chicago in 6
2003 SAN ANTONIO 93 New Jersey 83 San Antonio in 6
2005* SAN ANTONIO 96 Detroit 95 San Antonio in 7
2006* Dallas 100 MIAMI 101 Miami in 6
2010 L.A. Lakers 86 BOSTON 92 L.A. in 7
2011 Miami 103 DALLAS 112 Dallas in 6

* Game 5 went to overtime

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Posted in 2013 NBA Finals: Spurs-Heat / Comments (8) /

Right & Wrong: No Stops, No Celebrations

June 14, 2013  ·  11:13AM

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SAN ANTONIO – Yeah, yeah, yeah, reports of the Big Three’s demise were premature. We get it. LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh played up to their hype in Game 4, combining for 85 of the Miami Heat’s 109 points in another 2013 Finals game that can be classified as a blowout.

What wound up as a 16-point outcome, though, was a mere five-pointer with 8:46 left, though. And let’s get something else straight: James hadn’t put the pressure on Miami’s Big Three to come through Thursday night at the AT&T Center, as some revisionist accounts suggest. James had put the burden on himself and, if anything, marginalized Wade and Bosh to the point that they hitched up their big-boy pants in response.

Meanwhile, the series’ other Big Three — Tony Parker, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili — has been marked down to a Not-So-Big Two-Point-Two or so. Ginboli has been the primary drag with his low production, shaky ball handling and non-factoritis. But Duncan (five rebounds in Game 4) and Parker (scoreless second half) are underperforming their reputations too.

RIGHT: No rings, no rebounds, Heat boss Pat Riley famously said. But the Heat are demonstrating the next level of alliteration: No stops, no celebrations. Defense fueled Miami’s series-tying victory. It had 13 steals, seven blocked shots, a 41-38 rebounding edge — and Chris “Birdman” Andersen never played. Wade (6) and Mario Chalmers (4) combined to grab more rebounds than Duncan (5) and Tiago Splitter (3).

WRONG: The Mike Miller-as-starter lineup switcheroo by Heat coach Erik Spoelstra didn’t cost his team the game but it didn’t win it either. At best, it might have served as a reminder to the Heat and the world that Miami’s best approach is small ball. San Antonio jumped to a 15-5 lead with Miller bumping Udonis Haslem from the starting lineup and still led 19-14 when he sat down for the first time. Miller’s streak of eight consecutive 3-pointers ended with the added responsibility and he finished the night with no points, one rebound and two assists. (more…)

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Game 4: The Impact Plays

June 14, 2013  ·  1:33AM

SAN ANTONIO – The most important play in a game isn’t always the one you remember most. Sometimes, it’s subtle and doesn’t even make the highlight reel. Sometimes, something as simple as a change in possession can be more important than a shot that does or doesn’t go in.

The NBA has a way to use analytics to figure out just which plays had the biggest impact on a close game. It’s a “leverage” model that was developed to evaluate and instruct referees by pointing out which calls or no-calls had the biggest impact on a game’s result.

Here’s the idea: At every point of a game, each team has a certain probability of winning. Putting the quality of each team to the side, when the game tips off, the home team has a 60 percent probability of winning and the road team has a 40 percent probability of winning. After the first basket, those numbers haven’t changed much. But if the home team is up 10 with the ball and five minutes to go in the fourth quarter, their win probability (WP) is obviously a lot greater than 60 percent.

So, by calculating win probability both before and after a play occurs, it can be determined just how important that play was. Score, possession and location are the factors. And obviously, plays in the last few minutes of the fourth quarter (or overtime) in a close game are more important than any others.

Using the league’s data model, we’ve determined the three most important plays of Game 4 of The Finals, a comfortable 109-93 win for the Miami Heat that evened the series at two games apiece

The Heat didn’t put the game away until they went on a 16-6 run midway through the fourth quarter, but the biggest plays of the night came before that, with the game still in the balance late in the third and early in the fourth.

3. +8.1 percent – Neal drains a 3

 

 

In the midst of scoring on 11 of their final 12 possessions of the third quarter, the Heat had a six point lead and looked to be taking control. But after a LeBron James miss in the post, the Spurs got the ball quickly up the floor. Ray Allen was able to get to Danny Green in the corner, but Green found a trailing Gary Neal, who (of course) didn’t hesitate to jack up a 3 that pulled San Antonio within three with 1:39 left in the period.

The 3 changed the Spurs’ WP from 31.3 percent to 39.4 percent.

2. +8.8 percent – Wade’s and-one

 

 

On the very next possession, the Heat’s first few options were well covered and Dwyane Wade had the ball in the corner. But when James slipped a corner screen, neither Green nor Manu Ginobili stayed with Wade, who drove, drew a foul on Green, and hit a tough bank shot as he was falling to the ground. He then converted the free throw to put the Heat back up six.

The play increased the Heat’s WP from 60.6 percent to 69.4 percent.

1. +12.6 percent – James’ steal leads to Allen’s trey

 

 

Miami’s lead was five in the first minute of the fourth quarter when Ginobili hit a rolling Tiago Splitter in the lane. As Splitter came down with the ball, he tried to kick it to Kawhi Leonard in the corner. But James, who had helped off Leonard, read Splitter’s mind and took the ball right out of his hands.

(James’ defensive anticipation was rather ridiculous all night.)

James raced up the floor, drew four Spurs defenders into the paint and got the ball to Norris Cole in the left corner. Cole was wide open, but spotted Allen on the wing. Leonard closed out on Allen, but a pump fake got him out of the way. Allen drained the 3 (one of only four the Heat made all night) to increase the lead to eight points.

Before James’ steal, the Heat’s WP was 67.6 percent. The change of possession increased it to 72.6 percent (+5.0) and the three made it 80.2 percent (+7.6).

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24-Second Thoughts On Game 4

June 14, 2013  ·  12:05AM

 

24 – I love the kids as much as the next guy, but I’m wondering, is there an adult in either city capable of belting out the anthem?

23 – I know this is supposed to be about The Finals but I can’t stop daydreaming about what the Clippers would look like with Doc Rivers running the show … and maybe KG around to mentor Blake Griffin?

22 – Danny Green gets an open 3 early off Tony Parker‘s penetration. That hammy doesn’t appear to be much of an issue early either. Spurs are locked in right now. This is the fifth quarter of Game 3 for Green and Gary Neal, who is in seconds into the game.

21 – How long does this Dwyane Wade last? I wish he and Manu Ginobili had faced off in their respective primes. It would have been crazy to see them square off in 2005.

20 – Heat look much sharper defensively. Wade triggers the break again with a steal. And Freight Train LeBron James has suddenly appeared in San Antonio. Buckle up Spurs fans, it’s going to be a wild one tonight.

19 – Impressive rebounding from the Heat. Championship steady as they fought off the Spurs’ early flurry. From down 10 to up 29-26 at the end of the first, the earth tilts back on its axis after 48 hours of Heat doomsday scenarios.

18 – Tiago Splitter victimized again at the rim by a smaller man (Wade). Pump fake Tiago. Pump fake. Shane Battier gets him, too. Disgraceful!

17 – Every single time we count Wade out he comes back with an effort like this. And to think folks debated whether or not he should benched. Where he finds this resolve is beyond me. Left for dead one night and the most dominant force on the floor two nights later. The Finals has been his playground in the past, might he revisit 2006 tonight?

16 – The city of Miami and Heat Nation just went into shock with Wade on the sideline getting stretched after the foul and block attempt on Duncan … relax folks, he’s fine. Just needed to stretch out a little bit. This is his game now.

15 – I’m ready to take the “arguably” tag off of Parker’s “best point guard in the league” title. Anybody can shine. But can you do it on this stage? (more…)

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Tony Parker On Game 4: ‘I’ll Be Ready’

June 13, 2013  ·  12:02PM

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SAN ANTONIO – Tony Parker will play tonight in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.

“I’ll be ready to go,” the All-Star point guard said after participating in the San Antonio Spurs’ Thursday morning shootaround.

Parker provided no other information about the status of his ailing right hamstring. An MRI on Wednesday revealed a Grade 1 strain and he was listed as day-to-day. With each inquiry about pain or limited mobility, Parker stuck with the mantra, “I’ll be ready to go.”

The Spurs lead the series, 2-1.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was first to break the good news, but also kept any information regarding Parker’s ability to play at or near full strength, or if he’ll take precaution in how he’ll utilize Parker to himself: “He’ll play,” Popovich said. “Tony’s ready to go.”

That’s huge news for the Spurs, who desperately need their leading scorer and assist man of the postseason to orchestrate the offense against the Heat’s defense.

“When he’s going, he’s pretty much our whole offense,” said reserve guard Gary Neal, who said Parker looked good during a light shootaround. “We pretty much feed off of him as far as him scoring or him making plays for other people to score. That’s a big brick off of our shoulders that Tony’s coming out and playing tonight.”

Parker is averaging 23.1 ppg and 7.1 apg while shooting 47 percent in the playoffs.

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James, Parker Pose Game 4 Questions

June 13, 2013  ·  10:52AM

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SAN ANTONIO – This is the equivalent of Hump Day in The Finals. Another Spurs victory puts them up 3-1 in the best-of-seven series, a gap that no trailing team ever has overcome in Finals history. But a bounce-back performance from the Heat evens the series at 2-2, extends it to at least six games and boosts the chances for only the fourth Finals Game 7 in the past 25 years.

The basics:
Game 4 tips off Thursday night at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.

With each team winning once by blowout so far — Miami with its 103-84 victory Sunday, followed by San Antonio’s 113-77 rout two days later — there’s hope that things will settle back into single-digit margin basketball. Each of the two previous Finals teams that won games by at least 36 points — Chicago in 1998, Boston in 2008 — won the championship.

Miami is no stranger to trailing in playoff series, having done so twice already this postseason and three times last year, including 1-0 in The Finals vs. Oklahoma City. The Heat leans heavily on its resiliency, its confidence buoyed from going five months without suffering even a two-game losing streak. Besides, it’s not as if Miami hasn’t won in San Antonio before. It has — three times in 26 tries through the years.

The narrative:
LeBron James has vowed to play better. Nervous Heat fans might say to that, “How can he not?” The reigning Most Valuable Player has yet to score 20 points in the three games (he’s averaging 16.7) and he’s shooting 38.9 percent after hitting 56.5 percent in the regular season. Even more unexpectedly, after averaging one free throw attempt every 5.4 minutes on the court, James is at 1-per-20.2 minutes in this series. He has been going with his noble instincts of making the right basketball play, despite his teammates’ inability to step up consistently. Miami at this point needs Take-Over LeBron more than Share-The-Ball LeBron, even though coach Erik Spoelstra rightly says, “It’s not all on him, it’s all of us.”

San Antonio has its own concern: Tony Parker‘s right hamstring. An MRI exam Wednesday diagnosed his Game 3 injury as a Grade 1 strain. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said after Thursday’s shootaround that Parker will play in Game 4, which alleviates one big concern for San Antonio. But if the All-Star point guard is at all limited or not as effective, reserve Cory Joseph will be pressed into a bigger role at the position, while Parker’s offensive impact will shift to backcourt mate Manu Ginobili. The Spurs’ 11-5 record this season when playing without Parker? Don’t look to that much, because none of those games was played against the defending champions at full strength. (more…)

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Posted in 2013 NBA Finals: Spurs-Heat / Comment (1) /

Hang Time Podcast (Episode 121): All Aboard The Finals Roller Coaster

June 13, 2013  ·  9:16AM

MIAMI — Trying to predict the totally unpredictable is the easiest way to humble yourself during the NBA season. Doing it during the playoffs is an even more of a gut punch. Attempting to handicap the roller coaster that is The Finals, however, is another experience altogether.

Things change on a possession by possession basis when a team’s entire season is one the line.

We made our predictions last week (along with NBA.com’s John Schuhmann) and then the San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat made us regret ever opening our mouths by playing three wildly different games that have led us to tonight’s Game 4 in San Antonio (9 p.m. ET, ABC).

We’re still talking about Tony Parker and LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Chris Bosh. We just can’t mention them without also discussing Danny Green, Mike Miller, Kawhi Leonard, Mario Chalmers, Gary Neal, and Ray Allen, role players who have all played huge roles in the outcomes of the first three games.

So who plays hero tonight? Who swings this series in their team’s favor? Can Parker overcome that hamstring strain and lead the Spurs? Does LeBron deliver on his promise to “play better?“

We examine all of that and more on Episode 121 of the Hang Time Podcast … (and yes, we’re still trying to find Rick Fox) … 

LISTEN HERE:

As always, we welcome your feedback. You can follow the entire crew, including the Hang Time Podcast, co-hosts Sekou Smith of NBA.com,  Lang Whitaker of NBA.com’s All-Ball Blog and renaissance man Rick Fox of NBA TV, as well as our new super producer Gregg (just like Popovich) Waigand and the best engineer in the business,  Jarell “I Heart Peyton Manning” Wall.

– To download the podcast, click here. To subscribe via iTunes, click here, or get the xml feed if you want to subscribe some other, less iTunes-y way.

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Posted in 2013 The Finals, HT News, Podcast / Comments (3) /

If Parker Sits, Ginobili Must Rise Up

June 12, 2013  ·  5:19PM




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SAN ANTONIO – Manu Ginobili is on notice.

The slumping shooting guard will serve as the San Antonio Spurs’ primary ballhandler in Game 4 if point guard Tony Parker is unable to play. Parker is in a holding pattern after an MRI on Wednesday revealed a mild hamstring strain. He attended the Spurs’ light workout at the AT&T Center, but did not participate in any drills.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said he will wait until Thursday to determine Parker’s readiness to play against the Miami Heat. San Antonio, blowout winners in Game 3, holds a 2-1 lead over the defending champs.

“Coach Pop always prefers the rest to avoid injury,” Parker said. “If it was the regular season I would definitely rest, I would not play. And same thing here, it’s an injury and so we’ll see. We’ll see how I feel [Thursday]. Obviously, it’s the Finals, you know? I know Pop is always going to prefer we take no risk.”

If Parker can’t go, Ginobili will likely remain the sixth man with either Cory Joseph, who begged for an NBA D-League assignment this season to get some work, or 3-point bomber Gary Neal, replacing Parker in the starting lineup.

But there’s no doubt that Ginobili will have to play better than he has throughout this postseason and particularly this series in which he’s averaging 8.3 ppg and shooting 37.5 percent while playing 23.7 mpg, or about what Neal is logging. Ginobili has four total rebounds and six turnovers — twice the number of 3-pointers he’s made in the series — alarmingly throwing the ball away during routine halfcourt sets.

The Spurs went 11-5 without Parker during the regular season, but no one’s kidding themselves. This isn’t February.

“At this stage, at this time,” Tim Duncan said, “it would be obviously a huge loss for us.”

Perhaps if the 35-year-old Ginobili was in a better flow, the potential blow of playing without Parker would be lessened. But just as Ginobili’s performances have slipped, Parker has excelled as the Spurs’ do-it-all floor general. The Spurs’ offensive efficiency begins in his hands and the Heat’s defense has targeted Parker as the primary weapon.

“If he’s limited, it’s going to be hard because we know we need his speed, his judgment, his pick-and-rolls,” Ginobili said. “Because from that we create a lot of offense. And if we don’t have him, or if we have him limited, it’s going to be very, very difficult. But we’ll have to figure it out and find other answers.”

Ginobili got off to an inspired start in his first few minutes of Game 3, twice taking Dwyane Wade off the dribble for a layup followed by a rousing two-handed dunk. He’d make just one more bucket the rest of the way, finishing 3-for-7 from the floor for seven points, his eighth single-digit output of the playoffs, plus a couple of turnovers in 23 minutes.

He missed all four of his 3-point attempts and is now 3-for-13 in the series from beyond the arc and is shooting 30.9 percent from downtown throughout the postseason. Ginobili is a career 37.2-percent shooter from 3-point range.

If Parker sits, Ginobili must figure out his game and come to the rescue.

As of now, he is on notice.

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

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