Spurs in five.
No one, especially me, would have guessed that prediction for the postseason.
No one, especially me, would have guessed that prediction for the postseason.
“I think about game six every day,” Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich
said about the devastating turning point for San Antonio in last year’s NBA
finals.
Once it was determined the Spurs and Heat would face off again for
the second year in a row, many speculated this was San Antonio's chance at redemption.
They were right.
The Spurs blew out the Heat in four of the five games and it
was through consistent, unselfish, team basketball. Although LeBron James did
his thing for Miami, one of the main takeaways from this series was one man
cannot win a championship on his own. James unfailingly had stellar stats including
20+ points per game, but his teammates weren’t as consistent. Dwayne Wade’s
decline was certainly a major issue and Miami’s bench—Chris Andersen, Norris Cole, Shane Battier and Udonis Haslem—was useless and pointless overall. Not to mention, Mario Chalmers was an
embarrassing no-show (he barely contributed as a starter).
The Spurs, on the other hand, were ridiculously consistent
on offense. Their big three—Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili—were
reliable as always and the starters as a whole were truly commendable. The Spurs’ bench
contributed big points as well, from Marco Belinelli’s nine in game one to Patty
Mills 14 and 17 in games four and five. Tiago Splitter was also crucial to the Spurs’
game one victory and Boris Diaw had big plays in games three and four. Everyone
did their part, but it was the work of NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard in the last
three games that was probably the most exciting to watch. All in all, each player contributed to the Spurs’ fifth championship.
San Antonio is known to play beautiful basketball, but there
was something about this win that was better than the other four. Perhaps it
was their redemption against Miami after last year’s humiliating postseason.
Perhaps it was Duncan and Popovich acquiring their fifth rings. Perhaps it was simply the Heat losing.
In any case, like Tim Duncan said, this title was “sweeter
than any other.”
