SAS (2) @ MIA (1) – NBA Finals - Game 1
The Spurs topple the Heat in a back-and-forth game 1 on the road to steal home court advantage from the reigning champs. After trailing by 3 at the start of the 4th qtr, the Spurs pulled away after 5 turnovers from the Heat, who struggled in the 4th qtr and showed signs of fatigue after playing a full 7 games against Indiana. The Spurs biggest lead was 7 with about 2:13 to go, but the Heat cut it to 2 with 31sec to go. The Heat needed a defensive stop for a chance to win the game, and played excellent defense on Parker, who was cut off by Miami defenders as he dribbled his way around the court as the shot clock ticked down. It looked like Miami would get the ball back, as Parker lost his dribble, regained it, lost it again and fell down on one knee, recovered, then spun around from Lebron with a head-fake and pulled off the leaning bank-shot just as the shot clock expired. The ball bounced off the backboard, and bounced on the rim twice before dropping in. A video review confirmed that the shot had beat the shot-clock, and the Heat trailed by 4 with only 5.2 sec left.
Tim Duncan scored 20pts, 14reb
after going scoreless and missing all 5 shots in the 1st qtr, and
committing 2 fouls. Tony Parker had 21pts, including 10pts in the 4th
qtr. Lebron James had his 2nd straight Finals triple-double (18pts,
18reb, 10ast), but only shot 7-of-16 field goals, often facing double-teams
from the Spurs. Dwayne Wade contributed 17pts, and had his best game these
playoffs, but was scoreless in the 4th qtr. Spurs’ Danny Green had
4-of-9 3-pters, and Miami’s Ray Allen shot 3-of-4 3pters.
The Spurs were outrebounded by
9, and only shot 42% from the field, including 7-of-23 3pters. Each team only
had 1 turnover each at the end of the 1st half. They finished with
12 combined turnovers (Spurs 4, Miami 8) for the game, a playoff record-low. Miami
plays at home for game 2, before the Spurs play the next 3 games at home.
Because of the Finals 2-3-2 series format, after losing game 1, Miami must now
win at least 1 road game in order to avoid losing the championship.
Video – Game Recap:
Top Plays of the Day:
Through the Lens: Parker’s
Shot (47sec):
The Finals: Game 1
Micro-Movie (6min 13sec):
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