NBA Finals: San Antonio Spurs vs. Miami Heat - Game 5 Talking Points

Manu Ginobili #20 of the San Antonio Spurs reacts after making a basket in the third quarter against the Miami Heat during Game Five of the 2013 NBA Finals at the AT&T Center on June 16, 2013 in San Antonio, Texas. (Getty Images)

Manu Ginobili finally came to the party:

I remember writing a piece about how Manu held the key to the Spurs fortune in the play-offs and I may have been defied slightly by the belligerence of Leonard, Green and the excellence of Parker. Ginobili seemed to struggle in almost every series after his demolition of the Lakers, but the Spurs managed to scrape through.

However, Ginobili is too big a competitor and too good a player, to go this long without making an impact and his return to form couldn’t have come at a better time. The characteristic off-balanced floaters dropped for him; he even found the perfect pocket passes off the pick-and-roll. He was suddenly the Manu that was recognised as amongst the best foreign players to ever play the game; the player who was the soul of the Spurs team for the better half of the last decade, and the player who was loved and revered by everyone in San Antonio.

He controlled the game, making key plays, dancing his way around screens and getting to the rim as he led the Spurs to a 19-1 run in the second half. The arena was echoing with chants of “Manu, Manu”, and it was just as if somebody had turned back the clock by 5-6 years. He finished the game with 24 points and 10 assists, his season-high numbers and quite possible a series-defining return to form.

Miami’s Big Three delivered or did they?

The Heat’s big three had very good games in their own right, filling up the stat sheet. LeBron finished with his second consecutive 20+ game, scoring 25 points, while dishing out 8 assists and also raking in 6 rebounds.

Wade continued his brilliant return to form as he finished with 25 points, on 10-22 shooting, while also dishing out 10 assists and also managing to get 2 blocks and 1 steal. Chris Bosh seemed to get his stroke working, scoring 16 points on 7-11 shooting.

It may seem that the Heat’s big three tortured the Spurs, but if ever there was an instance of numbers not telling the whole story, this is it. The Spurs have continued their strategy of allowing LeBron and Wade enough space to raise up and shoot the perimeter and mid-range jumpers, but were in no mood to give them a free run at the rim.

Whenever Wade and LeBron managed to beat their man on the perimeter, the whole Spurs defence would converge and force them to take a highly-contested shot at the rim, or kick the ball out to the perimeter. In today’s game the story wasn’t much different, as LeBron went 2-8 on lay-up attempts as almost everything at the rim was contested by at least two Spurs help defenders.

Bosh spent most of his time off the paint, and despite the Big Three getting their points, the Spurs made it exceedingly uncomfortable for them. The Spurs dared them to make the perimeter and mid-range shots, and were prepared to live with it. The Heat’s supporting cast of Shane Battier, Mario Chalmers and Mike Miller all failed to step up, and despite Ray Allen making his presence felt with 21 points off the bench, it wasn’t good enough.

The Heat need more from Chalmers, Battier and Miller to have a chance in Game 6; much like what the trio managed in last year’s Finals.