Series Shifts To San Antonio After A 1-1 Split
10 Jun, 2013
Near the end of the 3rd quarter in Game 2 of the NBA Finals, the San Antonio Spurs appeared to be on the verge of shocking the world and going up 2-0 on the road. However, the Miami Heat went on an insane run, turning a deficit into a blowout win, forcing the teams to head to San Antonio tied 1-1 in the series. Now it is a best of five series, and the question is, who has the advantage?
The Spurs will get three straight games at home, a place they always play well at. However, the Heat are by no means a bad road squad. In fact, one could argue that after the end of Sunday night’s performance, they have all the momentum going into Game 3.
After playing so well collectively as a team in Game 1, the Spurs struggled to adjust in Game 2. If not for Danny Green being hot from outside, this game could have been even uglier. Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and especially Manu Ginobili all had off games, to the surprise of the fantasy basketball predictions, and they just seemed overmatched once Miami heated up in the second half.
Miami has even more confidence going forward because they dominated the end of Game 2 without having to rely solely on Lebron James. Sure, he had quite the impact in the game, but his statistics at the end of the game (17 points, eight rebounds and seven assists) were nothing special for him. Guys like Mario Chalmers, Ray Allen, Mike Miller and Chris Andersen all provided great minutes, which helped to take the pressure off the big three.
Both teams are resilient, so it seems hard to imagine that the Spurs will just fall apart after one bad game. They still have the advantage, with three home games in a row coming up. They can also take comfort in knowing that their half-court defense is still effective against Miami. Their issue in Game 2, compared to Game 1, was that they were unable to take care of the ball and limit transition buckets.
Despite the momentum, the Spurs still have a more complete team. It appears inevitable that this game will go at least six, so expect quite a few more twists and turns. San Antonio still deserves just a slight edge, mainly because Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade are still not doing a ton for Miami.
Mentioned In This Post:
