Jun 14, 2013
The 2013 NBA finals have been an intriguing so far with neither team winning consecutive games. The series could hardly be better poised as the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs prepare for a Game 5, the last game of the series in San Antonio, on Sunday. Both teams will know how important the next 48 minutes of basketball in this series are. This writer will argue that the winner of Sunday’s game will be the new NBA champions.
These finals haven’t just been yo-yo like in terms of neither team winning consecutive games, it has also been the case that each game is remarkably different to the previous one making it extremely difficult predict what will happen next. Did anyone expect the Spurs to blow the Heat away 113-77 in Game 3? Were there any signs that Miami would bounce back with a crushing 109-93 victory last night?
San Antonio will be counting on Game 5 taking on a completely different complexion, because it was pretty clear that they were outmatched against Miami’s ‘big three’, who finally lived up their name with all three scoring at least 20 points and totalling 85 points.
More of a concern will be Tony Parker, who suffered a hamstring injury in Game 3 and was clearly hampered by that in the second half of Game 4 after starting brightly. Parker really is the crucial engine who runs the Spurs offensively. They don’t look like a team capable of penetrating and keeping up with the Heat’s scoring pace when he isn’t on his game.
That will be a concern for head coach Gregg Popovich, who can now clearly see that his defensive strategy won’t work if Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh play at their level. Bosh found his jump shot beautifully on Thursday night and was also a force in the paint. Meanwhile, Wade looked very much like ‘the flash’ again weaving through the paint and creating offense through steals on defense and a fast break offense.
All of that clearly opened up more offensive space for LeBron James, who was able to provide his regular pretty complete offensive effort eventually finishing with 33 points.
Still, Erik Spoelstra and Miami will just be a little bit concerned that they are enjoying fool’s gold and they will know that the next win will be a lot more difficult to earn. Wade carried this team emotionally and offensively on Thursday, but it’s hard to believe that his knees will pull him through a second straight game like that especially considering the way he has looked during the rest of the 2013 NBA playoffs. James and Bosh will need to find a way to lead this team offensively and the defensive intensity will need to be even better again in Game 5.
A loss in Game 5 would be as good as fatal for either team. It’s just about impossible to imagine San Antonio beating the Heat twice in Miami to come from 3-2 behind. Equally, the Heat are going to struggle to beat Popovich and this veteran, championship experienced team twice with an NBA title on the line. Both teams need to leave it all out on the floor. It should be a fantastic contest to watch.
