NBA Finals Chronicles, Friday June 13

Photo from hoopshabit.com

The NBA Finals took quite the turn last night, and while I wasn't expecting it, I wasn't shocked at all. The Spurs have the ability to take over a game with their beautiful offense, it's just hard to believe that the Heat allowed it to happen two games in a row.

I was wrong. I thought the Heat would come out with some fire and defend the Spurs well, but that simply didn't happen. The Spurs' success was less predicated on luck this time around, but pure skill. Much like Game 3, their ball movement was impeccable, and despite shooting a lower percentage, were still dominating Miami. Led by Boris Diaw's 9 assists, to go along with 8 points and 9 rebounds, because he's Boris Diaw and he can do such things, San Antonio was whipping the ball around every possession, looking for the best shot opportunity available. And the Heat simply didn't have an answer for them.

Despite not turning the ball over a ridiculous amount, Miami came away with many empty possessions in the first half. From that point, LeBron James tried to take over in the third quarter, scoring 19 of his team's 21, making 7 of 8 field goals, but he was getting no help. It was really hard to watch him put his team on his back and despite playing on a rather loaded team, trucked on as everyone else disappeared. Part of that was because of very good defense by San Antonio. And some of that was lazy off ball offense and poor shooting by the Heat who went 1 for 9 from the field other than James in that quarter.

It will be interesting to see how this series ends, which I'll cover more tomorrow when we have an extra day off between games. For now, I must watch double overtime of Game 5 of the Stanley Cup. I can barely breathe while writing this.

NBA Finals Chronicles, Thursday June 12

Photo from wiziwiglive.com

Game 4 is tonight, and the Heat will be looking to even it up before heading back to San Antonio to continue the series. Otherwise, they'll be looking at elimination in Game 5. 

I expect the Heat to do just that, as the combination of San Antonio's offensive luck running out to a certain extent, and some adjustments will allow them to split these home games. 

As I mentioned yesterday, the reason why the Spurs won Game 3 was because they were hitting shots. Some of those shots will still go in tonight, but some of them will rim out. That way, they won't be able to blow the game open from the beginning. Expect to see them employ the same strategy of having their role players be aggressive at the start. 

But the law of averages, plus an extra defensive effort by the Heat will deny them. there will be a lot of hard switches on the pick and roll, and the Heat will be closing out harder. They'll do everything to make sure that the Spurs will earn every point in this game. 

They will also make a concerted effort to take care of the ball on offense. Despite having a hard time keeping the turnovers down in Game 3, LeBron James should be dominating the ball even more tonight. That's mostly because it's hard to trust Mario Chalmers at this moment, and Norris Cole hasn't been much better. 

Look for those changes, and a very good performance from LeBron James, leading to a Miami victory. If they lose, they're in serious trouble. 

NBA Finals Chronicles, Wednesday June 11

Photo from nba.si.com

I was unable to watch last night's game live, but I caught a replay of it this afternoon on NBA TV's NBA Playoff Playback.

I was totally blindsided by the blowout. I never would have predicted that there would be a blowout in this series, especially not so early on. But, looking back, it makes sense to me how this happened. The Spurs simply kept hitting shots. There was absolutely nothing the Heat could do to stop them. Sometimes teams have games in which they hit everything, and they also have games where they miss everything. Sometimes you're Henrik Lundqvist (normal Lundqvist, not what he's currently doing. Let's not talk about it.) and sometimes you're Rick DiPietro. Sometimes you're Ted Williams and sometimes you're 2014 Derek Jeter (too soon?). Usually performances lie somewhere in the middle. The great players and teams normally play closer to that highest level than everyone else, which is why they are considered great. But even for the best, they can still get better. That's what happened last night.

The Spurs moved the ball very well, playing perfect Spurs basketball. That was exactly the way anyone would expect to see a Gregg Popovich team play. And that offense was leading to buckets. Scoring 41 points in the first quarter, led by 16 from Kawhi Leonard, who I will get back to later, the Spurs made a statement from the very beginning. They shot a blazing 86.7% from the field in that quarter. They were simply, unstoppable. They were aggressive and looking for open shots. While they cooled off a bit from there, they still ended the first half shooting 75.8% for the game.

The best part is that they largely did it without relying on the Big 3. Tony Parker didn't score in the first quarter, while Manu Ginobili added two field goals and Tim Duncan went into the second with only one made basket. Tiago Splitter was looking to score moreso than usual after being replaced in the starting lineup by Boris Diaw. Danny Green went 7 of 8 from the floor, but only one of those made shots were from behind the three point line. He was putting the ball on the floor a lot more often and even attacking the basket. It will be interesting to see if he keeps on with that strategy from now on.

The Heat played a bad game by their standards, but they were by no means awful. LeBron James had 7 turnovers, which is pretty unusual for him, but while watching it I didn't feel like they were playing horribly. Certainly some of the turnovers were bad, but it just felt like things were piling on the Heat. Normally they'd have a chance to make up for mistakes, but not when San Antonio is shooting the lights out.

Now it's time to circle back to Kawhi Leonard. I absolutely love him, and last night was the best game of his career. He came out looking to score, which is not what he usually does. He took over from the beginning, and LeBron James and the Heat didn't have an answer for his hot shooting. I really hope he continues to play like this not only for the rest of the series, but into next season. I've said it before, but he's very capable of being a great player with the right mentality. Maybe my prediction for him to make an All-NBA team was a year early?

NBA Finals Chronicles, Tuesday June 10

Photo from sircharlesincharge.com

Tonight, the series shifts to Miami for the next two games after Miami came away with a split in San Antonio with their Game 2 victory. I except the same result from these next two games, a split. The teams are too evenly matched for anyone to come away with a clear advantage just yet. 

As for tonight, I think the Spurs should be able to bounce back, despite being on the road. It has always been said that role players play worse away from home, which tends to actually be true sometimes, but that won't really affect this game much. That's usually the case with more erratic players, such as spot up shooters who can change the game with their streaky shooting, but don't have much use otherwise. So, it could take someone like Marco Bellinelli out of the game, but the rest of the Spurs are too solid. We all know about Danny Green's ability to shoot, but it's actually his talented defense on the wing that makes him an important player for the Spurs, as they have a lot of offensive talent. Boris Diaw will still grab rebounds and make beautiful passes, unaffected by the crowd. 

The real key in this game will be the effectiveness of Manu Ginobili. He has used the strategy before, but Erik Spoelstra uncovered a gem in Game 2 when LeBron James was guarding Tony Parker, causing the Spurs offense to stagnate. I expect to see him use that matchup to his advantage earlier in the fourth quarter. This means that in response, Gregg Popovich will be allowing Manu Ginobili to be the focus of the pick and roll. Whether he's being guarded by Dwyane Wade or Ray Allen, he should have a relatively easy time getting open with screens being set by either Tim Duncan or Diaw, and on some plays, even both of them. I forsee Ginobili taking over down the stretch, thriving in his role as the main facilitator. There's some double-double potential, or at least, as much as there can be for any Spur considering how much they spread the ball around to everyone.

This isn't a knock on the Heat at all. We'll see a very close and competitive game all the way through, but when two teams are so close in every category, one tiny coaching adjustment can decide a game. 

Check back tomorrow as I recap tonight's game and talk about how wrong my prediction ended up being. 

NBA Finals Chronicles, Monday June 9

Photo from zimbio.com

I really should have written this article before, because as I write, Game 3 of the Stanley Cup begins in six minutes. So I guess I'll finish this off during the intermissions. Oops.

As for the other championship series currently in progress, the Heat evened it up last night, as I predicted. LeBron James didn't play just how I expected him to, but he still took over the game after a lackluster first quarter. He was confidently taking the jumpers that the Spurs were letting him take. That strategy can work against him sometimes, but last night was not one of those moments. Kawhi Leonard was doing an okay job of defending James, but that won't be good enough if LeBron continues to drill shots from outside. As we saw, Leonard got himself into foul trouble, before finally fouling out of the game entirely by the end.

Before James took over offensively, both sides played efficient offense. The ball was moving very well, and they were getting decent looks most times down the floor. To counteract that, both teams were also playing great defense. In the second half, and mostly the fourth quarter, the combination of the improved Miami defense, along with the lack of ball movement on the part of the Spurs led to their downfall.

One of the biggest takeaways from this game was at the end, when James was guarding Tony Parker, which completely stagnated San Antonio's offense. They need to run the offense through Ginobili or Diaw if James is guarding their normal point guard, which is an adjustment I expect Popovich to make in time for Game 3. LeBron takes Parker out of the game, and forces him to be indecisive, and simply stand and dribble rather than run a play.

A few random notes on this game before we part for the day. First of all, James Jones found his way onto the court again, except as a player this time, not just a guy to carry LeBron off the court. Also, Pop's post-third quarter interview with Doris Burke was him at his absolute best. He was so incredibly uncooperative, it was incredible to watch, as it always is. Finally, my mom noticed Manu Ginobili's nose and claimed that it "has a mind of it's own."

NBA Finals Chronicles, Sunday June 8

Photo from espn.com

With Game 1 well in the past, we look ahead to tonight's Game 2 in San Antonio, where the air conditioning will in fact be fully functional. That means that there won't be any off the court factors affecting the game, so it's time for four (hopefully more) quarters of pure basketball. We won't have to deal with star players being too exhausted. We hopefully won't have to deal with people's legs deciding not to move.

After dropping Game 1 at the end, I expect to see Miami open up Game 2 but like they did in the opener, and play fast and aggressive, to much success. They'll be running early and often in transition, led by LeBron James, who should be well hydrated, and full of potassium in time for tonight's game. I have no cramping concerns for him this time around. In fact, I see quite the opposite happening. After being absolutely crushed in the media ever since Thursday night, I truly think that we're in for a treat as the best player in the world should come out of gate angry and determined. He'll be attacking the rim and really challenging Splitter and Duncan's ability to challenge drives.

This also means that Miami's outside shooters should be playing important roles, because if James isn't able to score at will, he will be able to find guys like Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis ready to jack up some shots.

Danny Green will not be able to take over the game like he did in the fourth quarter of Game 1. I believe the only reason why that happened is because the Heat defense was discombobulated sans LeBron. The perimeter defense should be a lot more solid this time around.

The Heat will win and even things up thanks to an almost legendary game by LeBron James. A triple double will be in the making.

How the Rangers Can Win Game 2

Photo from bleacherreport.com

Wait a second, is he really writing a hockey article? Oh yeah, you read that title correctly. This is in fact my first hockey post since two years ago when I was a freshman in high school and a bad writer. That cringe-worthy, one paragraph rant stood alone in my NHL tab until my 2013 Awards come out.

Oh how times have changed. Back then I was talking about a playoff series between the Flyers and Penguins, while my Rangers were going through a wild playoff push of their own, which included a triple overtime winner by Marian Gaborik in the second round against the Capitals in Game 3, which ended at 12:14 AM, almost 5 hours after its 7:40 start. It also featured a game-tying goal by Brad Richards in Game 5 with 6.6 seconds left (in a game the Rangers went on to win), the last time that his existence didn't anger me. Eventually, they advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals against the Devils, and we're not talking about that.

But now times have changed, and the Rangers are in the Stanley Cup Finals, becoming the first team that I root for (Mets, Jets, and Knicks, if you haven't been paying any attention at all to my articles) to qualify for their league's championship game/series since I began watching sports in 2004. That same Marian Gaborik is playing for the opposing team, and Brad Richards is sort of back on track after being demoted to the fourth line, and even a healthy scratch during last year's postseason.

NBA Finals Chronicles, Saturday June 7

Photo from playmakeronline.com

Wait, so what do I do now? There was no game last night, and there's no game tonight, so I have nothing to preview nor recap. Oh, but there is in fact something to talk about.

While I could certainly go on about the fact that my Rangers are going to bounce back and take Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals tonight, this isn't exactly the place for that story. My topic stands at 6 foot 8, weighs 215 pounds, and is one of the weirdest players in the league. And he's also one of the most exciting.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Boris Diaw. Yes, the man who was shunned by the Bobcats for being fat is now a key player in a championship series, and is about to have a whole article written by me, praising him and only him. The latter honor is the more important one, as he'll join the ranks of legends such as Zack Wheeler, Mike Trout, Matt Harvey, Matt Harvey, Grady Sizemore, who essentially was my entire MLB Preview, Matt Harvey, Dwight Howard, Kostas Papanikolau, James Harden, Mike Trout again, (say it with me...) Matt Harvey, Mack Wheelvey, and Geno Smith; an article which turned out to be six times more popular than everything I've ever written, thanks to it becoming popular in Ukraine, which sounds like a really bad joke. But it's not.

NBA Finals Chronicles, Friday June 6

Photo from bleacherreport.com

Well, that was weird. In the first game on the NBA Finals, the home of the San Antonio Spurs, the AT&T Center simply wasn't ready for this jelly. The air conditioning in the building wasn't functioning prior to the game due to an electrical failure, and nothing could be done to fix it. So, the combination of the already hot day in San Antonio and the 18,851 in attendance, suddenly the game was to be played in 90+ degree conditions, and...

Yes Glenn Frey, it was in fact on.

NBA Finals Chronicles, Thursday June 5

With or without the headband, are we in for a historic LeBron James takeover? Photo from businessinder.com

I began this series in 2012, and caused myself to commit something that I didn't realize would be so hard for the next two years. See, because the 2011-12 NBA season was shortened due to the lockout, the Finals began on a Tuesday, the day after my last final exam. As I found out last year, in a normal season, the championship actually begins right smack in the middle of my finals week, which means I had an awful experience trying to study and write an article everyday. As a high school junior, I really shouldn't be doing this right now.

But hey, I dug my own grave here. Let's get on with it.

First of all, this seems eerily similar to last year's series, as it has been exactly 365 days since the 2013 Finals began. Once again it features the San Antonio Spurs and the Miami Heat representing their respective conferences, and the outcome of the series will the legacies and futures of the players involved, moreso than a normal championship series would. As was the case last year, the Heat are coming off closing out a series against the Indiana Pacers at home to advance to the Finals. Oh, and one of the teams is a #1 seed, while the other is a #2 seed, which was also true in 2013.