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:
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.
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.
The Pacers and Heat meet in the playoffs for the second straight season and last season Miami prevailed in 6 games. The Heat are 3-0 in conference finals appearances since the Big 3 joined the team.
The Spurs have a 1-0 lead in this Western Conference semifinals series after thrashing the Grizzlies in Game 1. This season Memphis had the best defense in the league in terms of opponents’ points allowed, but in the Game 1 loss they gave up over 100 points and allowed the Spurs to shoot over 52% from the floor.
We’re mere weeks away from the coveted Larry O’Brien NBA Championship Trophy being presented to one lucky team. With only four clubs still in contention for that honor, let’s take a look at the case for each club to take home the title.
The Miami Heat are not one of the great teams in NBA history. They would have been over-run by the Showtime Lakers. The Larry Bird Celtics would have bigged them to death.
The Spurs crushed the Warriors in Game 5 in San Antonio and now back at Golden State they can close out this series if they win.
The Warriors won Game 4 at home in the last game in this series and with each team winning 1 on the road the Spurs have the home court advantage.
The Spurs beat the Warriors in Game 3 on the road and with the win they took back home court advantage in this series. The Warriors did not shoot the rock well in Game 3 and the big concern for them is the injury that Stephen Curry sustained in the game.
The Warriors have looked like the better team in this series and after they won Game 2 in San Antonio they now have the home court advantage. The Warriors are a team that is playing with a ton of confidence and their rotation creates major match up problems for San Antonio.
The Warriors pulled off the biggest upset in the first round of the playoffs beating the 3rd Denver Nuggets in 6 games and now they face the 2nd seed Spurs, who easily swept the Lakers in their first round playoff series. NBA lines have the Spurs as big 8.5-point home favorites with a total of 201.5.
The Grizzlies can close out this series tonight with a win at home. They beat the Clippers in Game 5 and that was the first road win of the series for either team. Blake Griffin injured his ankle before game 5 and was ineffective, but he should go for this elimination game tonight.
The Nuggets avoided being eliminated in the last game in this series, but they are still down 3-2 and need a win tonight to force a Game 7 at home.
The Nuggets were the favorites in this series, especially when the Warriors lost David Lee, but Golden State has won the last 3 games if this series and can now close out the series tonight in Denver.
