Bombs Away
Added on Jun 12, 2013 by Scott in
No Comments
On a night when Spurs stars Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili netted only 25 points, the unlikely backcourt duo of Danny Green and Gary Neal combined for 51 points and dropped 13 three-pointers in route to a dominating 113-77 destruction of the Heat. Now Miami finds themselves in an unfamiliar position — down 2 games to 1 with Game 4 set for Thursday night in San Antonio.
Gary Neal? Really? In his last five playoff games, Neal totaled 24 points. Last night, the reserve point guard racked 24 points on 6-10 shooting from beyond the arc. Neal hadn’t scored that many since April 15th when he hit for 25 in a late season loss to Golden State.
Meanwhile, Miami’s Game 2 hero Mario Chalmers posted a goose egg, and LeBron James was shut down by Kawhi Leonard, who limited the world’s best player to 15 points on 7-21 shooting. Leonard also chipped in 14 points, 12 rebounds and four steals, in what may have been his most complete performance of the playoffs.
Safe to say, through three games, the Spurs look like the better team. An uncharacteristically flat Game 2 effort was followed by an impressive dismantling of the defending champs. Head coach Gregg Popovich proved once again he is the best in the business at making adjustments and preparing his team after a bad defeat.
As for the Heat, there is cause for concern. They were outrebounded by 16, gave up a Finals record 16 three-pointers, and were held to 11 fast break points. The intense defense that was on display in Game 2 was MIA. James posted his third straight sub 20-point outing. He doesn’t have to score 35 points, but he needs to be a little more selfish in the second half.
The Heat haven’t lost back-to-back games since the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals. That’s the good news. The bad news is they’ve dumped three in a row on the road. There’s no reason to press the panic button yet, but the Spurs aren’t Indiana, or last year’s Thunder. They know how to slam the door and win titles.
