NBA Finals 2013 Part 3

[Mexal]

Ahh, Mex, say it ain't so!

Even with the 9 point lead and Danny Green being incredible (again), there's two main concerns: 1) Lebron's gotten going and 2) Parker's pain-reducing shot could wear out in the second half, like it did in Game 4. I don't feel remotely confident picking a winner.

I wouldn't either, especially with the way leads have disappeared all throughout this series.

[Jaime L]

The style of play in this third quarter is just awesome. Both teams in constant attack/fast break mode. It's like watching Celtics-Lakers from the 80s on ESPN Classic.

ETA: Danny Green shoots 3's like I pop tic-tacs.

[Jabronius Maximus]

Whoever said Manu would make a splash today is the second coming of Nostradamus. Vintage Manu all the way so far, he's throwing it back to 2005!

[Ramsay B.]

19-1 run!! Figures Manu would go nuts since there were stories on ESPN saying he might retire after this series.

[Jaime L]

Virtuoso performance by the Spurs. Everyone came to play. And when Manu answered the Heat's last comeback attempt with another floater you could just see the wind go out of the Heat as the stars seemed to resign themselves to winning this thing in Miami. Which is a shame for them because if they played with a little more intensity, Ray Allen possibly could've powered the comeback almost entirely on his own steam. But, yeah, Goddamn Manu is a joy to watch when he's in vintage mode.

Bring on Game 6 in Miami. Just guessing here, but I think we see the light-your-hair-on-fire Force of Nature Heat team of Games 2 and 4 instead of the one that loses focus and intensity at critical junctures in all the non "must wins".

[Guest]

I still fear that Miami will win in 7, but it is great that we're going back w/ Spurs up 3-2. I want them to pull this out. But those game 7's are o incredibly difficult to pull off.

[BLU-RAY]

Sorry, Jaim, wasn't on the comp while I was watching. That was an impressive Ginobili/Green game - everyone on the Spurs did everything they needed to.

Kind of weird that James just let Diaw guard him. Shouldn't he be eviscerating Diaw? He shot something like 1-8 vs. Diaw and 6-12 vs. all other defenders. That's absurd.

Pop is giving this interview like the Spurs lost.

Mina- hope everything's OK?

[Jabronius Maximus]

I think this series will probably end up like Lakers Celtics in 2010. The Spurs won't throw game 6 like Boston seemed to do then, but I think Miami will bounce back after today.

Actually, if you think about it Miami's three consecutive finals runs so far are remarkably similar to the Lakers' three from 08-10:

#1 - Both lose in 6 (heat to Dallas, Lakers to C's)

#2 - Both win in 5 (Lakers over magic, heat over okc)

#3 (so far) - both head back home down 3-2

#4 (not a final) - Lakers get swept early, Miami - ???

That said, the Spurs could easily pull a Dallas and take it in Miami. But Miami will be better, and will put up more than a fight at home. Also, if history repeats itself, that would mean next year the Heat will get dramatically swept out of the playoffs :D (that 2011 Dallas-LA series left a sour taste in my mouth)

[Guest]

Mina- hope everything's OK?

She's fine. She's just pissed about missing the game. She was in Chat while going into labor just chillin' last time.

(I kid, MIna - I do hope all's well)

[BLU-RAY]

Just realized that Birdman got a 2nd straight DNP. He was fairly effective for them in the first two games (in short minutes, but decent). He was bad in Game 3, but so was everyone on the Heat, and then he just didn't play after that. Weird.

[Jabronius Maximus]

Wait what happened to Mina? I just missed that whole thing. Hope she's ok, whatever happened.

[Guest]

Wait what happened to Mina? I just missed that whole thing. Hope she's ok, whatever happened.

She posted that she was at the hospital, but the tone was way more "I'm annoyed that I can't watch the game" than "I have an emergency." Knowing her, she's probably fine, but of course we hope that's the case.

I haven't heard anything outside of the game today. Are the Clippers and Celtics talks really dying down? That thing actually felt like it had some momentum.

[Jabronius Maximus]

She posted that she was at the hospital, but the tone was way more "I'm annoyed that I can't watch the game" than "I have an emergency." Knowing her, she's probably fine, but of course we hope that's the case.

I haven't heard anything outside of the game today. Are the Clippers and Celtics talks really dying down? That thing actually felt like it had some momentum.

Oh ok, yeah hope she's ok.

And no talks today between the C's and C's. It's down to a standstill. I think Bledsoe is the hangup. Celtsics want him, but so do the Clippers.

[Greywolf2375]

Was worried at the beginning of the game seeing Green try to make it a one man show considering how well the Spurs were running. Not sure if Pop ever did complete the ass chewing he was going to give to him, but something settled and he just kept throwing daggers. The catch and shoot in Allens face was just huge.

I had to go to bed at halftime and was hoping they'd come out with the energy they needed. Seeing a 19-1 run and be able to close out the game was a big relief. Yeah, Miami is going to come to play in the next game - but if they can get treatment on Parkers hammy, get some magical rest for Manu and Timmeh and bottle whatever it is that keeps Green on fire, I think this ends in the next game.

[Maithanet]

I had to go to bed at halftime and was hoping they'd come out with the energy they needed. Seeing a 19-1 run and be able to close out the game was a big relief. Yeah, Miami is going to come to play in the next game - but if they can get treatment on Parkers hammy, get some magical rest for Manu and Timmeh and bottle whatever it is that keeps Green on fire, I think this ends in the next game.

Could Danny Green be the Finals MVP? That would be pretty awesome. Parker and Duncan are the other options, and both of them have had some pretty so-so games.

I am surprised that the Spurs strategy in game 5 was so effective, because it sound super risky. Speeding up the game so that Parker/Manu can score on the drive or kick out the Green/Leonard for 3 sounds good, but against the Heat? That sounds like a recipe for turnovers and fast breaks the other way. Plus, if the game is all about running and drive and kick, it seems like that is a James+Wade specialty.

But it totally worked. The Spurs were able to play much better interior defense than the Heat. I am pretty sure that Spoelstra will have adjustments for game 6, but the backs are against the wall now. If Manu keeps playing like he did in game 5 (and I doubt he has two more games like that in him) then the Spurs are going to win.

[Calibandar]

It has to be said, and I see no one saying it here, but Lebron James has been an awful disappointment.

We can talk about how wade was average again, about how the whole Miami team seemed to have yet another off day yesterday.

But to me the most remarkable aspect of all of this seeing how poor James has been playing. I have never seen him play this bad, this consistently.

He already disappeared a couple of times against the Pacers, but that was nothing like his shooting now. This series has overall been terrible from him, with the occasional good game thrown in. The Spurs are alowing him to shoot, and he just misses everything. Three pointers, jump shots, easy lay-ups and free throws, I see amazing misses all the time. He looks stone frozen. Maybe it's because he is way more nervous than he looks. Maybe he's still a choker. Maybe none of that is the case, but my God, watching him this series has been startling for me. I never saw the playoffs series against Dallas, so maybe it was the same for those who saw this. But compared to last post-season James against OKC, or the two regular seasons of James I have seen now, he just looks browbeaten. I had not expected him to fade away so badly.

And I'm not even seeing the Spurs play that well to be honest. Not last night. Ok there was great work, as a team, which Miami consistently does not appear to be. Everyone on the team scored. Danny Green and Kahwi Leonard continue to be amazing. Green's shooting is a revelation. Seeing how good Kahwi Leonard already is at so many facets of the game is an equal revelation. Ginobili got back into to. Duncan was ok, he is reliable and does his thing. Parker was not himself. But they also had these periods where they just lost it, made a lot of mistakes, and purely based on their own mistakes let Miami get back into it. It was not as if Miami was playing well at any point in the game.

What a strange series. Can we have one game where both teams are actually in shape?

[Maithanet]

James was much worse in the 2011 series against the Mavs. This series he has at times been lacking the aggressiveness he needs, but he has still been the best player on the Heat for the series as a whole. He just hasn't been very consistent and hasn't been nearly as effective as a defender as he usually is. But in 2011, there were long stretches of the game where you couldn't even tell if he was in or not. He wasn't taking shots or driving and kicking or anything, he would just go to one corner and wait for the offense to develop. It was like he wanted to be a superstar version of Shane Battier.

[Jaime L]

And I'm not even seeing the Spurs play that well to be honest. Not last night. Ok there was great work, as a team, which Miami consistently does not appear to be. Everyone on the team scored. Danny Green and Kahwi Leonard continue to be amazing. Green's shooting is a revelation. Seeing how good Kahwi Leonard already is at so many facets of the game is an equal revelation. Ginobili got back into to. Duncan was ok, he is reliable and does his thing. Parker was not himself. But they also had these periods where they just lost it, made a lot of mistakes, and purely based on their own mistakes let Miami get back into it. It was not as if Miami was playing well at any point in the game.

Really have to disagree here, Cali. It was one of the most impressive team efforts I've seen against the vaunted Miami D. I mean they shot 60% as a team for the game!

Miami's made a conscious effort to spread the floor, go extra small and have shooters at every position. But in turn San Antonio has just abused them (especially Allen and Miller) on the defensive end.

James was much worse in the 2011 series against the Mavs. This series he has at times been lacking the aggressiveness he needs, but he has still been the best player on the Heat for the series as a whole. He just hasn't been very consistent and hasn't been nearly as effective as a defender as he usually is. But in 2011, there were long stretches of the game where you couldn't even tell if he was in or not. He wasn't taking shots or driving and kicking or anything, he would just go to one corner and wait for the offense to develop. It was like he wanted to be a superstar version of Shane Battier.

Agree he's still the best player on the floor and even his worst games in this series are better than what he was against dALLAS. But I'll say this: Lebron's not going to get near the criticism after this game because he scored 25 points, but there were long stretches where he was just as passive as his worst game two games ago. He was also on the bench for a long period of time in the 2nd quarter when the game almost got out of hand to the point where I thought he might've been injured. Not sure what happened there.

He'd achieved near perfect Superstar status in my mind last year after dominating the Celtics with his Jordan like unstoppability and beating the Thunder by facilitating like Magic. He didn't have that Kobe ego that demanded X number of shots regardless if it was helping or hurting the team. But I'll say this about Kobe, you know what you're getting from him game to game. He's going to try to be a superstar every game and he's going to demand the ball when his team needs him to demand the ball.

Lebron, man, I don't know what to say. Sometimes he still thinks he's Scottie Pippen, but the Spurs are too good to be beaten by anything less than him going full MJ.

[Relic]

So, it this series has shown us anything is that both teams can get blown out, and both can blow out the other. So im predicting a Heat win in game 6 (not really going out on a limb here), followed by what will be the wildest and most unpredictable game 7 in recent memory.

Last night put a huge smile on my face. Game 6 will likely make me frown a lot. But it will all be worth it.

[Maithanet]

The problem for the Heat seems to be that their whole offense this year was built on spreading out the floor with shooters so that Lebron and Wade have room to drive. This put opposing teams in a pick-your-poison situation, either lets the slashers score layups or leave guys like Battier, Allen and Miller open from 3. It was very effective. In the regular season, James, Allen, Chalmers, Battier, and Miller were all shooting better than 40% from three point range, which is great. But this series (and to a lesser extent all playoffs) the only Heat players that are consistently making 3 pointers is Allen and Miller. And those guys are by far the worst defenders of anyone that sees the court on Miami. So either Miami accepts that they need to have one or two weak defenders in at all times, or just continue to put out the guys who have been struggling from deep like Chalmers and Battier and simply hope that things get better.

Or you could just say that even if Battier/Cole is a liability on offense and Allen a liability on defense that the Big 3 ought to be good enough to overcome that. And I would agree to a certain extent, although these Spurs are playing some really good ball.