Bet on the NBA
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:
1. Game 7 is inevitable
Before the ball was even thrown up to begin Game 1 many observers were already speculating that a Game 7 was in the cards. The teams have alternated wins through the first five games of the series and now it’s Miami’s turn to respond to a San Antonio win for a third time.
The Heat have blown out the Spurs following each of their first two losses in this series. The Heat are 12-0 in their last 12 games following a loss, winning those games by an average of 19.5 points. With their backs against the wall in Game 6, Miami surely won’t want to see that streak come to an end.
2. “Not one, not two, not three…”
Three franchise players in the prime of their careers wouldn’t have gotten together if they didn’t think they could create something special. This group was assembled to win championships. LeBron made that perfectly clear when he got up on a stage at the American Airlines Arena and made his now infamous proclamation.
The team finally realized how close they were to actually letting a second championship in as many years slip away on Sunday night and responded with a spirited effort down the stretch in San Antonio, even when the game looked lost. They’ll be tough to beat if they play that way over the next two games.
3. Tony Parker’s hamstring is ready to tear
If you were to go back and look through any series preview written before Game 1 of the Finals, you would inevitably see that to a man, everyone thought that Tony Parker would have to play out of his mind to keep this series respectable.
Parker hasn’t looked like himself in the Finals, and has spent more time on the bench than normal. At some point the Spurs are going to need him to make a play, and he may not have it in him right now to come through.
4. Regression to the mean
As a team the Spurs shot 60.0 percent from the field in Game 5. It’s tough for anyone to beat you when you do that. In spite of that terrific shooting performance the Heat were right in the thick of things until the final minute of the game. Expect the team’s 46.9 percent shooting average to come down the rest of the way. Miami has limited opponents to 43.9 percent shooting from the field in the postseason.
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Danny Green has to come back down to Earth eventually, doesn’t he? Green has been unconscious in the Finals, shattering the record for threes in the final series. He contributed six three-pointers as part of his 24 points in Game 5. This is a guy the Spurs have cut twice. Twice.
Manu Ginobili’s insertion into the starting lineup in Game 5 surely came as a surprise to those outside the San Antonio organization considering Ginobili hadn’t started all season, making him the first player since Marcus Camby in 1999 to start an NBA Finals game after not previously starting a game in the regular or postseason that year.
Ginobili had been having a miserable time in the postseason before Game 5, and averaged only 7.5 points and 3.0 assists in the Finals before contributing 24 points and 10 assists in Game 5. Surely a repeat performance from the 35-year-old is unlikely. He had scored in double-digits only twice in his previous nine games.
5. They call him King James
He’s put the team on his back before and there’s no reason to think he won’t do it again. LeBron averages 31.5 points per game when facing elimination, the highest mark in NBA history among players to play five or more elimination games.
Additionally, the King’s supporting cast has shown signs of life. LeBron had carried the team through the first three games of the series, and most of the playoffs before that, but Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh put together inspired performances in Games 4 and 5 and with the Big Three firing on all cylinders, the Heat bring too much talent to the table for the Spurs to contend with.
The Heat will get the final two games of this series at home where they have limited opponents to 87.7 points per game in the postseason.
