NBA Finals Game 3

I stand corrected. In my previous post I stated that I did not feel that the Spurs could blow out the Heat. I could not have been more wrong. The Spurs in game three did not get good performances from any of their stars but they got career nights from backup PG Gary Neal and starting SG Danny Green. The duo combined to put up 19 of the team total 32 three point attempts and managed to sink 13 of them. The rest of the team went 3 for 13 from deep. Neal and Green combined for 51 points out of the total 113 that San Antonio posted against Miami. The Heat on the other hand took less threes than the Spurs made with only 18 attempts. "Only 18 attempts", that seems like such an odd thing to say. It creates the implication that 18 three point attempts is not a lot, which compared to 32 it is not, but compared to a typical NBA game it was par for the course. The Spurs averaged just 21 attempts from deep during the regular season compared to Miami's 19. Therefore Miami matched up with their regular season attempts. The Spurs put up 11 more threes than normal. That number doesn't seem so absurd until you consider that 11 additional threes presents the opportunity for 33 more points added on to their season average 100 ppg.


(Photo courtesy of : gettyimages.com)

 It seems as though San Antonio has found the best way to beat the Heat and it is a bit risky. Let's face it, no one expected Danny Green and Gary Neal to steal the show last night. Just like no one expects to see a performance like that out of either one of them again. They set an NBA record for threes in a finals game, meaning the did a feat that has never been done before. Which means that the odds are not in their favor to repeat that feat again. Danny Green posted 27 points compared to a season average of 10. Gary Neal posted 24 points compared to a season average of 9. Two guys who averaged 19 points combined per game during the regular season put up 51 in a finals game. I am awestruck. The down side for Spurs fans is that if you look at the box score they got absolutely no production anywhere else, outside of a nice contribution from Kawhi Leonard. The Heat on the other hand had 43 points turned in by the big 3 and just 34 from the rest of the team. Mario Chalmers looked absolutely awful last night and couple that with the big 3 leading the team in scoring despite poor play as well and I was not shocked to see the blowout. I was just shocked to see who put up San Antonio's points to do so.


(Photo courtesy of: sports.yahoo.com) 

Never the less LeBron probably won't go 7-21 again and Danny Green and Gary Neal will be lucky to post double digits let alone lead the team in scoring and combine for 51 points. I don't foresee the Spurs shooting that well from long range again. Besides, if there is one thing that is always consistent the Heat always rebound from losses well. Plus, the Heat need to take just one game in San Antonio to restore home court. Need less to say my prediction still stands, Heat in 6.