NBA Finals Update

Well I intended to have game-2's review done before game-3 took place, but after everything went down the way that it did, I'm glad I didn't.

Game-2:   HEAT 103 - SPURS 84   (a doimination)
Game-3:   SPURS 113 - HEAT 77   (not a domination)

So Sunday in Miami, we saw game-2 play much like game-1 did through the first half. It was tied at 22 after 1 quarter of basketball. Both the Heat and the Spurs would hold a 5-pt. lead during the 2nd quarter, but Miami would do it twice. The last one as the quarter finished, 50-45. The 3rd quarter was once again tight, as the Spurs came back with a 16-7 run, squashing the Heat's 8-pt. lead. But Danny Green's bucket

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with 3:49 on the clock, putting the Spurs up 62-61, would be their last one.. for a long while.

For the next 10+ minutes the Heat would hit everything they put up, going on an unbelievable 33-5 run, and before anyone knew it, Pop was emptying the bench, and the score was 94-67. During the run Chalmers, Miller, and Allen all contributed, and nothing the Spurs did went right. After 4 turnovers in game-1, the Spurs ended up with 16 in game-2, and a lot of them came during this stretch. With our back-ups in for the last (almost) 7 minutes of the game, however, we outplayed them (their starters for a couple minutes) 17-9 to make the loss a little less painful. Heat win 103-84. Here's the box score.

The media and sports sites all over were touting the Heat as glorious again, and all of a sudden they were unstoppable.. referring to the 10-minute run when calling the game a total domination. OK so we played a super-sloppy 10 minute stretch, but was the game a domination? Not in my opinion.

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Fast forward to game-3 on Tuesday, back in Texas. San Antonio fans had waited more than 2 weeks for another home game. Specifically it had been since May 21st, game-2 vs. the Grizzlies! More importantly the organization had waited SIX YEARS for this new opportunity. Obviously fans, and players alike were stoked. Atmosphere was incredible, and in showed as the Spurs jumped out to an early 8-pt. lead, 15-7. Spurs took a 4-pt. lead into the 2nd quarter, 24-20, as it appeared everyone was happy to be at home. Green was hot again (he hasn't really cooled off), Gary Neal was hitting, Kawhi Leonard was hitting, and we were taking care of the ball. With the game tied at 44, and 37 seconds left in the half, Tony hit an amazing three from the corner, followed by a steal on the ensuing possession, and a Gary Neal three at the buzzer. The moment was exciting, as momentum was 100% ours going into halftime 50-44.

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Including those 6 points, San Antonio would go on a 69 to 33 run for more than 24 minutes of Finals basketball. Neal and Green would combine to hit 13 of 19 threes for the game, and the Spurs as a team hit 16 of 32. Kawhi added 14 pts, and Duncan 12, while Tony was hampered with a strained hamstring. This, my friends, was a total domination. Mike Miller hit 5 of 5 from three, but LeBron was held to 15 points on 7 of 21 shooting. Spurs win game-3 113-77, Miami's worst playoff loss of all-time. Here's the box score.

Box scores via ESPN

I Try, I Try

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Dog Noses Look Like Angry Alien Faces

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Spurs 1 - Heat 0

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Game 1 of the 2013 NBA Finals went down last night, and boy was it a doozie! In one of the best Finals games I've ever seen, both teams played very solid basketball, and neither team led by double digits. After the Spurs went up by 7 very early, Miami would take control, and lead for most of the first half. Actually they would lead for most of the game, but only by a handful of points. Each team would make runs, and show superior energy, and then the other would counter with something just as exciting. Kawhi Leonard did a great job on LeBron for most of the night, as he only had 18 points on 7 of 16 shooting, but amassed 18 rebounds as well. Completing his third career Finals triple-double, he also had 10 assists. The problem is no other Heat player had more than 5 boards, nor more than 4 assists.

Shots fell for them for a while, but when it came down to the 4th quarter, well.. the Spurs defense cranked it up a few notches, and Tony Parker seemed to take over the game. Wade had 17, and Allen & Bosh each scored 13, but Miami critically turned it over 4 times in the 4th quarter, as well. The Spurs on the other hand had only 4 turnovers all game (tied an NBA Finals record), and along with Miami's 8, the total of 12 turnovers SET a new NBA Finals record.

San Antonio held Miami to 16 in the 4th quarter, and were able to score 23 themselves. So after trailing by 1 for a quarter, and then by 3 at both the half and 3rd quarter break, the Spurs were able to finally take the lead mid-4th. In back-to-back possessions a LeBron turnover led to a sweet Tony Parker spin move for a layup, to go up by 5. Then Ray Allen was fouled on a 3-pt. attempt by Danny Green, who had 4 threes of his own. Allen sunk them all, but on the ensuing possession, Tony dribbled-out the clock on a broken play, but hit a turn-around bank shot, under the block of LeBron, with less than half of 0.1 showing on the shot clock.

Literally by a fingertip, the Spurs led by 4 with 5 seconds to go, and held on for the 92-88 win. Tony Parker finished with 21 points on 9 of 18 shooting, 6 assists, and no turnovers in 40 minutes of Finals basketball. Duncan's hot 2nd quarter paved the way for 20 points of his own on 8 of 19 shooting, and he also grabbed 14 rebounds. Manu, Danny Green, and Kawhi Leonard added 13, 12, and 10 respectively.

Here's ESPN's game-1 box score..

Game-2 is Sunday night at 7pm - again in Miami.

Just Cheese

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Which ones are your favorites?

Dream Theater - "Raise the Knife" (LIVE)

~from Score, originally Falling Into Infinity


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An Incredible Image from Last Week's Oklahoma Tornadoes

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Glad I live in SOUTH Texas.

50 States - 50 Origins

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The Stage is Set!

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...and I can't friggin' wait!

Yeah I forgot to come back and finish up the results of the Spurs/Memphis series, but it's only because that series seemed like a cake-walk compared to the Golden State series. Once we were up 2-0, I knew if we could stay in game-3, we'd have a great chance to win it. Likewise I also knew that if we stole game-3, it was soon to be over. There was no doubt in my mind, after what happened last year, that Pop and company was about to give them ANY chance whatsoever to come back.

Now, it's LeBron vs. Kawhi.   Wade vs. Green.   Chalmers vs. Mr. Tony Parker.   Bosh vs. Splitter.   Haslem and Birdman vs. Timmy Duncan.   Spoelstra vs. the King, Gregg Popovich.

Yeah the King in this series is not LeBron James, it's Coach Pop. He has an answer for everything. I think you'll see the key to the entire series is gonna be Pop's adjustments on the different things the Heat try to throw at us. In addition to that, I believe our team is deeper. Yeah they have several shooters. If there's one tiny achilles heel in Pop's system, it's that the one thing he has a hard time stopping is teams who shoot well from the outside. But isn't that just the way it is? Most coaches are gonna have a very difficult time stopping a team who has great games due to high-percentage outside shooting. Mike Miller, Ray Allen, Shane Battier, and perhaps Norris Cole could give us trouble for a few minutes. However there exists several Spurs players not named Parker-Ginobili-Duncan-Leonard-Splitter who will certainly contribute solid minutes.

Danny Green is a starter, anyway, not Manu, so there's that. Boris Diaw, Matt Bonner, Patty Mills, Cory Joseph, DeJuan Blair, Nando DeColo, Tracy McGrady, Aaron Baynes....... Let's just say Pop will have plenty of fouls, and fresh legs for the Heat. Oh yeah, and also plenty of threes.


Schedule source: ESPN.com