I took a day to write this...that is the luxury of doing this for a hobby as opposed to sportswriters who do it for a living. If you read my pre-Finals post I thought the Heat would win the series, in fact I didn't give the Spurs much of a chance...but the way this series went down the Spurs could have easily won it, and that hurts me as a fan, can't image how the players feel.
I thought it would take some extra ordinary things to happen for the Spurs to win it all and they got it. Game 1, NBA Finals tying record for least turnovers with just four. Game 3, NBA record 16 three pointers. Game 5, a 60% shooting night.
Meanwhile, for the Heat, LeBron James was tentative to take jumpers. Dwayne Wade was slowed by injuries. Chris Bosh wasn't doing much.
Then Game 6 back in Miami. The Spurs got the one more performance it would take to upset the heat when Tim Duncan went for 30 points and 12 rebounds (5 offensive). They just couldn't close the deal. Suddenly, Bosh was making defensive plays and James finally found his jumper. The Heat also got some help from Mario Chambers with 20 points (4-5 three pointers). It all went perfect for the Heat. Popovich even making coaching mistakes in the waning moments of regulation. Funny that this was the best free throw shooting team of the Pop-Duncan era and that was one of the things that let them down in the end.
I don't know what the sports media is saying about Game 7...I've avoided sports related shows/websites since Thursday night...but if they are saying the Spurs were broken by the Game 6 loss, I would say they're wrong. In Game 7, the Heat found themselves again. James was hitting the jumpers the Spurs were daring for him to shoot all series long (32 PTS, 12-23, 12 REB, 4 AST). Wade played a "Wade-like" game (23 PTS, 11-21, 10 REB), the best all-around game he's played in the series. Shane Battier decided to re-live last years Finals and hit 6-8 threes. I have to wonder if Battier is the only player in NBA history to only attempt 3-point shots over the course of entire series. The Heats defense took Tony Parker out of his game and the pick-n-roll motion offense the Spurs run, was done. The Spurs even stopped trying to run it in the 4th quarter. A co-worker mentioned that he saw something that said Parker was still feeling the effects of the pulled hamstring, but I haven't seen anything written about that.
Despite all that the Spurs had a chance in Game 7. I have to give the Spurs credit for their heart. With their normal offense rendered useless, not getting much from Parker, Danny Green suddenly coming back down to earth, and James/Wade doing their thing (add Game 6 if you like), the Spurs could have just packed it in. For the 2nd straight game the Heat out shot the Spurs from the 3-point line (12-32 vs 6-19). No one shot well (.378 as a team), but they somehow found ways to stay in it. Duncan (who many sportscasters thought would be spent) found the will to get 24 points and 12 rebounds. Although at times I thought Manu Ginobili tried to do to much, he came back with an 18 PT (6-12), 5 assist game. Kawhi Leonard (who many sportscasters said was too inexperienced to overcome Game 6) posted a 19 PT, 16 REB performance.
In the end, the Heat was the better team and the Spurs couldn't make the plays down the stretch. With 1:26 left and the score 90-88 Heat, Leonard had a pretty good look at making a three that would have given the Spurs the lead (he had just hit a 3-PTer in the previous possession), but couldn't put it down. With 49 seconds left and the same score, Duncan had a gimme at the rim and couldn't put it in the hole...on top of that he had a good shot at tipping in the rebound, but that didn't fall either. I felt his frustration when he slapped the floor on the following defensive possession. I know he still has to be thinking "how did I miss those two shots?"
After that, fittingly, James sunk a 20 foot jumper to seal the Heats 2nd straight Championship.
Yea, I thought the Heat was the better team going in and that they would win the Finals...but one rebound, one free throw, or one shot and the Spurs could have pulled off the upset. Bill Simmons summed it up after the Game 6 loss, "I don't know if there ever was a team that close to winning a Championship and didn't."
Most of the media I've seen point to game six as what the Spurs will always look at when they look back at this series. Tim Duncan said, in his post game interview, it will be game seven and the seemingly easy missed shots at the rim over Battier. But I haven't seen anyone pointing to is as to why they lost game seven. To me that came down to depth and LeBron and Wade stepping up. Combine an effective three point shooter, in this case Battier, with those two having good games and they are tough to beat. Chalmers didn't have a great game but added a 30 foot three point shot to close out the third quarter. To me that really hurt after Manu had gotten the Spurs up by two with 5 second left in the quarter. I thought having Parker on the bench at the end of the game and Ginobili's really quick/forced three point shot with 28 seconds left doomed the Spurs.
ReplyDeleteLook I think this was a great series even though some of the games weren't close. Spurs fans will always wonder "what if" as will the players. The fact this was as good a series as it was shouldn't be a detractor from what Duncan, Pop and the rest of the Spurs have done for what seems like forever. Should they have won it? Probably. But I think most people believe Miami was the better team going in and San Antonio was the sexy pick. It just wasn't to be especially Miami is able to effectively take Tony Parker out of his game and Manu plays horribly for five of the seven games. It was either LeBron or Spoelstra who said it takes a little luck to win games like game six and it went their way as did the series.
Like many I was really rooting for the Spurs. Luckily I'm not a die hard Spurs fan because this series was so hard to watch and I know those fans are hurting. "The agony of defeat..." probably puts it most apt...