Heat vs. Spurs Final Score: Miami Blows Out San Antonio, 103-84, Evens NBA Finals at 1-1
By Brad Rowland
On the surface, Game 2 of the NBA Finals began just as Game 1 did, as the San Antonio Spurs committed a turnover on their opening possession. Unfortunately for San Antonio fans, that was the extent of the similarities between the two games.
After a competitive first half, the Miami Heat blew the doors off of the Spurs in the second frame, and used a massive, 22-3 run over two quarters to put their stamp on a Game 2 blowout that finished with a 103-84 score. The Heat were paced by steady production across the board, but their full-on dominance coincided with the awakening of the best player on the planet, Lebron James. James, who completed the worst statistical half of his playoff career in the 1st half, turned the jets on in the second half in a way that only he could, and accounted for 9 points over the four-minute stretch that sealed the game.
The highlight of the entire evening came at the 8:19 mark of the 4th quarter, as Lebron climbed the ladder to meet 7-foot center Tiago Splitter at his peak, before rejecting his dunk attempt in thunderous fashion. It was one of the most exciting defensive plays you will ever see, and when LBJ punctuated the block with a fastbreak dunk just 36 seconds later, the Miami lead was 91-67, and the lights were turned out on San Antonio.
For the Spurs, it was “one of those nights”. Aside from Danny Green (who shot the ball insanely well, finishing 6-for-6 from the field including 5-for-5 from three), no other Spurs regular had a positive offensive outing. Tim Duncan and Tony Parker combined to shoot a dreadful 8-for-27 from the field, and San Antonio followed up their sparkling, four-turnover outing in Game 1 with a sloppy, 16-turnover performance on Sunday night.
In the early going, San Antonio’s rebounding advantage and prolific three-point shooting kept them above water, but when the threes stopped falling and Miami turned up their offensive production, the recipe was there for a lopsided win. For the Heat, Mario Chalmers had his best game in months, scoring 19 points on 6-for-12 shooting, and the bench combination of Ray Allen and Mike Miller teamed up for an unbelievable 6-for-8 night from three-point distance.
As far as the “Big Three” was concerned, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade weren’t asked to produce at a tremendously high level, but they both contributed positively in different ways. Wade scored all 10 of his points in the first half before ceding control of the offense elsewhere, and Bosh led the team in rebounding with a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double. It wasn’t the typical “Lebron” stat line, either, but the aforementioned heroics by James overshadowed an otherwise pedestrian performance with 17 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists.
In the end, this was an extremely interesting night in Miami, but I am not sure that there is any specific takeaway. As the teams prepare for Game 3, this is the type of game that can be thrown out the window. San Antonio was uncharacteristically careless with the ball, Miami shot the ball tremendously from sources that seemingly came out of nowhere, and the Parker/Duncan combination will likely not shoot 8-for-27 in another game in this series.
Alas, this still counts as a dominant victory in the series for the Heat, and with the win, they seize momentum as the teams travel to San Antonio. On the Spurs side, however, they achieved their mission to split the two games in Miami, and if they can take care of business on their home floor in each of the next three games, they’ll be hoisting the O’Brien Trophy after Game 5. Stay tuned.