Poor Tiago Splitter. He tried so hard to make a teeny dunk. When the Spurs starting center went up to throw one down on Lebron James with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Brazilian got waxed.
Two plays later Lebron slammed a two-handed dunk off a steal, and it was at that moment you knew the Heat were relentlessly swarming, like a school of frenzied piranhas, and they would not be defeated. Not there and not then.
If the San Antonio Spurs let the Miami Heat play even once like they did in the second half of last night's game there should be ample chance for them to steal a game in Texas. Like I said after game one, the Spurs are playing our game, fast paced and running. The Spurs just happened to turn the ball over more in game two, miss a few more shots, and open up a door big enough for an obese 33 point elephant to walk through.
And most importantly, the Heat finally decided to play tight defense, oppressively all over the Spurs every second, like NSA operatives on your Gmail account.
The Heat finally decided to play tight defense, oppressively all over the Spurs every second, like NSA operatives on your Gmail account.
In the first half, the Spurs put up a good fight and stayed in the game close, mostly due to their near flawless three-point shooting. But you knew at some point those shots would stop falling, and you also knew at some point Lebron, with only 4 points up to that point, would step up and start making plays.
But the Heat can’t expect perennial all star Tim Duncan to go 3-13 back at home or Tony Parker to go 5-14 with five turnovers. And though Manu Ginobli will always look like a South Beach nightclub creep, there’s no way he’ll continue look that inept as a ball handler. Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich will make adjustments so his team doesn’t get steam rolled like that in Game Three.
That being said, UdonisHaslem is the underrated hero of last night's game. The man who carries the entire state of Florida on his back, has carried this defense by shutting down Tim Duncan. Mario Chalmers deserves the game ball for creating when no one else could, and Mike Miller and Ray Allen both hit huge three pointers at clutch moments after having been colder than a pair of Arctic fox hairballs in the last series against Indiana.
For some reason the Heat likes to give one up at home when they have home court advantage. It’s frustratingly complacent behavior, and they did it against Chicago, Indiana and San Antonio this year. It’s like they need to be cattle prodded into winning. Hopefully Spoelstra has a unicorn horn under that perfectly parted hair. Swoon.
I plan on buying a case of Let it Fly for the next game. Who’s with me?!
