Enjoy your view, LeBron?

Seemingly every media outlet that didn't just post a video of exploding heads had the Heat winning this series. That probably has a lot more to do with them and a lot less to do with the teams involved. However, those outlets have forgotten one thing: these are the fucking Spurs we're talking about.

The Spurs demonstrated just that by winning Game 1. Since this series is played in a 2-3-2 format, that gives them home court advantage and an excellent chance at having the Heat on the ropes by Game 5. Still, this thing is far from over; you might remember that the Thunder won Game 1 last year, and across the nation eulogies were being written for the Heat, just as they are now.

The truth is, the Spurs won this one narrowly, and overcame Heat advantages in shooting percentage, rebounding, and total assists. Strangely enough, one of the few areas the Spurs had an advantage at was the free throw line (which really messes with my belief in Stern conspiracy theories *). The Spurs also forced more turnovers, showing again their uncanny ability to beat teams at their own game.

* Stern's probably just luring us into a false sense of serenity before rigging a more important game.

Then there was this:


I know you've probably already seen it, several times at that, but with a shot like that, you can probably stand to see it several times more. It was such an incredible shot that most of what I've read this morning focused entirely on it, seemingly forgetting that 48 minutes had been played leading up to it, or that the Spurs already had a lead.

It was one hell of a shot, but the name of this site is Basketbawful, so let's focus on some of the Bawful from last night, shall we...

Chris Bosh: Oh yeah. You knew it was coming. How long can a power forward jack up threes, even if he hits a few, before he has a game like this. All of a sudden, he's knocking on the doors of exile, as editorials across the nation are clamoring for him to be expelled from South Beach. 5 rebounds (13 less than LeBron) and shooting 6-16 for 13 points is not good, but it's the 0-4 from downtown that really stands out. None of the ones I saw were corner threes either (you know, the kind he occasionally hits). For the record, Bosh actually attempted the same number of threes as Ray Allen. The only difference was that Ray hit 3 of his.

Boris Diaw: Parker's bosom buddy spent about 9 minutes on court and made his only shot. So why is he here? It's because he spent most of that time guarding LeBron James, which invariably resulted in a surge for the Heat. Normally, when something like this happens, it's the coach's fault, and if it had been, I dunno, Scottie Brooks's decision, it'd probably be his name at the beginning of the entry; but it wasn't Scottie Brooks's decision, it was Gregg Popovich's. Therefore, I'm pretty much assuming that it was some sort of brilliant mind game.

The Heat: They lost a game where, even if only for a couple of minutes, LeBron James was being guarded by Boris Diaw. I'm at a loss for words.

LeBron's ankles:

How could I resist? This play was so pretty, it almost feels like the reason gifs were invented.


Thanks for the link Raza.

Lacktion:
Cory Joseph: Joseph missed his lone field goal attempt in 2 minutes and 14 seconds, christening the Finals lacktion section on behalf of the Spurs.
8 Comments:
Blogger Wormboy said...
BWahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah!


AHHHH-hahahahahahahhahahahahahhahahahahaha!

Just needed to do that.

Look, the Spurs didn't actually do that well. Manu missed point blank bunnies.

But, just like the Mavs in 2011, the Spurs executed brilliantly (with some exceptions) on both D and O. And we need to give Kawhi Leonard some love. yes, he went 3-9, but one was a blow by of LeBron and a dunk over Wade. More importantly, he harassed Bron the whole game. Look, ,nobody stops Bron. but if you make him work his ass off, he's going to be merely great. BTW, that's why Diaw was guarding Bron. Leonard can't do it for 42 minutes. Danny Green saw some time, but they also need some size on Bron. It worked OK.

This is still going 6 or 7. Teams don't win three in a row at home unless they have a crap opponent. The Heat won't allow it. Neither will David Stern. But the Heat had damned well better win game 2. Yeah, OKC vs Spurs last year, blah blah blah. Does anybody really believe this is the same Spurs team? Leonard and Green say no: much more experienced. Parker looks better. Duncan looks great. Only Manu looks flawed here.

Blogger Wormboy said...
Oh, and one other thing. I'm curious what others think. The Spurs last two offensive sets, running the clock down, absolutely sucked. Yeah, Parker made a trick shot. But you obviously don't go for stuff like that. They usually use 18 seconds of each clock anyway. Why not just run plays with lots of screens and cuts to get a higher percentage shot? They almost cost themselves the game by trying o use all of the clock!

Blogger Barry said...
I can't get over the fact that I've seen that play where James blew by Duncan (a mismatch) 1700 times in the replay, whereas brilliant team plays and even James getting brilliantly fooled by Leonard or Green (I think, there were too few replays!) is barely given a replay?

At least make the appearance of giving both teams equal attention.

I'm also in the Lebron was passive crowd. Looking at the numbers it's quite a brilliant game all around, but I really expected more scoring from him - more penetration, more drives.

How about that 3-pt foul on Ray Allen though? Man, I was sweating at that point, despite it being something like 5 o'clock in the morning.

Blogger Glenn said...
I agree about running the clock down. I was convinced that play was going to be a shot clock violation until Parker pulled that circus shot out of his ass. Kawhi was fantastic, especially on defense. It's great to see him get to shine like this. I can't seem to find video footage of the play where he shook LeBron, which is more than a minor tragedy. If anybody can locate it, I'll post it.

Blogger Raza said...
Here's a gif of that amazing Kawhi shot over LeBron you're asking for Glenn:

http://cdn.bleacherreport.net/images_root/article/media_slots/photos/000/901/240/Lenoard_original.gif

I can't believe we stole Game 1. I think Miami wins Game 2 in the 10-15 point range as going down 0-2 with the next 3 in SA would be suicide.

Hopefully the Spurs can head into Game 6 with a 3-2 lead.

Loving Kawhi ever since he got traded on draft night to the Spurs. He's been phenomenal for us constantly. His poise is unbelievable for someone who is only in his second year in the league.

Finally, here's an AMAZING pass from Ginobili that's been all over the internet from Game 1. Sick pass to Tony Parker courtesy of the gap between Noris Cole's legs!

http://i.minus.com/ibwLNYTPm4jt2w.gif

Blogger Wormboy said...
Thanks for the gif, Raza. Reverse nutmeg! Degree of difficulty: 10.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Great link Raza - that petit pont pass is insane. Hope to see Manu at 100% Game 6 in Miami 3-2 Spurs ^_^

Blogger Raza said...
At first I was stoked that the Spurs (outside of Danny Green) were playing like garbage and still up 62-61 and then the fourth quarter happened.

Now, I'm not sure the Spurs win in Miami again...still think they can get two out of 3 in SA though.