82 regular season games. 3 best-of-seven series. Six NBA Final games. Now the San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat are playing in the last game of the 2012-2013 NBA season for the NBA Championship.
With 28 seconds left in the fourth quarter of game six and a five-point lead it looked as if the Spurs were about to walk out of Miami with the Larry O'Brien Trophy. Then LeBron James hit a three-pointer, Manu Ginobili missed one of two free throws, and Ray Allen hit the game-tying three-pointer to send the game into overtime.
Most people thought that the game was over when the Heat were down five including a good amount of Heat fans who were seen leaving the AmericanAirlines Arena. The Heat had just come back from a five-point deficit within 30 seconds and still had hopes of repeating as NBA Champions.
With 2:42 left in overtime the Spurs took a 100-97 lead and then failed to score for the remainder of the game. The Heat were able to make key buckets late in both the fourth quarter and overtime, while the Spurs struggled from the field, especially behind the arc.
The Heat would go on to score six points and win the game 103-100 and many fans and journalists were left blaming the referees after a couple of no calls for the Spurs. The two plays that are being talked about the most are when Manu Ginobili was driving to the lane for a layup and Danny Green's possible game-tying three-pointer.
While I agree that Ginobil and Green were both fouled on their shots, neither of those calls should be made in those situations. Ginobili traveled before ever being fouled so you can erase the idea of the call. When Bosh bodied Green on the last shot he had his hand on the ball for the most part and in that circumstance almost every time the referee will not blow their whistle. Does that foul get called in the earlier moments of the game? Absolutely, but the referees will allow the teams to play more at the end of games and it has always been that way.
LeBron is Taking the Next Step
When I look at that game two days after it happened I make sure not to think about what didn't happen, but what did. LeBron James had probably one of the best games of his career as he carried his team in the fourth quarter while both Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh were invisible.
LeBron is a player that over the years I have never really respected due to some of his career choices, and after game six I'm starting to change my mind. I won't put him on the same level as Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant until he wins a couple of more rings, and if he wins game seven tonight he will at least be making me consider it.
When LeBron and Bosh joined up with Wade in Miami I looked at it as a complete cop-out. The three of them were on the "Redeem Team" and rather than competing against each other in the primes of their careers, they took the easy way out and teamed up two years later.
At the time of "The Decision" I thought that LeBron wasn't the best guy on his team, but I will now agree with everyone that he is the best player on the Heat. LeBron has had to carry this team due to both Wade and Bosh not playing up to their potentials. Wade seems to be on the decline in his career as his age and injury history are catching up with him. Bosh just seems to have never really deserved mentioning in any "big three," as he was only the best player on that Canadian basketball team.
When Bill Simmons wrote the updated version of "The Book of Basketball" in 2010, LeBron didn't have any rings at the time and Simmons ranked him as the 20th greatest player of all time. After losing in the 2011 Finals and then winning the 2012 Finals you can't really have him any lower than 15 (15-19 before his jump: Elgin Baylor, Julius Erving, Bob Pettit, Karl Malone and Charles Barkley).
With a win tonight I would have to push LeBron even further up that list with him passing Moses Malone and John Havlicek which would leave LeBron as the 13th greatest player in the history of the NBA. Anyone could argue he deserves to be higher on the list already, but I'll wait until he wins a few more rings.
Where do the Spurs go from here?
While it isn't being talked about at all really, this is more than likely the last time we will see either team's "big three." Bosh will likely be the Heat scapegoat and be traded for two or three players to save the Heat some money and make them a deeper team.
When you look at the Spurs you see three old guys playing in what will likely be their last chance at a title. A couple of days ago Ginobili talked about possibly retiring at season's end and I actually think it will happen after this game, win or lose. Ginobili has not been his same self at all besides game five and this will likely be his last hurrah with the two guys he spent the last 10-plus years playing with.
Without Ginobili that would leave the Spurs with Duncan, Parker and the rest of their supporting cast trying to make another run at a title after this. By losing Ginobili they would free up cap space and be able to bring in another young body or two. The way that Popovich has been coaching over the years, I'm not too worried about who he brings in as he's made Bruce Bowen, Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard, Gary Neal and others look great after being relative nobodies beforehand.
The Spurs big three will all end up in the Hall of Fame along with head coach, Gregg Popovich. At this point this last championship might be what pushes Parker and Ginobili into consideration for Simmons' next update and actually have them included in the top 100 as well as possibly move Duncan into the top five greatest players of all time.
I think that Popovich might be the greatest coach in the NBA today and with a win tonight the greatest coach in the history of the NBA. I know people think of Red Auerbach, Phil Jackson and Pat Riley as far as the greatest coaches of all time but just look at everything he has done as far as drafting, coaching and winning and this last championship might actually make everyone else realize it. I am guessing that when the last of the big three retires Popovich will likely hang up his whistle so this will likely be his last chance at winning a championship.
Tonight's Game 7 Preview
I thought this series would be over in six games with the Spurs hanging up their fifth NBA Championship banner. After game six some people are changing their minds, but I am sticking with the Spurs as I think this being their "last ride" might be what gives them the little extra they'll need.
At the beginning of the year I had the Spurs losing to the Knicks in the NBA Finals and if it wasn't for me changing my mind and joining the Grizzlies bandwagon I would've at least looked a little smart.
I'm not too sure what to expect in tonight's game except for Tim Duncan to end with 25 points and 15 rebounds and LeBron James to end with 30 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. Other than that I don't know which players from each team will show up and give their team the extra push to win the title.
What I actually think this game will come down to is the coaching and when I look at the coaching there isn't even a comparison. The idea that Erik Spoelstra could win two NBA Championships as a coach shows that with enough talent in the NBA, coaches aren't exactly that necessary. Opposite him is the future Hall of Famer, Gregg Popovich, who has made every player that has come through his organization that much better.
While you might blame Popovich for a few mistakes late in the last game, there's no way in hell he makes those tonight. Expect "Pop" to stick with the guys that got him here and throw in Green, Neal, Leonard and Splitter depending on the match-ups that the Heat present in front of them.
Spoelstra will likely spend too much time getting Wade and Bosh minutes when the Heat have been a lot more successful without those two on the floor. If the Heat are going to win tonight it's because they have Mike Miller, Ray Allen and Chris "Birdman" Andersen on the floor. The three of them have been more important to the Heat's success in the NBA Finals than LeBron's other two members of the "Big Three."
As I said earlier I'm taking the Spurs to win tonight and grab their fifth NBA Championship. Don't expect to see Danny Green be held to only three points again tonight. San Antonio in four hours it'll be time to pop bottles.
Prediction: Spurs Win 99-97
Finals MVP: Danny Green
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