These are all reasons that the Heat could lose to the disciplined, veteran Spurs. The Heat don’t have a point guard to defend Tony Parker or to match his scoring at the other end. The Heat, on the other hand, showed plenty of weakness: that skilled bigs can at times have their way with the Heat’s smaller lineup, on both end of the floor that Chris Bosh may not be the right power forward to go against a bigger team that Dwyane Wade, at 31, could possibly already be washed up. The Spurs showed no weakness in the conference finals, sweeping the tough-minded, physical Grizzlies without much of a sweat. The Pacers played great, but in the end they just weren’t good enough, and for that David Stern and ABC/ESPN are probably happy, because the ratings would not have been nearly as good for a Pacers-Spurs finals. Except, there was a rest of the series, which cast doubts into people’s minds. ![]() The way the Heat played in game seven of this series, blowing the Pacers off the floor in Miami on the back of a regularly great LeBron James performance, Dwyane Wade going throwback and hitting the offensive glass, and Ray Allen knocking down three dagger three-pointers that helped the Heat jump out to a big halftime lead, it doesn’t look like anyone can beat them. I was about as wrong as wrong can be in predicting this series, but I don’t think anyone saw the Spurs dominating the way they did. The Grizzlies could not do any damage inside, and without their inside game working, had nothing to support their already-weak inside game. Tony Parker is now possibly the best point guard in the game since he learned to shoot, Tim Duncan is well rested and playing the best he has in five years, Ginobili is still doing his thing off the bench, and Kawhi Leonard is a star in the making. The Grizzlies had gotten better since they were the eight-seed that knocked off the number one San Antonio Spurs a couple of years ago, but what wasn’t as clear was how much better the Spurs had gotten as well. So savor this Spurs-Heat final even if you don’t have a horse in the race-it should be good to watch. While the NBA Playoffs have had some dud series and a number of dud games, now fans have to realize that after a couple more weeks, no more basketball until fall. Organized Sports is a recurring sports column named for a seminal DC avant-hardcore song by the equally stupid and brilliant (to me, “equally stupid and brilliant” pretty much just means “brilliant”) band Void. Miami responded with a rout, despite shooting just under 40 percent, well below its norm.Chris “Birdman” Andersen dunks on people, winds up in Johnny Mnemonic reboot. ![]() The Heat had alternated wins and losses with the Pacers in the first six games of the series, and was coming off its worst offensive outing of the year in Game 6. ![]() It could have ended on Monday, of course. “They’ve given us an incredible season so far, but it’s a long way from over.” “They’re just an amazing group of guys,” said Heat managing general partner Micky Arison, not long after handing the East championship trophy to former Nugget Chris Andersen, who held it aloft as teammates standing around him celebrated. In the NBA Finals for the third straight year, the Heat will play the San Antonio Spurs in a series that starts Thursday in Miami. LeBron James scored 32 points and grabbed eight rebounds, ailing Dwyane Wade matched his postseason high with 21 points, and the Heat ran away from the Indiana Pacers 99-76 in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals on Monday night. MIAMI - The season, its legacy, its reign atop the NBA was all at stake, and the Miami Heat responded in a manner befitting a defending champion - with a blowout. Digital Replica Edition Home Page Close Menu
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