Pros/Cons of game 1..

[TampaDude]

we didn't even play that great a game... missed a ton of shots... they made a ton of shots... lebron had a triple double... and we still won on their court. I'd say we're doing ok.

^ this, tbh

[AaronY]

Neal and Bonner need to play short stretches only.

No, they need to not play at all..

[angelbelow]

Good list both ways. Some are complaining about listing cons since we won. That's fine, enjoy the win for the next few days. But Pop and the rest of the Spurs aren't going to stop and enjoy it for long. They'll be analyzing their mistakes and continue to strive for excellence. Nothing wrong with fans doing the same.

[GSH]

[Edit:] Ah, ... what am I thinking? You want the biggest Pro of all? The Spurs have now played 15 playoff games, and they have held their opponents to 92 or fewer points in regulation 13 times. If they keep playing defense like that, nothing else matters - they will be hoisting another LOB.

Pros
- Tony Parker..he played a controlled game, picked his spots and he didn't force any shots, tbh..Parker drawing the trap opened up opportunities for the rest of the team, although the shooters didn't always take advantage..

One of Parker's smartest plays of the night was on D, and won't get talked about. With 2:40 left, and the Spurs nursing a 4 point lead, Parker got locked up on LeBron in the left corner. No disrespect to Tony, but that's a mis-match that's going to give up points almost every time, and a classic and-1 situation for LeBron. Tony immediately reached out and intentionally fouled Lebron. That let the Spurs get back to their defensive set, and the Spurs got a stop on that possession. VERY heads-up play, and quick recognition of the overall situation by Tony.

Speaking of quick recognition - the Heat killed Indiana with those traps in Game 7. The Spurs did an excellent job of making good, quick reads and passes. The Heat get a lot of steals from all the arm-slaps when trapping. They never got the opportunity tonight. Tony did a fantastic job of not letting himself get taken out by those traps.

- Tim Duncan in the post + defense/rebounding..horrible start and his jump shot is broken, but his defense and rebounding was phenomenal, his passing was solid, and he finished well at the rim..his post game was very good when he kept is simple, tbh..

He needs to take smarter shots on a consistent basis..


I would kill to see Tim put some of those 15-footers off the glass. That was a signature shot for so long, and I really believe it's what's missing from his shooting game right now. If he got that shot going, the Heat would be in deep . But that won't happen if he doesn't go there. SMH.


Cons
- Falling asleep against shooters..this has been a problem all playoffs long, tbh..Miami has the shooters to make the Spurs pay, though..

Some of that was falling asleep on shooters. But some of it was just having to pick your poison against Miami. Usually, the wide open 3's came when Miami snapped off two or three quick passes, after someone sagged to help with LeBron. But it's kind of hard to argue against helping on Lebron. I don't like seeing Ray Allen uncovered, but I'll take my chances with Bosh over LeBron.


- Danny Green guarding Dwyane Wade..Wade abused him in the post and on the drive, Green didn't have an answer for him, tbh..

Wade had 3 points in the 1st quarter - 1 FG and 1 of 2 FT's. Both of those scoring opportunities came off steals, and had nothing to do with Green. Wade also had zero points in the fourth quarter, and I think he made two shots when Green was out of the game.

Bottom line, Wade did most of his damage in about a minute-and-a half stretch in the second, when Neal and Bonner were both in the game - i.e. defensive cluster minutes. I don't think Green was perfect, but I don't think you can say he got destroyed by Wade either. And while Wade had 17 points, 2 assists, 2 RB, and a steal, Green had 12 points, 5 RB, a steal, and a block. So his production just about equaled Wades. I'll take that.


If you want one big Con, it's what happens when Tony Parker is out of the game. I know +/- is a BS statistic. But Corey Joseph being -6 in 2:14 isn't a coincidence. And Neal... ugh, Neal.

Another is Tiago's 2 rebounds, in 25 minutes of play. As a team, Miami has great foot speed - Tiago, not so much. That's not going to change. He's going to have to do a LOT better job at boxing out, and in establishing rebounding position earlier. Because if it comes to last second corrections, Miami is going to eat his ass up.

[therealtruth]

[Edit:] Ah, ... what am I thinking? You want the biggest Pro of all? The Spurs have now played 15 playoff games, and they have held their opponents to 92 or fewer points in regulation 13 times. If they keep playing defense like that, nothing else matters - they will be hoisting another LOB.

Good point. We know the Spurs can score more than 92 but if the defense can keep it up they will win. The defense can keep it up if Pop limits minutes for the Neal/Bonner.

[therealtruth]

Ok, I'll ask you..as a Spurs fan, knowing his ability, were you satisfied with Lebron's performance tonight and do you hope he replicates it every game in this series, tbh?..

If you told me Lebron would play like he did tonight in every game of this series, I'd say the Spurs are going to sweep Miami, tbh..

You could have asked the same question about Lebron's '11 Finals performance.

[Horse]

I don't think there were any cons tbh

Spurs played a near perfect game

shots didnt fall late in the 3rd otherwise Spurs win by 12+

We were no where near perfect, that's the best thing about it. For 3 quarters they were close to perfect lebron's triple double, wade and bosh played well and their role players hit shots. We shot 41% and still won. Huge Pro!

[DMC]

No there was definitely a lot of ball watching and falling asleep by the Spurs shooters. I agree with every instance HH brought up. There was even a point where they fell asleep and gave Lebron an open 3. You can't get caught watching the ball. Frankly, its amazing to me that this can happen to NBA athletes in a Finals game but I saw it a lot tonight.

You cannot take away everything. I think we'll live with Lebron shooting 3s, but not with Ray Allen shooting them. If we close out on Lebron, he drives (ala Paul George game 1 ECF). He's not a great 3pt shooter, like Allen. You cannot stop that Mike Miller run up jumper from 27'. It's something you live with. Those 12' jumpers from Bosh were painful, and they did hit some 3s, but all in all I don't think we ignored them that much. I think there was a game plan and it included some concessions and priorities and Lebron's 3pt shooting was lower than his drives, on that list.

[DMC]

You could have asked the same question about Lebron's '11 Finals performance.

It's not how Lebron played so much as how he was forced to play by the play of his teammates. He got 18 rebounds and Bosh got 5. If Bosh stays in the paint Lebron gets 30pts, but instead Lebron was relegated to playing PG and having to play center at the same time. Dude's good but not that good.

[Beaverfuzz]

Four turnovers, that's it. Smartly played basketball game. The shots will fall, just like they didn't fall for Miami in the second half. The law of averages always catches up.

[Yuixafun]

40X Better Game

Same Lebron.

He is who we thought he IS.

So he wins 1 championship last year and suddenly he's a different person? Naw...

Remember the knock was that he lacked that Killer Edge, Step on the throat mentality, of a Jordan, and Kobe, a Duncan even.

Well he's still the same nail biter under all that muscle.

He'd still rather pass the ball then take the game winner honestly.

He's still the same lebron from 2007 in his heart.

TBh.

[therealtruth]

You cannot take away everything. I think we'll live with Lebron shooting 3s, but not with Ray Allen shooting them. If we close out on Lebron, he drives (ala Paul George game 1 ECF). He's not a great 3pt shooter, like Allen. You cannot stop that Mike Miller run up jumper from 27'. It's something you live with. Those 12' jumpers from Bosh were painful, and they did hit some 3s, but all in all I don't think we ignored them that much. I think there was a game plan and it included some concessions and priorities and Lebron's 3pt shooting was lower than his drives, on that list.

He's a rhythm player and just taking open jumpers with no rhythm is difficult.