Laker Eight - Game 3
Game 3 is now done and dusted and the San Antonio Spurs find themselves in the enviable position of being up 2-1 and capturing a game on the Miami Heat home-court. It was a bit of a smackdown all game, with the Heat never really threatening to take the lead, and whilst the Spurs won’t always be that lights-out from the field I think there were a few telling signs that perhaps they have the upper hand in this series. But surely not, I hear you cry, the Heat were just having an off day! Well, read on and find out why I think this series may be done sooner than you think…
LeBron
LeBron James is a good basketball player. Ok, he’s great. But there’s no denying that he was perhaps more of a hindrance than a help in game 3. Before any of you Heat fans try and track my address so you can crucify me, hear me out. If you watch a reply of the game then keep a track of how many times he whinges to the refs after a ‘missed call’ instead of getting back on D, or how many times he seems to be chewing out his teammates after they’ve botched a play. The Heat was actually making a comeback at one point that stopped when LBJ checked back into the game – coincidence, or something more? Winning the Finals needs at least a somewhat balanced approach, so LBJ needs to cool his jets a little and focus on the business of winning.
Freaky Friday
In my post-game thoughts after game 2, I said that Kawhi Leonard would basically have to sack up and actually do something in game 3. Well, he must’ve read my mind (or my article…) because he sure contributed right out of the gate. It must’ve been Freaky Friday in Miami though, because him and Danny Green seemed to have a severe case of the role reversals – Kawhi being an offensive jump-shooting machine and Danny playing some serious lockdown defence. I’m not quite sure what spurred (hey-oh!) the switch, but it made for some interesting viewing. Before you head down to the TAB though, I wouldn’t bet your house on it happening again anytime soon.
Chris Bosh
I make no secret of the fact that I think Chris Bosh is one of the biggest wastes of talent in the league today. Here’s a guy that once averaged 25 and 12 in Toronto and was a monster down-low and in the mid-range – guess how many touches of the ball he had in game 3. 40? 30? Nope, it was 12. Yes, he touched the ball 12 times all game. Squandering a talent like him (or at least before he decided that he preferred shooting 3s than posting up) is not a recipe for success, so coach Spoelstra will probably make a point of getting him going early in game 4.
Sharing the Love
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – the Spurs are far more enjoyable to watch than the Heat. The Spurs offence makes use of a ridiculous amount of passes – yesterday there’d often be 3, 4 or even all 5 guys touching the ball before a single dribble took place. This of course leads to wide open looks and everyone getting involved, which is pretty handy and leads to the 90% shooting the Spurs were demonstrating for a long time. When Kawhi Leonard played about 10 seconds of selfish basketball he was chewed out by both Coach Pop and the commentators, which lets you know just how deep the selflessness runs in the Spurs. Fantastic to watch and absolutely devastating, the Heat may have to change from their “pass to LeBron and hope he does something” offence to counter.
Depth
The NBA might be a league of superstars, but having a deep bench certainly doesn’t hurt. I think so far the first couple of guys off each bench have performed as expected (Ray Allen and Chris Andersen vs Boris Diaw/Tiago Splitter and Manu Ginobili), but the advantage for the Spurs is that they can really go a lot deeper than that. Patty Mills, Matt Bonner, Marco Bellineli and even Aron Baynes are all capable of holding their own – you can’t really say the same for Greg “knees of a 90 year old” Oden, Michael “420 blaze it” Beasley, James “what’s defence” Jones or Shane “I was relevant once” Battier. This depth could really make a difference if the series stretches out to 6 or 7 games.