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The San Antonio Spurs are one win away from claiming the franchise’s fifth NBA championship. If the Spurs want to earn the 2013 NBA championship, they will have to get a road win over the defending NBA champion Miami Heat. San Antonio will get its first opportunity to do just that in Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals tonight.

Through five games, the Finals have seesawed back and forth with neither team earning consecutive victories. The Spurs will have to put an end to that trend tonight if they want to avoid the prospect of facing a Game 7 on the road against the defending champions. With a win tonight, San Antonio can end this series, win its fifth championship and avoid a Game 7 altogether.

While the Spurs will be doing all that they can to avoid a Game 7, the Heat will be trying to extend the series and keep their hopes of defending their title alive.

And defense will be the key if Miami hopes to win Game 6 and force a Game 7 on Thursday night. In Sunday’s 114-104 Game 5 loss, the Heat failed to get the job done defensively. The Spurs shot a blistering 60 percent from the field in that game and the 114 points that San Antonio scored in Game 5 were the most points Miami has allowed in a postseason game since giving up 120 and 119 points to the Chicago Bulls in Games 2 and 3 of a first-round series back in 1992. The Heat will have to play much better on the defensive side of the ball if they want to keep this series alive and have any chance at defending their title.

Tonight, one team will be looking to seize the opportunity that lies before them in Game 6 while the other will be hoping to force a Game 7. The victorious team will be the one that focuses on the task at hand and doesn’t worry about avoiding or forcing a Game 7.

Sunday’s Results:

Random NBA Fan’s Record in Sunday’s Games: 1-0
Random NBA Fan’s Record for the Playoffs: 53-30

Continue reading »]]> Today’s Games (All times are Eastern):

The Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs both come into Game 5 of the 2013 NBA Finals two wins away from earning an NBA championship. The winners of tonight’s matchup will cut that all-important number down to one. The losers will have to do something that neither team has been able to do through the first four games of this series—win two consecutive games—if they want to earn the title.

The defending champion Heat tied the series at two games apiece by totally dominating the final 13 minutes of action in Game 4. With 54 seconds remaining in the third quarter, Danny Green hit a three-pointer to pull the Spurs within three, 79-76. On Miami’s ensuing possession, the Heat grabbed two consecutive offensive rebounds and cashed in on their multiple scoring opportunities with a layup by LeBron James. The quarter ended with Tony Parker missing a short jumper and the Heat holding a five-point, 81-76, lead.

For the Spurs, the fourth quarter was mired in turnovers and missed layups. Miami took advantage of San Antonio’s miscues and missed opportunities and outscored the Spurs 28-17 in the fourth en route to a 109-93 victory.

With the series tied at two games apiece, Game 5 may prove to be the pivotal moment of these Finals. When the NBA Finals have been tied 2-2 heading into Game 5, the winner of Game 5 has gone on to win the title 20 of 27 times.

The Spurs have won the odd-numbered games of this series and are a perfect 3-0 in Game 5s of the NBA Finals. If San Antonio can continue those trends with a victory tonight, the Spurs would put themselves one step closer to their fifth NBA championship.

Miami, who is 2-1 in Game 5s of the NBA Finals, can pretty much take control of this series with a win tonight. With the series tied at two games apiece, this best-of-seven has now turned into a best-of-three, and the Heat hold home-court advantage. If the Heat can win Game 5 tonight, they would return to Miami with two opportunities to win one game at home to claim their second consecutive NBA championship.

And that is a scenario that the Spurs want to avoid at all costs.

Manu Ginobili summed it up when he said, “This game is huge. We don’t want to go to Miami knowing that we have to win both. Going there to win one of the two is a different situation. So Game 5, regardless of where you play, it’s huge for you at 2-2. We’ve seen it too many times. We really want to win this one.”

“It is a must-win. We don’t want to go back down there down a game with two games remaining at their house,” added Tim Duncan.

The stage is set, and by the end of Game 5 one of these two teams will be just one win away from earning the 2013 NBA Championship.

Thursday’s Results:

Random NBA Fan’s Record in Thursday’s Games: 0-1
Random NBA Fan’s Record for the Playoffs: 52-30

Continue reading »]]> Today’s Games (All times are Eastern):

The Miami Heat will try to bounce back from their worst playoff loss in franchise history when they take on the San Antonio Spurs in tonight’s Game 4 of the 2013 NBA Finals.  San Antonio hit an NBA Finals-record 16 three-pointers en route to absolutely destroying the Heat, 113-77, in Tuesday night’s Game 3.  The Spurs now lead the series two games to one and can take a commanding 3-1 series lead over the reigning NBA champions with a victory tonight.

Miami, who is 5-5 in its last 10 playoff games, have alternated between wins and losses since winning four straight against the Chicago Bulls in the second round.  The Heat have not dropped two straight games since consecutive road losses to the Indiana Pacers and the Portland Trail Blazers back in early January.  They will need that trend to continue if they hope to tie this series at two games apiece.

However, if Miami wants to earn its second consecutive NBA championship, the Heat will have to do much more than simply avoid consecutive losses.  To have any chance at winning this series, Miami will have to find a way to beat San Antonio three times out of four over the next week—which means that the Heat will have to find a way to beat the Spurs two times in a row at some point.  But before they can even think about winning two in a row, the Heat will have to find a way to win a game in San Antonio just to push the series beyond Game 5 and back to Miami.  And the sooner the defending champions can get that road win, the better their chances of defending their title will be.

But it won’t be easy.  The Spurs, who are 7-1 at home this postseason, have won eight of their last 10 and 14 of 17 overall during these playoffs.  San Antonio, whose core group of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker has won 100 playoff games together, is just two wins away from winning the franchise’s fifth NBA championship.  Duncan, Ginobili and Parker (who strained his right hamstring in Game 3) know how big this game is and will approach it accordingly.  The Spurs understand that a 3-1 series lead is much better than a 2-2 tie—particularly when two of the remaining three games would be played in Miami’s AmericanAirlines Arena—and collectively, they will do “whatever it takes” to maintain their series lead, earn their eighth home win of these playoffs and move one step closer to their first title since defeating LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers back in 2007.

Tuesday’s Results:

Random NBA Fan’s Record in Tuesday’s Games: 1-0
Random NBA Fan’s Record for the Playoffs: 52-29

Continue reading »]]> Today’s Games (All times are Eastern):

The Miami Heat used their swarming defense to seize a 103-84 victory over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 2 of the 2013 NBA Finals. With 3:49 remaining in the third quarter, Danny Green hit his only two-point field goal of the game to give the Spurs a one-point, 62-61, lead. That would be San Antonio’s final lead of the contest. Over the next 3:49, the Heat picked up their defensive intensity. Miami’s defense forced the Spurs to miss three of their final four field-goal attempts of the quarter while also forcing San Antonio into three turnovers during that span. By the end of the quarter, the Heat held a 75-65 lead which they never relinquished. Miami’s defense took complete control of the contest by holding the Spurs scoreless for the first three minutes of the fourth quarter.

Over nearly seven minutes, that spanned the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth, the Heat outscored the Spurs 23-3 to take an 84-65 lead and complete control of the game. During that span of time, Miami’s defense swarmed and frustrated San Antonio into multiple turnovers and missed shots which allowed the Heat to get out into their vaunted fast-break game and blow the game wide open.

But that was just one game, and although Game 2 was a blowout, the series is tied at one game apiece and the Spurs return to San Antonio with home-court advantage. If the Spurs want to maintain that advantage, they must do a much better job of protecting the ball. In Game 2, San Antonio committed 17 turnovers which led to 19 Heat points. It will be difficult for the Spurs to defeat the Heat—no matter where the game is played—if they continue to give Miami that many free points. San Antonio must limit its turnovers and use its precise ball movement to create open shots for its shooters and open up space for Tim Duncan to operate in the post, if the Spurs want to avoid falling behind in a series for the first time this postseason.

Miami is just 3-22 in its last 25 visits to San Antonio. The Heat must improve on that record over the next six days if they want to have any chance at defending their championship. After dropping one of the first two games at home, the Heat have to win at least one of the next three games in San Antonio to keep their hopes of back-to-back titles alive. That is the challenge that lies in front of the defending NBA champions and it is a challenge that they will have to face head on and it is a challenge that they will get three opportunities to find a way to overcome.

Sunday’s Results:

Random NBA Fan’s Record in Thursday’s Games: 0-1
Random NBA Fan’s Record for the Playoffs: 51-29

Continue reading »]]> Today’s Games (All times are Eastern):

With 5.2 seconds remaining on the game clock and the 24-second clock about to expire, Tony Parker hit a 16-foot bank shot to give the San Antonio Spurs a 92-88 lead over the Miami Heat in Game 1 of the 2013 NBA Finals. On the ensuing possession, Dwyane Wade, who shot 0-for-2 during the fourth quarter, missed a layup just before the final buzzer sounded. With that, the game was over and the Spurs snatched home-court advantage from the defending NBA champions and moved to 5-0 in Game 1s of the NBA Finals.

After dropping Game 1 at home, the Heat will have to win at least one game in San Antonio if they hope to defend their championship. But before they can even think about that, they have to ensure that they head to San Antonio with a 1-1 series split by winning Game 2 tonight.

In Game 1, Miami outshot (43.6 percent to 41.7 percent) outrebounded (46 to 37) and outassisted (20 to 16) San Antonio. But the game ultimately came down to the fourth quarter where the rigors of a seven-game Eastern Conference final series against the Indiana Pacers began to take its toll on the Heat.

San Antonio headed into the fourth quarter of Thursday night’s Game 1 trailing the Heat 72-69. But at the seven-minute mark, the Spurs took a 79-78 lead, which they never relinquished, on a short jumper by Kawhi Leonard.

“I thought we were a little fatigued honestly in the fourth quarter,” Dwyane Wade said in his post-game interview. “Looking around, we looked like a team that came off a seven-game series.”

In danger of falling into a two-game hole, fatigue cannot become a factor for Miami in tonight’s Game 2. No matter how tired or drained they may be physically and mentally, the Heat—to a man—must find a way to fight off and overcome any fatigue and exhaustion that they may be experiencing.

The Heat will have to find a way—any way—to defend and protect their home court tonight if they want to give themselves a realistic chance at defending their title.

Thursday’s Results:

Random NBA Fan’s Record in Thursday’s Games: 1-0
Random NBA Fan’s Record for the Playoffs: 51-28

Continue reading »]]> Today’s Games (All times are Eastern):

The Miami Heat are four wins from earning their second consecutive NBA championship and will try to cut that number down to three when they host the San Antonio Spurs in Game 1 of the 2013 NBA Finals tonight. Both teams have completed the first 12 steps of a 16-step postseason process and only one of them will earn four wins in this series to complete the process.

The Heat opened their playoff run by defeating the Milwaukee Bucks in four straight games and then dispatched the Chicago Bulls in five in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Miami felt a little heat and needed a seventh game within the friendly confines of AmericanAirlines Arena to get by the pesky Indiana Pacers in the conference finals.

San Antonio had a slightly easier path to the Finals. The Spurs easily swept the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round by winning all four games by double-digits. They did need six games to get by the Golden State Warriors in the second round. But in the Western Conference finals, San Antonio needed just four games to defeat the Memphis Grizzlies.

So while the Heat were embroiled in a grueling seven-game series with the Pacers that did not end until Monday, the Spurs were resting—or were they getting rusty—and getting their minds and bodies prepared for the Finals.

San Antonio, who has not played since their Game 4 victory over the Grizzlies back on May 27, will have to protect the ball and use their precise ball movement to spread the floor and force Miami to shift its half-court defense from side to side if they want to give themselves a real chance at stealing Game 1 of the Finals. Precise ball movement will open the floor up for Tony Parker penetrations which will help create open shots for San Antonio’s shooters. And once the floor is spaced, Tim Duncan will have even more room to operate in the post.

Defensively, the Spurs will have to limit the number of times that LeBron James and Dwyane Wade are allowed to freely get to the rim. That means that Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard must not only accept the challenge of going up against Miami’s perennial All-NBA performers, but Green and Leonard must also remain consistent and disciplined in their approach. And when James and Wade do penetrate the lane, San Antonio’s bigs, particularly Duncan and Tiago Splitter, must protect the rim and challenge James’ and Wade’s shot attempts without fouling.

The Heat will try to force San Antonio into as many turnovers as they possibly can. Miami uses its opponent’s miscues, particularly live-ball turnovers, to launch its deadly fast-break attack. If James and Wade get out into the open court and are allowed multiple uncontested layups and dunks, it will be a very long night for the Spurs.

On the offensive side of the ball, to put it bluntly, LeBron James and the Heat will need Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade to perform at a level much higher than they did in the Eastern Conference finals against the Indiana Pacers, if Miami hopes to complete the final four steps of the process and win back-to-back NBA titles.

The final steps of the process will begin tonight in Game 1 of the 2013 NBA Finals. The Heat and Spurs, who have not played each other with all of the principal players (Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, Chris Bosh, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade) in uniform since a 110-80 Miami home win back on March 14, 2011, will feel each other out tonight. Both teams have their full cast of characters available for this opening act of what will prove to be a dramatic NBA Finals.

Monday’s Results:

Random NBA Fan’s Record in Monday’s Games: 0-1
Random NBA Fan’s Record for the Playoffs: 50-28