12/18/24
June 17, 2013
Spurs One Game from Title: The San Antonio Spurs dominated game 5 of the NBA Finals, defeating the Miami Heat 114-104 to take a 3-2 series lead. Manu Ginobili started for the Spurs and had a season-high 24 points and 10 assists. Spurs guard Danny Green's six three-pointers pushed him into record territory for the most threes in a playoff series. "I can't believe he's still open at this point in the series," said teammate Tony Parker. Miami's big three played well -- LeBron James scored 25 points, Dwyane Wade 25 with 10 assists and Chris Bosh 16 points -- but now must win both games in Miami to repeat as NBA champions.
posted by rcade to basketball at 11:19 AM - 6 comments
Though it looked like the Spurs were ready to run away with the game at any given moment, the Heat, unlike game 3, did not simply mail this game in and really wanted it. Every time the Heat made a run, I thought, "This is it, when they turn the tide and take the series by the balls," but the Spurs just kept on fighting back. Entertaining basketball game.
posted by jmd82 at 12:22 PM on June 17, 2013
Danny Green has been the X, Y and Z factor of this series. I'm almost positive Miami did not account for his output in their preparation. In the fourth quarter, those points gave them the padding they needed to withstand the athletic blitz of the Heat.
Really hard to stop someone who is shooting 68-70% from the 3 point line, but it's been 5 games and like Parker says, it's crazy he's being left open. Even late in the game when it was obvious that he was on fire, there were still a few times he was given an open 3. Failure on preparation and ability to adapt there from the Heat.
I thought Popovich's coaching was excellent last night, especially on the emphasis on being aggressive on offense after all baskets. I sure hope the Spurs can keep that pace up, if for no other reason then to shut up that commentator on ABC who before last night's game had already written off the Spurs: "After game 4 both teams now know who's on top and it's all a formality" or some shit like that . . .
posted by jeremias at 12:30 PM on June 17, 2013
I kept thinking the Heat were going to storm back, too. That 9-0 run near the end started to make the Spurs fans nervous.
posted by rcade at 12:57 PM on June 17, 2013
it's crazy he's being left open
Yup. Green isn't going to burn the Heat driving the ball to the hoop if they crowd him. The Heat appear to be too worried about Duncan and Parker in tight and have chosen to let Green have the shots he wants.
If I were coaching the Heat I'd prefer the strategy of Game 4 - pressure the hell out of the ball handler and live with what happens. It takes away the good 3 opportunities and does allow the Heat an opportunity to recover if the ball goes inside being that they (Wade, James, Chalmers) are much quicker than the Spurs collectively. It also leads to good transition opportunities for the Heat.
Oh, and keep Mike Miller in his warm ups.
posted by cixelsyd at 04:02 PM on June 17, 2013
Danny Green tweet from a year ago after being bounced by the Thunder.
posted by tron7 at 06:23 PM on June 17, 2013
Well, I said in an earlier post that I thought the series was in Miami's hands but this game changed my mind. The Spurs starters played a nearly perfect game and took this game by force. The Heat played pretty well here. Their 112 points per 100 possessions would lead the league, I thought their defense looked pretty sound most of the time despite giving up 122 points per 100, and they turned around their rebounding woes from their previous loss. The Spurs were just too good, no mistakes. Impressive stuff.