Lebron and Heat looked gased on both ends of the court

[Gervin44Silas13]

The ball movement was what wore down Miami... they had to constantly rotate and move.
The Spurs have to continue the hustle and intensity and come back 3-1.

[exstatic]

They have no bench, and the Spurs have been basically forcing LeBron to play 40 a night. Thursday will be the 3rd game in 5 days.

[TampaDude]

They have no bench, and the Spurs have been basically forcing LeBron to play 40 a night. Thursday will be the 3rd game in 5 days.

Miami is going to come out firing in Game 4. We need to step on their fucking throats and not let up.

[SupremeGuy]

Fuck, just come out strong next game and don't let up.

2.

[UZER]

I've been saying since game one, the heat cannot keep up the scrambling D they played in game 1 up for an entire series. It's physically impossible, and if they do they deserve all the credit in the world.

The Spurs ball movement is like body shots in boxing. It doesn't show its effect until the later rounds but you have to keep throwing them.

[exstatic]

I think there will be a lot of emotion by Miami early in game 4, but that wears off, along with the associated adrenaline rush. You have to weather that storm, and just keep coming at them. Don't let them build a huge lead and rest LeBron. Make him play 40 again.

[heyheymymy]

Miami is going to come out firing in Game 4. We need to step on their fucking throats and not let up.


miami is gonna run outta gas in game 4 lebron is taxed. bitch should've taken 1 mil and built a dream team and cashed in on sponsorships instead.

[elbamba]

They have no bench, and the Spurs have been basically forcing LeBron to play 40 a night. Thursday will be the 3rd game in 5 days.

Plus you have to love that Duncan only played 30, Tony 33 and Manu 27 minutes last night. Kawhi and Diaw were the only players to log heavy minutes.

[smaka]

I liked the quick lineup with Patty and TP. Make them run all over the court, make them tired for 4th quarter.
But isn't it quite amazing, after all these years of hearing that Spurs are old etc.. Now they are the one who should make fast pace? Go Spurs Go

[superbigtime]

They can't keep up with Spurs offense when they play like they did last night. Move that ball!

[Sportcamper]

This...

The ball movement was what wore down Miami... .

Very impressive…21 at half? Has anyone ever done that to the Heat before…Spurs bench really stepped up….Tiago IMO looked great & kept the pressure on every play…D Wade & LeBron looked exhausted…

[Mr. Body]

Miami's defense thrives on indecision. Indiana constantly dribbled into traps. This stalled the ball, giving the Heat rest and success with turnovers.

The Spurs need to make fast, crisp decisions, and they'll wear them out.

[Malik Hairston]

Miami is old, I don't think people realize how old they are, and it's their 4th straight Finals..

Lebron and Bosh are their only notable athletes in their primes..

[ducks]

james guarding tp takes its toll on both players

[TheGoldStandard]

I have been saying it all series long, smart quick decisions will win us the series. Kawhi didn't hesitate or get caught in no man's land with out a plan. He got trapped, ran thru a screen and shot. He pulled up and shot, he faked got inside and shot.

Now if only Tim and Tony would take a cue from this and be more sharp in execution. Tim catches the ball in the block and just stalls the offense dribbling 18 feet out, he's not going to win that matchup at 38. Tony with his dribble dribble after the initial play isn't there. Pass out and run something else.

[Guajalote]

It's going to be a grind, in each game, and in the series. Because Miami doesn't have a bench to speak of, and the Spurs bench is easily recognized as the best in the NBA, the Spurs just have to keep grinding away. Within each game, 10 guys will always have more energy than 4. And, in the series, this pace cannot be maintained by their 4 guys. I know this has been talked about over and over, but that's because it's true.

Look at a stone cutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred-and-first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not the last blow that did it, but all that had gone before. --Jacob August Riis

[Mikeanaro]

They look gassed of course but Tony playing more like a PG and less like a hero helps a lot props to him and props to Pop too for taking out his PG when dude was hurting the team.

[Darius McCrary]

I've been saying since game one, the heat cannot keep up the scrambling D they played in game 1 up for an entire series. It's physically impossible, and if they do they deserve all the credit in the world.
Ehhh they did it last year dude.

[TheGoldStandard]

Spurs will need to continue to push the ball movement, attack the paint on the offensive end because Miami is going to start playing the wings a little tighter in order to get them to put the ball on the floor. We should have open 3's in the next game but the bench will have to show up and knock them down and so will Green but victory will come on the defensive end.

If we can cut off the passing lanes when they drive and kick and someone please guard Bosh because they will be giving him the green light to shoot. Spo will get the ball to Bosh early and often to get him involved, when he gets going they all feed off of that and Lebron doesn't have to work hard till the second half. Gotta limit him, don't let him take open jump shots hoping he can knock it down, nope, make him take crappy shots.

[cd98]

Maybe Spo should consider not having his best player guard every hot Spur, then have him score or assist on every play, and then play 40 minutes, including garbage time when it was clear Miami was not going to win absent a miracle.

[cd98]

If Spurs score 105 points or more, they are essentially unbeatable. Heat offense can't score that much. There are NBA offenses that can score 105 or more, but the Heat can't do it consistently enough to win.

[Malik Hairston]

Ya, Spoelstra made a huge mistake by having him guard Parker so early, tbh..

That's one of the major problems for Miami in this series..they only have 1 notable perimeter defender, and while he's one of the best in the league, he can't guard everybody, all game..

[Mr. Body]

Ya, Spoelstra made a huge mistake by having him guard Parker so early, tbh..

That's one of the major problems for Miami in this series..they only have 1 notable perimeter defender, and while he's one of the best in the league, he can't guard everybody, all game..

Miami essentially has a gimmick defense. It's super-effecitve, but the Spurs may have figured it out: super-fast decisions, no hesitation, attack.

[dg7md]

It is rather telling that in every game, we've looked to be better. Seems like we've endured all Miami has to offer while they haven't been able to contain us when we're at our best.

[phxspurfan]

I hate it when I'm gasey.

[BillMc]

Miami is old, I don't think people realize how old they are, and it's their 4th straight Finals..

Lebron and Bosh are their only notable athletes in their primes..

Yep. And even LeBron is being guarded by a much younger guy.

I said it before, we'll wear LeBron out. His offense might not suffer but his defense will slow as the series continues. Leonard, Boris and Parker must be aggressive when James is on them.

[phxspurfan]

Miami essentially has a gimmick defense. It's super-effecitve, but the Spurs may have figured it out: super-fast decisions, no hesitation, attack.

I wouldn't call it a gimmick. Spo has gotten them all to give (mostly) maximum effort on rotations, play passing lanes, and get extra physical (since the refs allow them to do so), to make up for their lack of size. So they say speed over size. It's legit, just like everything else it has its strengths and weaknesses.

[TheGoldStandard]

It is rather telling that in every game, we've looked to be better. Seems like we've endured all Miami has to offer while they haven't been able to contain us when we're at our best.

Our confidence has slowly increased over the past 3 games. We had a huge high coming off of the win we had in OKC and it showed in Game 1, Game 2 was just a lapse in consistency but we had the mentality that we could win. Game 3 was both of those efforts combined, the aggressive behavior, the mental fortitude to deal with a Miami run and composure to get back to what we were doing and force the issue.

Game 4 will play out with the Spurs confident but they can't be sloppy and content. The Media has already mapped out the blue print of what the game will be like, Bosh will get the ball a lot and perhaps Chalmers gets going.. You're either going to see them knock down shots or they will get calls so they can go to the line and get a rhythm. The Spurs will have to play smart defense, crowd them both and run them off the 3 point line and stay aggressive on the offensive end.

[cd98]

That said, when Miami doesn't use a point guard, you can see it gasses Tony Parker because he has to chase Ray Allen around 5 screens.

[cd98]

It takes two games at least to start figuring each side out. Miami can't do much different because they just don't have the personnel. They have to play Chalmers and hope he catches fire at some point.

[Mr. Body]

I wouldn't call it a gimmick. Spo has gotten them all to give (mostly) maximum effort on rotations, play passing lanes, and get extra physical (since the refs allow them to do so), to make up for their lack of size. So they say speed over size. It's legit, just like everything else it has its strengths and weaknesses.

Gimmick in that it's non-traditional, not even one of the more usual offshoots. It's like a box and one or 1-3-1 zone. They run it extremely well.

But that's all semantics.

[UZER]

Ehhh they did it last year dude.

I'm not talking about last year. I'm talking about this year, this year's team, this year's offense, this year's Miami team.

My comment had nothing to do with last year.

[Skull-1]

I've been saying since game one, the heat cannot keep up the scrambling D they played in game 1 up for an entire series. It's physically impossible, and if they do they deserve all the credit in the world.

The Spurs ball movement is like body shots in boxing. It doesn't show its effect until the later rounds but you have to keep throwing them.

I think our guys were gassed a little, too. That first half was unbelievable. Our passing wasn't as crisp in the second half as in the first, but it was enough...

[-21-]

I think there will be a lot of emotion by Miami early in game 4, but that wears off, along with the associated adrenaline rush. You have to weather that storm, and just keep coming at them. Don't let them build a huge lead and rest LeBron. Make him play 40 again.
I agree, Miami will probably come out with a lot of energy to start the game. The Spurs just have to keep attacking and not let up. It's a game of runs. Being the deeper team, the Spurs can wear the Heat down eventually and go back home up 3-1.

[ulosturedge]

Yup just keep the pedal to the metal and wear these bitches out. Keep running that motion offense all day. They have no bench. Their starters have to log heavy minutes and sustain a high level of defense just to try and keep up. Be relentless and they will start to crack. Break them.

[Horse]

Lebron is looking more and more like kd did in wcf you can just tell as long as we keep the games within reach he will be burnt by the 4th. Kahwi being aggressive is the cherry on top. It's all up to us stay focused and we got this.

[Horse]

I'm not talking about last year. I'm talking about this year, this year's team, this year's offense, this year's Miami team.

My comment had nothing to do with last year.

This is bs we gave it away had nothing to do with their defense.

[mavsfan1000]

A bad game. But they will play their best in game 4 to make up for it.

[UZER]

This is bs we gave it away had nothing to do with their defense.

why are you quoting me?

[Darius McCrary]

I'm not talking about last year. I'm talking about this year, this year's team, this year's offense, this year's Miami team.

My comment had nothing to do with last year.
What rotational player this year is so dramatically crappier at their defense that wasn't bad last year?
They're all lebron bosh and role players

[UZER]

What rotational player this year is so dramatically crappier at their defense that wasn't bad last year?
They're all lebron bosh and role players

Stop trying to pin it down to one thing. It's all factors included between both teams.

[buttsR4rebounding]

Even game 2 where LeBron went into superman mode the Spurs had the game for the taking. Timmy not being able to handle Manu's pass when down 2 at the end was a killer. The Spurs could easily be up 3-0. The biggest difference in the offense this year is the emergence of Patti Mills and the consistency of Manu. It allows Pop to rest Tony when needed without sacrificing pace or scoring. Last year when Tony came out the offense shut down. That led to Tony playing more minutes than he could handle and being gassed in the 4th quarter of games. You combine that with Duncan's tendency to score most of his points in the 1st half led to lower scoring games by the Spurs. This year either Patty or Manu are playing great, keeping up the pace and making shots. Tony is fresh at the end of the game.