NBA Finals: Miami Heat vs. San Antonio Spurs – Game 6 Talking Points
Ray Allen #34 of the Miami Heat makes a game-tying three-pointer over Tony Parker #9 of the San Antonio Spurs in the fourth quarter during Game Six of the 2013 NBA Finals at AmericanAirlines Arena on June 18, 2013 in Miami, Florida. (Getty Images)
To paraphrase Gregg Popovich, Game 6 wasn’t supposed to be any different. It is basketball; it is a simple game. Players are supposed to give it their all and the coaches will help them as much as they can. Dismissive and nonchalant, it was vintage Popovich. But everyone knew and expected Game 6 to be a far more intense affair.
The San Antonio Spurs had an opportunity to close the deal, while the Miami Heat needed to fight against it. Game 5 was huge for the Spurs, with Manu Ginobili coming alive for the first time this series, Danny Green still shooting the lights out and Tim Dunan still doing his “Big Fundamental” stuff.
For the Heat, the positives were the resurgence of Dwyane Wade and the continued brilliance of LeBron James, but they surely were bothered by the contribution and production of their role-players, and the quiescent in-and-out moments that Chris Bosh has faced throughout this series. Bosh may have been abused by Roy Hibbert in the series against the Indiana Pacers, but against a less physical Spurs team, he was expected to be more of a presence inside the paint and on the boards.
To a purist or a fundamentalist, the game of basketball couldn’t get any more interesting than what the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs have exhibited in the much-anticipated Finals series so far. The basketball has been scintillating and brilliant, the crowds have been vociferous, and it may quite well be the greatest strategic and tactical duel ever witnessed in an NBA Finals series. The series has been almost imperious in terms of the basketball strategies and the sheer polarizing basketball mentalities on the floor.
Maybe the only complaint one could hold that in this intriguing battle of wits and basketball intelligence, the fans haven’t seen enough close, cliff-hanging, and nail-biting moments that one could have hoped for. If Tony Parker’s Game 1 clutch winner was a prelude to the series, the series surely didn’t live up to its prelude. All games since have been comfortable blow-out victories. The clutch cliff-hanging moments were long due, and so it was served. The first Overtime game of the Finals had the Miami Heat come through with a crucial 103-100 win to tie the series, in front of a boisterous Miami crowd, who got the adrenaline pumping with their rambunctious “Let’s GO HEAT” chants.
The talking points:
LeBron James was huge:
Just look at the numbers that LeBron posted in Game 6. He played 50 out of a possible 53 minutes, went 11-26 from the field en route to scoring 32 points, dished out 11 assists, raked in 10 rebounds, got three steals and even made a highlight block on Tim Duncan. Add to this the fact that LeBron just had 10 points on 5-14 shooting in the first half; the numbers just seem far more significant.
LeBron played like the MVP as he led the Heat from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter, to a 3-point lead going into the final two minutes. He drove and got to the rim at will, was very successful playing the pick-and-roll with Mario Chalmers and despite what Popovich tried; he just went about doing anything and everything in his will and played like a man-possessed.
He may have had his characteristic clutch failures, with two costly turn-overs in the final minute of the game with the Heat trailing the Spurs; he may have gone 1-5 in the last 1:40 of the fourth quarter, but his heroics of the fourth quarter got the Heat back into the game, and couldn’t possibly be negated.
Last but not the least, he also had the toughest defensive assignment to guard Parker and ensure that he does nothing quite like his 30-point Game 5 performance. Parker struggled all game with the stronger and bigger LeBron and finished the game with 19 points on 6-23 shooting. LeBron didn’t just do it on the offensive end, but also won it all on the defensive end of the floor.