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The Atlanta Hawks have been winning a decent team for quite a while, but they have never been able to take the next step. The Hawks continually get knocked out in the first or second round of the NBA playoffs, and they win about 43-45 games each year. Atlanta decided to change things up in the offseason.
It’s not often that we get this close to the NBA Draft with so many issues still to sort out at the top of the board. However, what this class lacks at the top it makes up for with depth. Plenty of big names will be chosen on Thursday night in Brooklyn, and when teams get together like this, alert-bettors are always looking to cash-in.
Step right up, folks, if you think you have what it takes to take down the Heat this coming season. Lebron James predicted, what, seven titles in Miami before the show closes down?
It’s not really about X’s and O’s anymore. The only question that needs to be answered tonight is whether the San Antonio Spurs have enough chops to recover from Game 6, charge up their aging bodies for the second time in 48 hours, and this time make enough plays in the second half to take down the Heat on Miami’s home court.
You can be pretty certain that at no time this season did the Miami Heat players, coaches or front office think that come June they would be facing two consecutive elimination games at home.
Game 5 of the NBA Finals produced one of the most entertaining basketball games of the season. Each side’s Big Three came to play, and they didn’t disappoint. San Antonio’s win leaves Miami in the precarious position of needing to win consecutive games to claim their second consecutive NBA title. Here are five reasons why you can expect them to do just that:
LeBron James is LeBron James, and Tim Duncan is perhaps the most consistent big man in the last three decades in the NBA. So both the Heat and Spurs pretty much knew that their stars would bring the goods in these Finals.
NBA Finals
Miami Heat (2-2) at San Antonio Spurs (2-2)
Sunday, June 16
AT&T Center, San Antonio
8 p.m. EST
Spread – Heat -1.5
O/U – 188
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But the way series has shaken down, the spotlight has also shone brightly on other players.
Danny Green’s out-of-nowhere 7-for-9 shooting from 3-point territory in Game 3 gave San Antonio a huge boost a 2-1 series lead, then in Game 4 the Dwyane Wade of old emerged for the Heat – 32 points and six steals more than got the job done, and the Spurs had no answers as Miami evened things up with a 16-point win that wasn’t even that close.
Seems like everyone on both teams has had a breakthrough game that has impacted the series – everyone, that is, except Manu Ginobili.
Tne Spurs proved in Games 1 and 3 that they don’t need Ginobili firing on all cylinders to win, but SA coach Gregg Popovich hopes that he can get something – anything – for his top sub.
Ginobili did have 13 points and one turnover in the opener, but even then shot only 4 for 11 from the floor. He followed that up with a 2-for-5 (5 points) in the Game 2 loss, and in the two games in San Antonio is a combined 4 for 12 for 12 points. Ginobili has been sloppy with the ball as he often has to deal with the defense of James.
Fact is, Ginobili is 35 and he’s starting to realize that he can’t do the things that he once did on the court.
“That’s what it has been all year,” Ginobili said after Game 4. “I haven’t scored 30 points a game. I averaged 10. I wish I could score more, but it is not happening. I gotta try to do other stuff. I gotta move the ball.
If my shot is not falling, I gotta be sharp feeding the bigs and finding the shooters.
… I don’t have to force the issue.
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That’s not what I do.
That’s not what I am asked to do.”
Miami is hardly cooperating. When Ginobili is on the court and the Heat ramp up their defense, it’s not a pretty sight. In Game 2 Ginobili’s three turnovers came at times when Miami went into its frenetic half-court lockdown defense, helping fuel the Heat’s crazy 33-5 eight-minute run that breathed life into the series.
With Tony Parker’s hammie on thin ice, the Spurs are hoping against hope that Ginobili can turn back the clock for a few games.
We expected close games, and we’ve gotten three blowouts out of four as the losing teams’ adjustments have paid off. With the Finals reduced to a best-of-three, the series will now turn on whether James goes nuts in two of the three, or SA controls him (and Wade) somewhat and executes its offense at near-peak efficiency.
Liking SA to keep this game close and low-scoring, and get it done in the fourth period.
Play is on the under after two overs have bumped the number up a bit, to 188.
It may get a little claustrophobic at American Airlines Arena tonight, where the San Antonio Spurs have a golden opportunity to place the Miami Heat in a small box when Game 2 of the NBA Finals tips off.
It’s been a week and change since the Spurs last played a game, so when they take the court tonight in Miami in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, it’s easy to forget just how dominant San Antonio has been since the 82-game exhibition season ended way back in the middle of April.
LeBron James is back to his default setting, returning to what worked in high school and AAU basketball, and how it was done when the Cleveland Cavaliers consisted of just him and a bunch of cadavers.
The Heat regained home court advantage in this series with their Game 3 blowout win in Indiana where they almost played a perfect first half scoring 70 points.
The Spurs are up 3-0 in this series and after the Game 1 blowout the last 2 games have gone to overtime. No team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a series, but in an interesting fact the Grizzlies are the only team in NBA history to be down 0-2 in a series and win the next 4 games by double-digits.
As Arte Johnson used to say on the 1960s television show “Laugh In” – Verrrrry interesting. The Pacers’ surprising Game 2 win in Miami may not exactly have the Heat back on their heels, but the victory has caught the attention of fans nationally.
The Pacers shocked the Heat in Miami in Game 2 with a win and now heading back to Indiana the Pacers now have home court advantage in this series. LeBron James had 2 late turnovers that killed the Heat in Game 2 and Miami did not play good D in the game allowing the Pacers to shoot 50% from the floor.
If the Memphis Grizzlies proved anything in their Game 2 loss to the San Antonio Spurs, it’s that despite what many of us may have thought, they Grizz indeed are capable of coming from behind despite their deliberate pound-the-ball-in-low offense.
Game 2 of the Eastern Conference playoff finals can’t tip off soon enough for Indiana coach Frank Vogel, who has spent the last 36 hours being second-guessed – and second-guessing himself – for leaving his best big man on the bench in the final seconds of Game 1 and watching LeBron James and the Heat take the Pacers’ lunch money.
