LeBron Goes Beast Mode in 2nd Half as Heat Take Game 2

Tied 1-1

Alright welcome in to the full recap for game 2 of the 2014 NBA Finals once again between the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs where the Heat refused to go down 2 games and capture their 13th straight playoff bounce back victory against the Spurs 98-96 behind a 2nd half clinic by LeBron James.

First off I have to address an apology yet again for another screw up and I take full responsibility. I thought today's game 2 would start the same time as game 1, which is at 6:00. So I had to run some errands a little bit until 6:30, meaning I would've missed half of the 1st quarter until I checked my phone on Yahoo Sports to see that the game was at halftime already so I rushed to get home and I checked the time that it started at 5:30 and I just shook my head a little. Yeah quite a slow start for my NBA Finals' coverage, that was my error, hence why there was no halftime post and it's just only Q3 and Q4 posted in the Q-by-Q reaction. Luckily, I didn't miss the whole game, I thought saw a great 2nd half where the Heat and Spurs exchanged blows and the Heat later delivered the knockout blow with Bosh finding Wade.

Miami Heat

The Positives

LeBron James, 35 points, 10 rebounds, 14-22 shooting. Even with the leg cramps in the 2nd half and the broken down A/C, I thought LeBron was very efficient in Game 1 with 25 points. This game right here showed why he is currently the NBA's best player. I said in my finals preview, that LeBron has no excuse to foil under pressure since he has 4 years of NBA Finals experience and he is 2/2 now in putting up big numbers early on in the finals. Last year the Spurs were daring him to shoot and he couldn't hit just one jump shot until games 6 & 7. This year, LeBron is taking it to the Spurs, especially this game, he was hitting his jump shots and answering time after time when the Spurs looked like they were making a run.

Chris Bosh, 18 points, 6-11 shooting. Bosh so far has played surprisingly good in the finals this year. He doesn't have to put up great numbers, he just has to be an efficient contributor and answer the call whenever and he hit a really big shot in the closing seconds in the 4th quarter to give Miami a two point lead and made the extra pass handing the ball to Dwyane Wade after the Spurs trapped him for an open layup to pretty much seal the deal. 

Rashard Lewis 14 points, 5-9 shooting. A better game from Rashard Lewis, he made some vintage shots that made him a deadly shooter at the 4 spot back in the day. I remember when he went off against the Lakers in game 2 in '09 and he didn't have a great 3 point shooting this game, but he made shots that were just back breaking for the Spurs as they were trying build the momentum to their side. 

The Negatives

Bench play. The Heat bench only scored 12 points compared to the Spurs' bench with 37 points. I'm glad Coach Spo is mixing up with some role players I mean James Jones and Udonis Haslem saw some action this game, but an inconsistent rotation is a factor for poor bench play. Ray Allen contributed decent, but not too much to bolster the poor bench play. As the series shifts to Miami, I'm expecting at least most of the bench players to light it up and be that X-factor aside from the trio of Wade, James, and Bosh.

San Antonio Spurs

The Positives 

Big 3. Tim Duncan 18 points, 15 rebounds, 7-14 shooting, Tony Parker 21 points, 7 assists, 8-15 shooting, Manu Ginobili, off the bench, 19 points, 7-15 shooting. The Spurs' big 3 have been spectacular the first two games. From what I heard from the 1st half, Duncan got off to a real great start and Miami's defense had no answer for him and every time they stop him, it's a foul. Like I said before, the key to effectively hurt Miami's defense is give Duncan the ball inside and they just couldn't stop him. Ginobili and Parker, they played great, Parker obviously with that huge shot to give the Spurs a brief 92-93 lead and Ginobili hitting a 3 that if the Spurs drew that up earlier, they could've saved time and play the foul game.

The Negatives

3rd Quarter free throws. Just a tough pill to swallow for the Spurs who were so good at the charity stripe during the regular season. Parker had a chance to give the Spurs some cushion when he drew the flagrant one foul on Chalmers, couldn't hit one and then Duncan, drew a foul, free throws, couldn't hit one and free throws especially when game 2 is an early critical game in the finals are huge and those misses came back to bite big time in the 4th.

Tiago Splitter, 2 points, 6 rebounds, 1-3 shooting. Huge regression for Splitter after having a great offensive outing in the 1st game, he just wasn't involved as much as he was last game.

Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green. Danny Green 9 pts 3-5 shooting, Kawhi Leonard 9 points, 3-9 shooting, fouled out. The Spurs' X-factors didn't show up this game. The Heat's defense have checked Green very good in the first two games and he hasn't put up big numbers yet. Leonard, you talk about a major letdown from the future franchise player, just 9 points in his first two finals games. He wasn't afraid to take gambles and create his own shots last year. I don't know what's going on with Leonard and if you're a Spurs fan, you gotta be frustrated because your future franchise player when Duncan is gone is not playing up to par the last 2 games and what more when the series shifts to Miami?

Conclusion

The Heat haven't been down 2 games in a long time and they got just what they wanted to try and take a 3-1 lead as the series shifts to Miami. For the Spurs, it's a hurtful loss this game and it definitely blows their home court advantage, luckily the finals shifts back to a 2-2-1-1-1 format so Miami would not win on their home floor again, but the Spurs need to at least take 1 game on the home floor of the 2x defending champs. Once again I apologize for the mishap, but I was able to cover game 2 as much as I could for you guys today. I couldn't stay up for the re-run on ESPN nor watch the replay on NBA TV tomorrow because I have a summer class on that day. Hopefully you guys read my announcement regarding the halftime post and it will be effective starting game 3 on Tuesday. I'll see you guys later.

2014 NBA FINALS: Miami Heat @ San Antonio Spurs Game 2 Q-by-Q Reaction

Q4:

Score: MIA 98 SA 96

Too little too late for the Spurs as they ate up too much time in the final seconds. LeBron was a beast this game, the Heat big 3 made huge plays down the stretch and credit where credit's due, Miami does what it does best in the playoffs, bounce back after a loss. Stay tuned for the full recap.

Q3:

Score: MIA 77 SA 78

Sorry, sorry guys, I'll explain later in the full recap. What a 3rd quarter! Very physical, refs are letting them play. It was the King's court this quarter with LeBron going off hitting 6-7 of his shots to give Miami some momentum, but after LeBron heading to bench for a rest, the Spurs start coming alive and Patty Mills has become that spark off the bench with the exception of Ginobili. Spurs' bench hasn't played well the whole game, but Mills' big shots in the 3rd should inspire the bench to play better and one of the reasons why the Spurs are up 1.

Minor Tweaks Concerning The NBA Finals Halftime Posts

Alright well the NBA Finals is underway and I'm bringing the coverage to you on my blog. The 1st game so far was just an experiment on how I should cover it and one thing that's most concerning to me is the halftime post. If you guys remember my coverage of Super Bowl XLVIII between the Seahawks and Broncos, I was able to post their "positives" and "negatives" section separately; that's because well it was the SB and along with the halftime show, it gave me more time to post my thoughts on both teams separately. Well, that method is totally not going to fly because the halftimes in the NBA Finals are just like that in the regular season, they go by quick and last game's halftime post was evident that I couldn't deliver the post on time before the 3rd quarter while posting my thoughts on both the Heat and the Spurs separately (though Blogger did give me problems). So for a minor tweak, I am going to do a joint "positive" and "negative" list for both teams and I'm just going to highlight what stands out to me on either team. So how am I going to place both of them together? With the benefits of me collaborating with my friend Stillmattic on his blog for Bleach Fantasy month last month, the Heat's text are going to denote in this color and the Spurs' text in this color so people can tell the difference when I'm adding both teams' "positives" and "negatives" together rather than separate. Just a minor tweak, I'll see you guys in a few hours for game 2.

Spurs Pull Away in Game 1 With Fantastic 4th Quarter Finish

Spurs 1-0

Alright welcome in to the full recap for game 1 of the 2014 NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs where the Spurs completed 1 game of the revenge rematch pulling away from the champs 95-110 with a 36 point performance in the 4th quarter.

Some things I have to get off my chest, I was dealing with all kinds of issues on Blogger during this game from the halftime post to the 2nd half of the Q-by-Q, where usually my 3rd and 4th quarter are set to update over the halftime post and Blogger said "an error occurred in this page" something like that. Same with the halftime post, hence why there are some texts that are missing that Blogger didn't save as I was typing. So hopefully those issues get resolved before the next game or I'm going to be really angry because I want to cover the Finals in real time as much as possible. So I apologize for that.

Miami Heat

The Positives

Big 3. LeBron James 25 points, Chris Bosh 18 points, and Dwyane Wade 19 points. In my opinion, I thought both big 3s from both teams did well for the most part. LeBron, we all know with him in the early stages of the big moment, he tends to be a little passive not looking for his shot. Well I'm not going to give him crap because he turned it up in the 2nd half and gave Miami the lead at the end of the 3rd, 9-17 from the field is a decent stat in shots for the current best player on the planet. Bosh definitely stood out this game firing the first shot in the game and hitting 3-4 from beyond the arc, also finished with 9 rebounds and part of the fact was that Chris Andersen didn't play much, Udonis Haslem didn't even play at all so Bosh had a lot of work to do banging with Tim Duncan and Tiago Splitter in the paint. Wade, he had a decent game, showed some vintage moves when his knees were not bothering him.

Ray Allen 16 points, 6-12 shooting. Allen's gonna pick up the slack that Mike Miller left behind considering he's a prominent bench player that provides shooting and scoring, he had a good showing defensively too racking up 5 steals, expect Allen to get involve more in future games. Though he's getting up there in age, he's still a dangerous, streaky shooter from beyond the arc and no Mike Miller, Allen's providing the shooting unless guys like Battier or Cole step up. 

The Negatives

Point guard play. Really lackluster point guard play from the Miami Heat. Mario Chalmers 3 points, 5 turnovers and Norris Cole 2 points, 5 assists, 2 steals. The offense just wasn't there for Chalmers and Cole couldn't stop an ankle injury-riddled Tony Parker this game. Chalmers or Cole are one of the X-factors for the Heat and if one of the point guards step up, sky's the limit for the Heat, but the point guards were ice cold this game.

Rashard Lewis 10 points, 4-10 shooting. Spoelstra's finding answers to the 4 spot and Lewis didn't play great today, so expect Battier or Haslem to be in the starting rotation at the 4 by next game.

San Antonio Spurs

The Positives 

Big 3. Tim Duncan 21 points, Tony Parker 19 points, Manu Ginobili 16 points. Sensational game by Ginobili also adding 11 assists, he was one of the key reasons why the Spurs were able to clamp Miami's defense down a bit. As I said, one of the keys for the Spurs is for Ginobili to limit his turnovers while being aggressive and Manu only committed 2 TOs. Didn't take any shots and he provided the perfect balance for scoring and facilitating. Duncan, the Big Fundamental getting some touches in the paint, I mean they got to him early and he was hitting every shot, well nearly, he finished shooting 9-10 from the field. Feeding the ball inside to Duncan pretty much exposed Miami's lack of defense within the interior. Parker bad ankle at all, also finished with 8 assists, he was missing shots he could make early on, but he finished strong in the 2nd half.

Tiago Splitter 14 points, 5-6 shooting. Splitter surprised me this game, he was well-respected defensively, but offensively he was a laughing stock. What a difference a year makes. Splitter was the X-factor this game for the Spurs and his improvement on the offensive side definitely showed. 

Danny Green 13 points, 4-9 shooting. I said in my halftime post, if Danny Green or Kawhi Leonard, or both get it going, the Spurs pull away and Green came alive in the 4th. He was a non-factor early on this game, but he was able to adjust and find his rhythm at the right time. 

The Negatives

Kawhi Leonard 9 points, 3-5 shooting. Also a non-factor early on, but hit his shots when it mattered the most, but he didn't reach his double-figure point totals and the Spurs need a really fluid, balanced game from him if they want to pull away from Miami early on in this series.

Turnovers. San Antonio barely commit any turnovers, but they committed like 22 turnovers this game, part of it was that I heard that the Spurs' arena, the air conditioning malfunctioned and caused some fatigue among players. Not using that as an excuse, but the Spurs will correct those turnovers, if it continues, then credit to Miami's defense.

Conclusion

The Spurs take a 1-0 lead to begin the NBA Finals. Like I said it's a dog fight, so don't be surprised if the Heat respond back because they barely go back to Miami down 2-0, they possess the art of stealing home court advantage. For the Spurs, the turnovers should be easy for them to correct, I'm sure Coach Pop will give them an earful after learning they committed 22 turnovers. Game 2 on Sunday. I'll see you guys then, I'm out.

Game 1 Halftime Post

Score: MIA 49 SA 54

Alright welcome in to the halftime post of game 1 of the 2014 NBA Finals where the Spurs have a 5 point edge against the 2x defending champs, Heat 49-54 heading into the locker room.

Miami Heat

The Positives

Dwyane Wade, 12 points, 5-8 shooting. Wade looks as healthy as ever giving some vintage moves from his young self, especially the dream shake he pulled off on Tim Duncan. As much as LeBron was inactive in the first half till the last few minutes in the 1st half, the offense was centering around Wade and he was able to find his shot. 

Chris Bosh, 10 points, 7 rebounds, 4-7 shooting. Bosh's 3 point shooting gives another reason why the Heat are dangerous. I liked Spoelstra's move of putting Lewis and Bosh on the same floor, they were able to draw Duncan and Splitter out of the paint and Lewis may not be hitting his shots, but Bosh cashed in on the opportunity shooting 2-3 from beyond the arc.

Ray Allen, 10 points, 3-6 shooting. He may have missed his last 3 shots, but Allen filled in the Mike Miller-esque role so far providing the shooting touch and scoring off the bench. 

Turnovers. The Heat generated 6 turnovers and able to disrupt the Spurs' ball movement. That's the only category that stands on their defensive standpoint. 

The Negatives


LeBron James 13 points 5-9 shooting. He started getting it going, but I need to see LeBron be more aggressive and well be LeBron penetrating and giving the Spurs D all kinds of hell.

Mario Chalmers. Norris Cole is outplaying Chalmers in the point guard position. He's doing his job in the defensive side, but he's gotta pick it up offensively. 

San Antonio Spurs

The Positives

Manu Ginobili 11 points, 5 assists, 3-7 shooting. He may have gotten cold on shot, but Ginobili has done a great job drawing attention towards the Heat defense, hence why Miami clamp down on rotations and giving other Spurs players open looks. 

Tim Duncan 15 points, 6-7 shooting. Near perfect half for Duncan. I like how the Spurs are attacking in the paint by feeding the ball to the Big Fundamental and that's one way to crash Miami's defense.

Marco Belinelli 8 points, 2-2 shooting. Hasn't played significant minutes, but Belinelli has provided the scoring off the bench for the Spurs. 

The Negatives

Danny Green 0 points. I said in my preview, the Heat's defense is gonna find a way to contain his 3 and the Heat's D have done a good job making Danny Green a non-factor.

Kawhi Leonard 0 points. Like I said in my preview also, Leonard needs to answer the call to take off load from Parker, Ginobili, and Duncan, and he's not finding his shot and missed a couple of open opportunities.


Bottom Line

Overall, if Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green get it going, the Spurs have a chance to pull away and if LeBron gets it going, the Heat have a chance and both teams are having none of it.

2014 NBA FINALS: Miami Heat @ San Antonio Spurs Game 1 Q-by-Q Reaction

Q4:

Score: MIA 95 SA 110

Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard came alive at the right time and Spurs' big 3 edged the Heat's big 3 in game 1. Stay tuned for the full recap.

Q3:

Score: MIA 78 SA 74

LeBron and Allen carried the Heat's offense this quarter. LeBron as usual, turned it up in the 2nd half and went beast mode, which why he's the only player whose point totals is in the 20 this game. Still close game, let's see how the Spurs respond.

Q2:

Score: MIA 49 SA 54

Heat keep generating the turnovers, but the Spurs continue to correct their turnovers with excellent ball movement. Boris Diaw this quarter, I like his unselfishness this quarter and they keep finding Duncan in the paint. Onto the halftime report.

Q1:

Score: MIA 20 SA 26

Quoting Charles Barkley "GINOBILI!" One of the primary reasons why the Spurs edge the Heat in the 1st quarter. Ever since Pop put Ginobili in, you know he's going to give the Spurs a spark. He shot 3 of his first shots from beyond the arc and causing the Heat's D all kinds of hell. I'll give the benefit of a doubt to the Heat defense for generating 6 turnovers on this Spurs team that barely turns it over, but Ginobili's play and the Spurs finding Tim Duncan early in the paint is why the Spurs have a 6 point lead.

2014 NBA Finals Preview: Miami Heat vs. San Antonio Spurs II

Alright welcome in to your preview for the 2014 NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs. Same two teams, same goal, different home court advantage. I believe this is the first time the same two teams have faced each other in the finals for a second straight year since the Chicago Bulls and the Utah Jazz in 97-98, yup during the days of Jordan-Pippen and Stockton-Malone. The Heat are trying to complete a 3-peat in 4 straight finals and try to be the team to win 3 straight championships since yours truly, the 2000-2002 Lakers while the Spurs are trying to get the taste of last year's finals loss out of their mouths by dethroning the 2x champs.

Miami Heat

Since the Big 3 era began in 2010, the Heat have made a trip through every NBA Finals and are 2-1 with that one lone loss coming from the Dallas Mavericks in 2011, but since then, the trio of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh have helped Miami capture 2 consecutive titles after that loss, against OKC 2 years ago and last year against the Spurs. By today's standards, it is hard to reach a 4th straight NBA Finals. If you ask, my Lakers tried to do that, but didn't do so because 4 straight 82 game seasons took its toll on them. Not putting the Heat down, but they have had a benefit of the lockout two seasons ago. With a short season and two 82 game seasons before and after the lockout season, the Heat have had the benefit of not logging too many games. However early on in the season they did show signs of complacency, hence why Indiana had the best record, but down the stretch of the season, Miami played at a championship level as expected from the 2x defending champs. Competition in the East was a complete joke come playoff time and Miami just strolled through to make that 4th finals trip. They beat a Bobcats team that is 0-8 all time in the playoffs, they beat the Nets, though the Nets swept Miami in the regular season, the Heat proved that regular season matchups don't matter and they avenged that season sweep, and against the Pacers, a team that started great in the regular season, but showed great inconsistency down the stretch and during the playoffs. No East team was able to push the defending champs on the brink of elimination and most of the playoff games Miami won weren't in a close margin.


San Antonio Spurs

How does Gregg Popovich do it? Time after time, he keeps the Spurs relevant and keeps them on top as the best team in the West. However, it does not just revolve on just Coach Pop, it does not just revolve around the perennial nucleus of Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili, it revolves around team play and moving the ball. The Spurs were always an overlooked franchise by the media, but they were respected around the league because the team puts team first over individuals and Coach Pop has emphasized that since day 1 when he became coach of the Spurs. That's why they made the playoffs every year, have won 4 titles in the last decade, and made now a total of 6 trips to the NBA Finals. This time the Spurs are out for blood; they really came close last year to being 5 for 5 in the finals in game 6, but Ray Allen's 3 reversed that fortune and the Spurs suffered their first finals loss in history in the decisive game 7. Now they're back at it again, but they had to overcome a really, really difficult Western Conference. The Western Conference as a whole proved why it is a nightmare to play there come playoff time; 3 first round matchups came down to a deciding game 7. The Spurs were on the brink of elimination against overlooked Dallas Mavericks team. The Mavs gave Spurs fans a huge scare after Dallas got a 2-1 lead over San Antonio, but the Spurs rebounded and outlasted them in a blowout in game 7. The Spurs then got a little break having to face an inexperienced Portland Trailblazers team and disposed them easily in 5. Then in the Conference Final, they go up against the MVP in Kevin Durant and the OKC Thunder. The Spurs were able to dispose them in games 1 and 2, but heading OKC with Serge Ibaka back from injury, the Thunder bounced back and Spurs fans are probably thinking deja vu because the last time the Spurs took a 2-0 lead, the Thunder were able to come back and win 4 straight to reach the finals. However, the Spurs were able to correct that mistake and blew out the Thunder in game 5 and outlasting them in game 6 in OT to reach the finals. 

How the Heat match up:

As the two time defending champs, the Heat are gonna rely on their same formula they have followed their last three trips: tough defense and for each role player outside of LeBron, Wade, and Bosh to step up. The Heat had no choice but to lose their key championship role player Mike Miller to the amnesty clause. Someone has to fill that Mike Miller void and guys like Shane Battier, Ray Allen, Norris Cole, Mario Chalmers, etc. they have to be that Mike Miller-type role player whose scoring, hustling, and 3 point shooting gives Miami a huge lift. As much as LeBron is currently the greatest player on the planet, he hasn't impressed me in last year's finals till the last two games. If he's the best player in the league, he has to bring his A game in every game, the guy has had 4 years experience in the NBA Finals so there's no excuse for LeBron to foil under pressure on the biggest stage, especially if he wants to rip the Spurs' hearts out early. Dwyane Wade has been as healthy as I've seen him in the playoffs, so if he as long as his knees don't nag him, he's going to bring it 100%.

How the Spurs match up:

For the Spurs, is Tony Parker good enough to go for game 1 considering he suffered an ankle injury in game 6 against OKC? The ball movement starts and ends with Parker because he's able to command players into positions, set pick and rolls, generating rotations. I know it contradicts the Spurs' emphasis on team play and ball movement, but the point guard is always the important position in the NBA in order to set a team's offense and defense formations, so Parker is basically the primary key if the Spurs want to dethrone the Heat because the Spurs' slow pace will effectively counter the Heat's fast pace. Another point is that Manu Ginobili has to play turnover free. No disrespect to Manu's competitive fire, but his wreckless play was one of the key reasons why the Spurs couldn't seal the deal against Miami last year. Also, Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green, also key reasons why the Spurs loss with Green going ice cold in the last 2 games and Leonard missing a free throw that allowed Miami to tie the game, I'm sure Miami has drawn up a defensive game plan so Green doesn't go off on them like last year so Green has to adjust his game if Miami is able to contain his 3 game early on. For Leonard, he's the future franchise player for the Spurs by the time Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili are gone and he's gotta answer the call come crunch time when he's needed.

Prediction:

As usual, a really tough prediction to make considering these are the teams many expected in the finals and it is the rematch of last year's finals. It's going to be a dog fight like last year with Miami or San Antonio drawing first blood and Miami or San Antonio responding back to even the series up. However, the Spurs have last year's finals loss on their mind and they want to restore the fact that a great NBA team is built through the draft rather than buying a group of superstars from other teams to form a super team in free agency.

Spurs in 7

Game 1, Q-by-Q, Halftime Post, and Full Recap on Thursday