Fansided

NBA Finals 2013: Miami Heat’s Inattentive Defense Is Becoming A Problem

By Vytis Lasaitis

Jun 16, 2013; San Antonio, TX, USA; The Miami Heat bench reacts during the fourth quarter of game five in the 2013 NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs at the AT
Jun 16, 2013; San Antonio, TX, USA; The Miami Heat bench reacts during the fourth quarter of game five in the 2013 NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs at the AT /
facebooktwitterreddit
Jun 16, 2013; San Antonio, TX, USA; The Miami Heat bench reacts during the fourth quarter of game five in the 2013 NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs at the AT
Jun 16, 2013; San Antonio, TX, USA; The Miami Heat bench reacts during the fourth quarter of game five in the 2013 NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs at the AT /

The Miami Heat have made a name for themselves for exceptional defense, but it has mostly been absent in the NBA Finals. Danny Green recently broke the record for most 3-pointers in a Finals series, and while he has hit some difficult shots, he has also exploited Miami’s sloppiness.

Green once again carried an offensive load for the San Antonio Spurs, scoring 24 points in game 5. He shot 6-10 from beyond the 3-point line and the Heat could not keep up.

Sure, some shots might have been just the excellent shooting touch of Green, but take a look at some of the screenshots from game 5 below:

A lot of the time, the Heat simply ignore Green and other spot-up shooters such as Kawhi Leonard. Sure, Green is great playing off the ball, but there have been numerous occasions in this series when Miami fails to communicate with each other and just leaves Green open. And there is no particular culprit, as everyone who has spent time on Green has been doing this, including LeBron James.

If Miami wants to force a game 7 and win another NBA championship, they need to be a lot more attentive moving forward.

Home/Miami Heat