Heat at Spurs
7:00 pm Central
ABC
The air conditioning is fixed. LeBron feels put upon by the masses. The Heat need a win.
The Spurs put on one of the most magnificent displays of offense you will ever see in the 4th quarter of game one, making 14 of 16 shots en route to overcoming a seven point deficit and winning by 15. Their ball movement was glorious, and they made all six of their three pointers in the quarter.
The Spurs have a lineup that nobody has been able to stop so far in the playoffs: Parker, Ginobili, Leonard, Diaw, and Duncan. It's clear now that Popovich knows he can go to this when he needs to, and the Heat have to find a way to counter it. I'm not sure there is a real way, but we'll see. The Spurs depth is unrivaled, and once LeBron James went down it was clear that the Heat simply couldn't keep up late in the game.
The Heat were able to use their aggressiveness on pick and rolls, and ability to play passing lanes to force the Spurs into a lot of turnovers, especially in the first three quarters of game one, and will have to have a similar effort in game two, though no doubt the Spurs have worked on avoiding those mistakes in the interim. The Heat were able to score effectively with their stars attacking throughout, but could use some production from their point guard spot (Chalmers/Cole combined for five points) and some one off the bench other than Ray Allen (4 points from non-Allen reserves).
I expect a huge game from LeBron James tonight as he bounces back from his cramping troubles in game one and comes out with a point to prove. But ultimately, the Heat have to figure out a way to stop San Antonio getting so many open shots. The Spurs shot 59% from the field and 52% from three, and obviously won't lose if they shoot like that.
Expected lineups
Heat
Mario Chalmers
Dwyane Wade
LeBron James
Rashard Lewis
Chris Bosh
Spurs
Tony Parker
Danny Green
Kawhi Leonard
Tiago Splitter
Tim Duncan
Enjoy the game. Chat about it here.