Spurs Take Game 1, 92-88 over the Heat

Let's start at the end. Sweet Curley Neal imitation by Tony Parker to hit the game clincher (for those too young, Curley Neal was a Globe Trotter that was famous for dribbling while sliding around on his knees). After the shot went in my reaction was, "Holy S.., he made it!" 

Talking to co-workers this morning, I told them Game 1 felt strange..it didn't feel like a playoff game. One agreed with me, his theory is that it was because the Spurs were rusty and the Heat was still recovering from the Pacers physical 7 game series. That's as good an explanation is any.

First play of the game the Heat disrupted a pass and got a steal that led to a Dwayne Wade dunk in transition. I thought, oh no, that's what I was afraid would happen. Then the Spurs settled in, ran their offense, and for the most part the Heat didn't disrupt the flow much. Spurs missed a lot of open looks. I thought it was a very good sign that they were down just 49-52 at the half shooting just 42%. Meanwhile, for the opening half, the Heat shot 50% overall, and it seemed like they made every open look. 

In the 3rd quarter everything just slowed down. The two teams played to a 20-20 tie and went into the final quarter with the Heat still leading by three, 72-69. Then the Heat just uncharacteristically fell apart. Five turnovers and just two points from Wade and Chris Bosh ended their chances of winning. 

What can you take away from this game? On the plus side for the Spurs, they won a game where they shot badly (.417)...something I didn't think could happen. Tim Duncan and Parker played a good game, but it wasn't like they played unusually good. Parker (.500 shooting, 21 PTS, 6 AST) was close to his season averages (.522, 20.3, 7.6) and Duncan didn't shoot well (.421, 20 PTS, 14 REB vs .502, 17.8, 9.9). Manu Ginobili hit some big threes, but missed some shots right at the rim. Danny Green was hot, but Kawhi Leonard had a terrible shooting game (.333). Is it because he's guarding LeBron James? That's one I'll have to keep track of.

Spurs set a record for fewest turnovers in a Finals game (4), which isn't likely to happen again. Statistically, LeBron James filled up the stat sheet with an 18-18-10 triple double (PTS-REB-AST), but didn't take over the game at any time. Wade and Allen started hot, but faded in the 2nd half. Spoelstra needs to tell Chris Bosh that if he even goes beyond the 3-point line on an offensive possession he's yanking him out of the game. Take away Bosh's 0-4 three point shooting and he played a decent game (6-12, 13 PTS, 5 REB), although, if I'm a Heat fan, I would like to see more rebounds from him. It's hard to be a factor on the boards when you're that far away from the basket, so as a Spurs fan, I'm perfectly happy with him hanging out on the 3-point line. 

I need to stop doing pre-series posts, because none of the things that I thought would be factors revealed itself in Game 1. Although Ray Allen played a lot of minutes and made big contributions, Shane Battier played sparingly (6:11). Battier's minutes went to Mike Miller, a pattern that started in the Pacers series that I didn't think would continue in the Finals. Tiago Splitter played his normal rotations and DeJuan Blair didn't play at all. Popovich tried Borris Diaw on LeBron James for a stretch and it didn't work out too well. I still think Blair would be the 2nd best option to guard James, but Pop is an NBA coach and I'm obviously not.

Not that it's worth much after my pre-series assessment, but here's my thoughts for Game 2.

Heat need to win Game 2...I know, pretty obvious observation there. No team wants to be down 0-2 with both games coming on their home court. I fully expect the Heat to win, but if the Spurs can somehow get to 2-0, they obviously become favorites to win the series since they need to win just 2 of the remaining 5 games (3 of those in San Antonio). 

In the 2nd half, the Spurs tightened up the defense on the outside shooters and with the Spurs not turning over the ball it really effected the Heat's ability to score. The Spurs were ranked 17th in turnovers, so will not get any better at taking care of the ball. I expect the Heat to turn up the defensive intensity, force more turnovers, and get more transition points. If that plays out (and if the averages even out it should), than the Spurs are going to have to find more points. 

Here's how I think they can...

Spurs can put it in their back pocket that they can run the offense through Duncan in the low post. He was very effective posting up both Chris Anderson and Bosh in the 2nd half. While I don't expect them to go to this as the #1 option, I think you'll see more of it as the series goes on. 

Both benches (except for Allen and Manu Ginobili, who played more minutes than the starters) didn't contribute much. The Spurs bench has more potential for points, but that obviously didn't materialize in Game 1. Game 2 would be a great time for the 3-point shooters to get going. They missed a lot of open shots in Game 1. Gary Neal (who shot 1-5 in Game 1) can get nova-hot at times and isn't afraid to take big threes in clutch moments. Matt Bonner attempted only one shot (and it wasn't a 3-pointer).

Leonard, who made his mark on the boards (10 REB) in Game 1, needs to play better on the offensive end in Game 2. So far in the Playoffs, every time that Leonard has had a bad shooting night he's bounced back with a great shooting night. The question (which I hinted at earlier) is whether Leonard's poor shooting is the result of wearing himself down guarding James. In only his 2nd year in the NBA, Leonard has never played this many games and he's actually 2nd to Parker in minutes played in the playoffs. I'm hoping youth and the adrenalin of playing in an NBA Finals gives him the energy to exert himself at both ends. 

I would have never thought a 2-0 lead was possible for the Spurs before the series started, but now, if a few things go the Spurs way and the Heat fail to regain their MoJo....we'll see Sunday.