It will be easy for Miami Heat fans to say that LeBron James’ absence cramped their team’s style.
James sat for almost all of the last 7 1/2 minutes of Thursday’s NBA Finals opener, and the line of demarcation was too obvious. There was a 17-point swing following the moment when James first exited with leg cramps as a close game headed for a fantastic finish devolved into a 110-95 win for the host San Antonio Spurs.
“With five and change (left), it’s a great ballgame,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
There is already all sorts of kneejerk reaction, from questions about the overall fitness of the game’s best player to whether the broken air conditioning at the AT&T Center was a covert operation.
“I don’t think I’ve ever played in anything like this since I left the islands,” Spurs forward Tim Duncan admitted. “It was pretty bad out there.”
As bad as it was, James had been pretty darn good. He had 25 points on 17 shots. His 3-pointers were going down. He was getting to the line, which he didn’t do in last year’s Finals. Whatever San Antonio’s scheme was, it wasn’t working. He was active in the passing lanes. And he was the primary defender on Danny Green, who to that point was on the donut.
So all Heat fans have to do between now and Sunday is worry about whether the air conditioning gets fixed, right?
Wrong.
“We made a few mistakes and they capitalized off of them,” said Heat guard Dwyane Wade, whose disappearance down the stretch was among Miami’s many issues. “And they ran the offense to the T and got the shots they wanted and made them.
“Obviously, when LeBron went out for us in a two-point game is not ideal. But we gotta get better shots on the offensive end. We didn’t; we turned it over a few times.”
Without James on the floor, it quickly became obvious that the Heat were suffering spasms in other areas as well. From the coaching staff to fellow stars to role players, there was plenty of cramping in Game 1.
For example, did Mario Chalmers have a skills cramp? In 17 minutes, the Heat’s starting point guard had five turnovers, five fouls, one basket and one assist. Forget about being outplayed by Tony Parker. Chalmers was outplayed by Patty Mills.
In fact, you could argue that Chalmers has had a skills cramp for most of the postseason. He hasn’t scored in double figures since Game 2 vs. Brooklyn and is averaging 5.0 points and 3.8 assists while shooting 40 percent (19-of-47) in 27.1 minutes over his last 10 games.
In Games 6 and 7 a year ago, Chalmers outscored an admittedly hobbled Parker. We don’t expect him to outplay an All-Star, but he can’t be this bad, either.
Did Chris Andersen have an energy cramp? “The Birdman” wasn’t terrible; he had two points, three rebounds and a block in 18 minutes. But he was a statue compared to Spurs bigs Tiago Splitter (14 points, four boards, two blocks in 23 minutes) and Boris Diaw (10 rebounds, six assists, plus-30 in 33 minutes), whose impact was undeniable.
And the lack of energy from Andersen was an issue because he was the only big to get off Miami’s bench. That has us wondering …
Did Spoelstra have a brain cramp? After Tim Duncan scored a virtually effortless 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the first half, Spoelstra should have given some second-half minutes to Udonis Haslem, who would have battled Duncan for defensive post position better than Chris Bosh or Rashard Lewis did. At the very least, Haslem’s presence would have forced Duncan to deal with a different, more physical look.
Did Bosh and Wade have a superstar cramp? The final numbers weren’t bad; Bosh hit three 3-pointers – three more than he had in last year’s Finals – and collected 19 points and nine rebounds. Wade scored 19 points on 8-of-18 shooting. But when James went down, it was time for them to step up, and they simply didn’t.
From the point where James first asked out, Bosh was 0-of-1 from the field and Wade was 1-of-4. Neither player had a rebound, perhaps because they weren’t defending well enough to make the Spurs miss. In fact, the Heat had zero rebounds in the final 6:48.
Did Miami’s defense have a rotation cramp? San Antonio committed 22 turnovers in the first 39-plus minutes – many of them from overpassing and losing their spacing against Miami’s terrific defensive rotations – and one the rest of the way. The Spurs also made 12 of their last 14 shots, including 6-of-6 from the arc.
“If you make 6-for-6 (threes) down the stretch, you are in a good situation,” Ginobili said. “If the best player of the opponent goes down, that helps you, too.”
Especially when that player is preventing his whole team from cramping.
Chris Bernucca is the managing editor of SheridanHoops.com. His column appears every Monday during the season. You can follow him on Twitter.
Carmelo says
Aw, this was an extremely good post. Spending some time and actual effort to produce a top notch
article… but what can I say… I procrastinate a whole lot
and don’t manage to get nearly anything done.
Lady Antebellum 747 leaked album says
I love what you guys are up too. Such clever work and exposure!
Keep up the wonderful works guys I’ve you guys to our blogroll.
company signage says
What i don’t realize iss in reality how you are now not really much more well-favored than you might be now.
You’re very intelligent. You understand therefore significantly onn the
subject of this subject, made me in my opinion imagine it from a lot of numerous angles.
Its like women and men don’t seem to be fascinated unless
it is something to accomplish wit Woman gaga!
Your own stuffs great. Always handle iit up!