NBA Finals: Miami Heat vs. San Antonio Spurs – Game 6 Talking Points

Ray Allen #34 of the Miami Heat makes a game-tying three-pointer over Tony Parker #9 of the San Antonio Spurs in the fourth quarter during Game Six of the 2013 NBA Finals at AmericanAirlines Arena on June 18, 2013 in Miami, Florida. (Getty Images)

To paraphrase Gregg Popovich, Game 6 wasn’t supposed to be any different. It is basketball; it is a simple game. Players are supposed to give it their all and the coaches will help them as much as they can. Dismissive and nonchalant, it was vintage Popovich. But everyone knew and expected Game 6 to be a far more intense affair.

The San Antonio Spurs had an opportunity to close the deal, while the Miami Heat needed to fight against it. Game 5 was huge for the Spurs, with Manu Ginobili coming alive for the first time this series, Danny Green still shooting the lights out and Tim Dunan still doing his “Big Fundamental” stuff.

For the Heat, the positives were the resurgence of Dwyane Wade and the continued brilliance of LeBron James, but they surely were bothered by the contribution and production of their role-players, and the quiescent in-and-out moments that Chris Bosh has faced throughout this series. Bosh may have been abused by Roy Hibbert in the series against the Indiana Pacers, but against a less physical Spurs team, he was expected to be more of a presence inside the paint and on the boards.

To a purist or a fundamentalist, the game of basketball couldn’t get any more interesting than what the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs have exhibited in the much-anticipated Finals series so far. The basketball has been scintillating and brilliant, the crowds have been vociferous, and it may quite well be the greatest strategic and tactical duel ever witnessed in an NBA Finals series. The series has been almost imperious in terms of the basketball strategies and the sheer polarizing basketball mentalities on the floor.

Maybe the only complaint one could hold that in this intriguing battle of wits and basketball intelligence, the fans haven’t seen enough close, cliff-hanging, and nail-biting moments that one could have hoped for. If Tony Parker’s Game 1 clutch winner was a prelude to the series, the series surely didn’t live up to its prelude. All games since have been comfortable blow-out victories. The clutch cliff-hanging moments were long due, and so it was served. The first Overtime game of the Finals had the Miami Heat come through with a crucial 103-100 win to tie the series, in front of a boisterous Miami crowd, who got the adrenaline pumping with their rambunctious “Let’s GO HEAT” chants.

The talking points:

LeBron James was huge:

Just look at the numbers that LeBron posted in Game 6. He played 50 out of a possible 53 minutes, went 11-26 from the field en route to scoring 32 points, dished out 11 assists, raked in 10 rebounds, got three steals and even made a highlight block on Tim Duncan. Add to this the fact that LeBron just had 10 points on 5-14 shooting in the first half; the numbers just seem far more significant.

LeBron played like the MVP as he led the Heat from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter, to a 3-point lead going into the final two minutes. He drove and got to the rim at will, was very successful playing the pick-and-roll with Mario Chalmers and despite what Popovich tried; he just went about doing anything and everything in his will and played like a man-possessed.

He may have had his characteristic clutch failures, with two costly turn-overs in the final minute of the game with the Heat trailing the Spurs; he may have gone 1-5 in the last 1:40 of the fourth quarter, but his heroics of the fourth quarter got the Heat back into the game, and couldn’t possibly be negated.

Last but not the least, he also had the toughest defensive assignment to guard Parker and ensure that he does nothing quite like his 30-point Game 5 performance. Parker struggled all game with the stronger and bigger LeBron and finished the game with 19 points on 6-23 shooting. LeBron didn’t just do it on the offensive end, but also won it all on the defensive end of the floor.

Tim Duncan #21 of the San Antonio Spurs reacts in the second half while taking on the Miami Heat during Game Six of the 2013 NBA Finals at AmericanAirlines Arena on June 18, 2013 in Miami, Florida. (Getty Images)

Tim Duncan turned the clock back:

Tim Duncan has had a relatively quiet NBA Finals so far. He may have put up decent stats, putting up 18-odd points and raking in 10-odd rebounds, but he hasn’t had a signature dominant Finals game that one expects of Duncan.

The possible explanation was that maybe the years may have caught up to him, but in Game 6 Duncan was in no reticent mood. He sensed the finish line and the possibility of the Spurs wrapping it up and he winning a Kobe-equaling fifth ring. Many savants believe that in the debate of who has been the better player of the last decade, Kobe holds a slight advantage because of his five rings to Duncan’s four.

Duncan maybe never cared for the debate, but he cared for the opportunity ahead and he sensed the importance of him setting an example. And he did set an example as he rained down his full repertoire on Bosh and company in the first half, as he raced away to 25 points in the first half. He was also ever-active on the boards hauling down 17 rebounds, and was by far the best Spurs player on the floor.

His disappearance in the fourth quarter, when he failed to score a single point due to some inspired defending by the Heat, was maybe one of the major reasons why the multi-dimensional inside-out Spurs team turned into a perimeter shooting team and allowed the Heat to creep back into the tie.

Danny Green had an off-night:

25-38 from beyond the arc in the NBA Finals. An NBA Finals record and in view of many fans and savants, Danny Green has been the best Spurs player in the series. Many called for him being the leading Finals MVP candidate as he shot the Spurs into comprehensive Game 3 and Game 5 wins.

However, as has happened with all great shooters, when the margin for error is so little, one is expected to have off-nights once in a while. Nothing surprising as almost every great shooter has gone through such phases. To the Spurs and Green it couldn’t have come at a much worse time.

Green just didn’t seem like the Green that had starred in all games of the Finals so far. He was smothered and bothered on offense all night long, with Coach Spoelstra and the Heat giving primal attention to containing him. They had multiple people guarding him, and they were smarter with their defensive rotations off the off-ball screen and chased him off the three-point line. They forced Green to make tougher contested shots and forced him off his rhythm.

Green not so surprisingly struggled as his shots just wouldn’t fall and he finished with 3 points on 1-7 shooting. His transition block on James might be his only consolation, as he needs to get much better in Game 7 for the Spurs to have any chance.

The good news is that shooters finding rhythm is just a matter of them making one or two shots. Come Game 7, it should be the Spurs prerogative to find him early offense and get him going, because he is one scoring punch that they can’t afford to lose.

Chris Bosh #1 of the Miami Heat reacts in overtime against the San Antonio Spurs during Game Six of the 2013 NBA Finals at AmericanAirlines Arena on June 18, 2013 in Miami, Florida. (Getty Images)

Chris Bosh came up BIG when it mattered:

10 Points on 5-11 shooting, 11 rebounds and two block shots. Good numbers? Yes. Great Numbers? No. But despite what the numbers say, Bosh was actually the match-winner for the Heat today.

Erik Spoelstra repeatedly mentions Bosh to be his most important player, because when Bosh plays well the Heat win; almost always. He came up big when it mattered, making two key blocks in Overtime, one on Parker with the Spurs down by two, and the ridiculous block on Green in the dying seconds of the game. Both plays were huge and he cancelled out any chances of a Spurs comeback.

His break-away lay-up in the first minute of Overtime set the tone for the Heat and he then came up with big defensive plays on multiple possessions on Duncan and Parker off the pick-and-roll. Come Overtime, Bosh was by and far the biggest of the BIG THREE.

Manu Ginobili wasn’t the “Manu” of Game 5:

Manu Ginobili got another start as Coach Gregg Popovich hoped that it would allow Parker to be more aggressive and Ginobili would take care of the play-making and orchestrating the offense. The Heat and Coach Spoelstra pulled a master-stroke in manning up LeBron against Parker and Wade against Ginobili.

They had their best perimeter defensive players on the Spurs guards, and despite everything that Kwahi Leonard did, he didn’t have a post-game to exploit the smaller Chalmers that Spoelstra matched up against him. As a result the Spurs were forced to look inside and try to feed Duncan and Thiago Splitter.

While Duncan was hot, they seemed all right. But when Duncan couldn’t get a basket to fall, and Parker was struggling against the length and strength of LeBron, it was imperative that Ginobili, who is widely acknowledged amongst the best clutch players in the game, took over. He failed to do so, as he was too unselfish for his own good and tried to force too many difficult passes. He gave up on his scoring instincts and tried to make the tougher passes, as a result of which, he ending up conceding 8 turn-overs and only made 5 field goal attempts.

In 35 minutes, a guy coming off a 24-point gamem tried only 5 field-goal attempts. He missed a clutch free-throw in an almost uncharacteristic way and was nowhere close to the player who had the Spurs fans chanting “Manu Manu” in Game 5.

The series maybe deserved a Game 7 and all eyes will be on Duncan and LeBron as they match-up in the last game of the NBA season. One game that could decide quite a few legacies, make some and kill some. Let the predictions begin.

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