In Game 2 of the NBA Finals, the Miami Heat clobbered the San Antonio Spurs 103-84. The game was close until 3:11 was remaining in the 3rd quarter. That’s when the Heat went on a 33-5 run. This turned a one point Spurs’ lead into a 27 point 4th quarter deficit. So now the NBA Finals is tied at one game apiece.
Up until the run that blew the game wide open, both games had been close throughout, with one team never even leading by double digits. The Heat’s LeBron James‘ block of the Spurs’ Tiago Splutter highlighted the run. As you see the block on instant replay, it appears that Splitter is going in for an uncontested dunk, when suddenly the big hand of James appears, to stop the ball and Splitter’s hand in mid-air. James only had 4 points in the first half, but finished with 17 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists, not to mention that instant classic block.
If you were to tell me that Mario Chalmers would lead the Heat with 19 points, which he did, and that the Spurs’ Danny Green would go 5 for 5 on 3 pointers, which he did, then I would have thought the Heat lost the game. However, the Heat outshot the Spurs (49.4% to 41.0%) from the field, and even from 3-point land (52.6% to 50%). Also, San Antonio, who had only 4 turnovers in game 1, had 17 in game 2, while Miami only had 6 turnovers in game 2.
The hero for the Spurs in game 1, Tony Parker, had 13 points in game 2, but was -27. This means that the Heat scored 27 points more than the Spurs, when he was on the court. The only other Spur that had more than 10 points was Danny Green, with 17. Tim Duncan only scored 9 points, on 3 for 13 shooting, but had 11 rebounds. Strangely, Miami’s Dwyane Wade scored 10 points in the first half, but didn’t have any points during the 33-5 run, or during the second half at all.
Even though the San Antonio Spurs went down in a bad way on Sunday night, they still left Miami with a split of the first 2 games of the series. The NBA Finals will resume on Tuesday night in San Antonio. With the next 3 games at home, the Spurs will have a chance to end the series on their home court, by winning all 3 of those games. However, they will need to make some adjustments from their game 2 performance to win any more games, even at home. Expect the Spurs to shoot better at home, than the 41% they shot in both games at Miami.
The Spurs are 6-1 this postseason at home, while the Heat started the postseason winning their first 5 games on the road, but lost their last 2 road games to the Indiana Pacers, in the Eastern Conference Finals. The pressure, which had been firmly on the Heat, all year really, will shift mostly to the Spurs in San Antonio. You know the Spurs don’t want to have to go back to Miami for a Game 6 and/or 7, even though they already won game 1 there. I don’t think San Antonio will be the last stop of the NBA Finals this year. The Spurs will have to win one more game at Miami to win the Championship.
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