Have LeBron and Heat run out of time?
The Heat have yet to win back-to-back playoff games since the conference semifinals.
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NBA Finals Schedule 2013: Date, Time and Predictions for Remaining Games
The 2013 NBA Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat will last a maximum of three more games, and the defending champions would have home-court advantage in two of them.
However, if the Heat lose Game 5 the AT&T Center on Sunday evening, they will have to win back-to-back games for the first time since May 22.
With how unpredictable this series has been in three of the previous four games being decided by double digits, it’s hard to say just what precisely will happen moving forward. What is certain is that it will be a captivating finish featuring some of the game’s biggest stars and future Hall of Famers.
Here is the remainder of the Finals schedule, along with predictions as to how each remaining game will play out.
| Game | Date | Location | Time (ET) | TV |
| 5 | Sunday, June 16 | AT&T Center | 8 p.m. | ABC |
| 6 | Tuesday, June 18 | AmericanAirlines Arena | 9 p.m. | ABC |
| 7 (if necessary) | Thursday, June 20 | AmericanAirlines Arena | 9 p.m. | ABC |
Predictions
Game 5: Heat 102, Spurs 93
The Big 3 of four-time league MVP LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh finally functioned as such in Game 4, putting up their most combined points since playing together.
It was precisely why they teamed up in the first place, and Wade felt that it was the best effort they had ever put forth at once—and it came on the NBA Finals stage—per Alex Kennedy of HOOPSWORLD.com:
Anything reminiscent of that on Sunday will likely result in a Heat win, but what’s also hampering San Antonio is the hamstring injury to Tony Parker, which he said is at risk to be torn.
The health issue may have lingering effects far into the offseason, and Parker indicated he would be resting if it were the regular season, as documented by Newsday’s Rod Boone:
Head coach Erik Spoelstra could scantly hope for a better, more energetic defensive effort from the Heat that even saw Bosh diving for loose balls and becoming far more physical than he had been all series long.
Now that Miami has proven it can establish itself from a physical standpoint, James and Co. should ride that momentum and push San Antonio to the brink of elimination as the series heads back to South Beach.
Game 6: Heat 96, Spurs 84
Once Miami has the Spurs on the ropes, it’s going to take a Herculean effort from the likes of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Parker to even have a chance at thwarting that kind of momentum.
But barring Danny Green and Gary Neal draining a combined 13 three-pointers like they did in Game 3, this contest should go to Miami in rather convincing fashion.
This is just too talented of a team to go almost an entire month without rattling off consecutive games, especially considering it was the same crew that had a whopping 27-game winning streak during the regular season.
With the way the Heat are battling on the perimeter and actively getting into passing lanes, it’s going to seem all the more sped up in the hostile road environment for Gregg Popovich’s bunch.
Now that Dwyane Wade has awakened after a monstrous 32-point performance in Game 4, he appears determined to capture his third NBA title. CNN’s Rachel Nichols revealed what had Wade in a bit of a competitive funk before his recent standout performance:
If Parker can’t effectively crash the lane and be his typical playmaking self—which is unlikely with a bum hamstring—it would necessitate Ginobili to get out of his funk. Not much suggests that will happen, as he’s only averaging 7.5 points per game in the finals on just 34.5 percent shooting.
Popovich can only work so much magic. This is where the Heat repeat and establish themselves as a legitimate dynasty with the series’ fourth double-digit outcome.
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LeBron James Says ‘Enough Is Enough,’ Time to Win 2 Games in a Row
The only thing that has been consistent about the Miami Heat over their past 11 playoff games has been their inconsistency. And LeBron James, for one, is fed up with his team’s up-and-down efforts.
According to Brett Pollakoff of ProBasketballTalk, James sounded off on the Heat’s seesaw string after practice on Saturday:
I think it’s time. I think we’re well overdue where it’s time for us to win consecutive games. I think we’re at 11 or 12 straight consecutive win‑loss, win‑loss, win‑loss. I think it’s time. Enough is enough for our team. I’m not saying it’s going to result in us having a win, but we need to play with the same sense of urgency as if we were down 2‑1 or whatever the case may be tomorrow night. And we can’t wait around.
If recognizing that a problem exists is the first step toward solving it, it appears as though James and the Heat are at least on the right track. But rectifying the team’s curious inability to get up for every game isn’t going to be easy.
Part of what’s so bothersome about Miami’s on-again-off-again approach is that we’ve seen what they can do when focused. In the latest example, the Big Three combined for 85 points in an impressive 16-point win in Game 4.
Of course, that victory came on the heels of a 36-point drubbing, so it was hardly a surprise.
The Heat spent the 2012-13 campaign coasting for long stretches and flipping the proverbial switch only when necessary. During the grind of the regular season, the Heat basically said to their opponents: “We’re just going to nap for about three—maybe three-and-a-half—quarters. Wake us up if anything interesting happens.”
Almost invariably, the Heat would shift into a high gear to salt away games that they’d basically played in a daze. It was a fine strategy for the generally low-intensity regular season, but against a steady diet of worthy opponents like the Indiana Pacers and San Antonio Spurs, Miami hasn’t been able to snooze through games so easily.
In a confounding trend, the Heat have simply failed to summon the motivation necessary to string together back-to-back games of maximum effort. Sure, when they suffer a loss, they dig a little deeper to pull out a win in their next game, but alternating wins and losses is no way to win a title.
In a literal sense, the Heat cannot afford to keep that pattern up.
If the Spurs take Game 5, Miami will be forced to win both Games 6 and 7. And by that point, it will have been nearly a month since the Heat notched back-to-back victories.
For what it’s worth, James’ own performances haven’t really been subject to the same kind of fluctuation as his team’s have. He led the Heat in scoring in all seven games against the Pacers and although his overall numbers have been down against the Spurs so far, his effort has been consistent.
To be fair, he did suffer through a poor Game 3, but that had more to do with the defensive wrinkle the Spurs threw at him (daring him to take mid-range jumpers) than any lapse in focus.
James’ sentiments—and to some degree, his indignation—are important, but talk isn’t going to win games. So until he and his team actually prove that they’re willing to play just as hard after wins as they are after losses, the jury is still out on whether Miami has what it takes to win this series.
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Tim Duncan Says It’s Time ‘To Change Things Up’ as Spurs Face Crucial Game 5
Thanks to countless hours of film study, a couple years of head-to-head history and four actual NBA Finals games, the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs have probably run out of surprising ways to attack one another. Tim Duncan, for one, thinks his team needs to do something—anything—to break up that familiarity.
According to Matt Moore of CBS Sports, Duncan said Saturday after practice:
You get familiar with what’s going on and you get into kind of a rut. Obviously their defense was rotating kind of perfectly and knowing exactly what we were going to do. So you have to change things up.
You have to change the pace of things, the way you do things, and in that way it kind of keeps them on their toes. More than them understanding exactly what they’re going to do. I think that’s what we have to do coming into this upcoming [Game 5].
There’s some sound logic to Duncan’s thoughts here. That shouldn’t be surprising, as his “reasoning circuitry” was recently serviced by the engineers the Spurs keep on staff to maintain him.
You could see in Game 4 how comfortable the Heat were on defense. In fact, they turned San Antonio’s offensive possessions into their own attacking opportunities, jumping passing lanes, rotating into the appropriate help positions with ease and denying most of the Spurs’ preferred first options.
The Heat snatched 13 steals and generated 18 total turnovers in Game 4, which was a huge reason for their 16-point win.
With enough reps, any defense is going to get used to an offense’s preferences—even when that offense is as mechanically sound as the Spurs’ is. The Heat looked pretty comfortable in Game 4.
For proof of the value of a changeup, San Antonio need look no further than Game 3, when it employed a defensive wrinkle to flummox LeBron James into one of the most hesitant performances of his career.
LBJ figured out the best way to attack the Spurs’ sagging defense quickly, drilling jumpers from all over the floor and attacking the rim in Game 4, but that defensive tweak had a lot to do with the Spurs notching the win in Game 3.
At this point, every game counts. So even if a change is only going to work for a single game—or even a single quarter—it’s worth a shot.
It’s interesting to note that the Heat don’t seem to need to make as many adjustments as the Spurs do. Miami’s success is predicated largely on using its defense (when it decides to show up) to generate scoring opportunities. When the Heat get stops, everything else seems to fall into place.
Duncan wasn’t specific in his suggestions for how the Spurs need to change, but he did cite “pace” as a potential avenue. The Spurs should probably tread lightly here, though, as a frenetic tempo could play right into Miami’s hands. With James around, it’s dangerous to push the game into up-and-down territory, where his athleticism makes him so dangerous.
More realistically, the Spurs will probably address the predictability of their pick-and-roll attack. That’ll involve varied timing from the roller and probably a few instances in which the ball-handler eschews the screen altogether, catching Miami’s strong-side defense off guard.
Or maybe Gregg Popovich will just clear out and let Tiago Splitter get a few isolation sets from beyond the three-point line. There’s no way the Heat would expect that, right?
When two teams are as familiar as the Heat and the Spurs, surprises are hard to come by. But if San Antonio can hit Miami with something new in Game 5—whatever that might be—the Heat could find themselves heading back to South Beach with elimination hanging over their heads.
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Spurs’ Parker: Sore hamstring can ‘tear any time’
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Spurs guard Tony Parker says his sore right hamstring can tear “any time now” heading into Game 5 of the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat.
Parker said Saturday he would take about 10 days to rest if this were the regular season. But with the series tied 2-all heading into San Antonio’s final home game Sunday, the All-Star says, “If it gets a tear, that’s life.”
Parker strained the hamstring in a Game 3 blowout victory for the Spurs. He returned with a dazzling start in Game 4 on Thursday night, only to not score in the second half. Parker says he grew tired as the Heat pulled away to reclaim home-court advantage.
Despite the blunt assessment of his hamstring, Parker says he feels he’s getting stronger.
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Spurs’ Parker: Sore hamstring can ‘tear any time’ (Yahoo! Sports)
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Spurs guard Tony Parker said Saturday the strained right hamstring that wore him down this week could tear ”any time now” heading into Game 5 of the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat.
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Spurs’ Tony Parker: Sore hamstring can tear ‘any time’
The San Antonio point guard said he would rest about 10 days if this were the regular season
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Louisville AD: Cardinals enjoying ‘magical time’ (Yahoo! Sports)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Louisville’s best year ever has forced the Cardinals to re-arrange the trophy cases around the athletic department.
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Report: Doc Rivers thinks ‘it may be time for a change’
A few days ago, Doc Rivers said he would “rather not say” if he was going to coach the Boston Celtics next season or step down. Now, a source close to the situation told ESPN that the Celtics 9-year coach is ready for
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Powell: Time for Roy Hibbert to grow up
Center shows he still has to mature after his profane comments.
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