This game will be remembered for years to come. Who knows how this game will be remembered. I know how terrible it must have been inside that arena, and it was evident, especially in the third quarter, that no A/C strongly impacted that game. But each team had to face it. And during that third quarter it heavily favorite Miami who pounced on every loose ball San Antonio coughed up during those 12 minutes. The Spurs looked out of sync for many reasons. They experimented with different line ups during that third quarter, but nothing seemed to work since every possession seemed to end in a turnover. Again, who knows how this game will be remembered. It might be remembered as the Danny Green game. Green was awful during the first three quarters. He badly missed a floater. Neither of his 3-point attempts looked accurate. It just wasn’t Green’s day. No one would have questioned Pop if he decided to let Green sit out the rest of the game. But Pop stuck with his NBA Finals’ record holder, and boy did that save the Spurs in Game One. Green didn’t miss, and San Antonio barely missed during their epic 16-3 run to end the game. LeBron James will be mentioned when discussing this game in the future, no matter the outcome of this series. People scrutinized James on Twitter all night because he didn’t finish the game due to cramps. The thing with that is simple, really, because James would have played if he was able to play. I don’t get why people question his heart or toughness. He is a competitive person, and he wants to be greatest of all time. Coach Spo instructed him not play. That’s all I will say about James. The Spurs might not have had their “A” game, but during certain stretches in Game One they played great basketball, and that was the difference. Manu Ginobili really impacted the first half with his 3-point shooting, but it was his decision making and passing ability that made the difference in the second half. Ginobili and Boris Diaw had more assists combined than Miami had as a team. Ginobili finished with a plus 22, while Diaw finished with a plus 30. With how Ginobili has been playing, San Antonio has the clear advantage. I was shocked Pop started Tiago Splitter, especially considering how much he struggled during last Finals when Miami played small ball. But Diaw finished with more minutes than Splitter, so it really doesn’t matter who starts for the Spurs (actually it has never mattered who starts). Tim Duncan was unstoppable. He missed two shots all night (a free throw and a field goal). Ginobili, Diaw and Parker do excellent jobs of recognizing when Duncan has a mismatch, and then addressing that issue with nice lob or bounce passes. Bill Simmons said at halftime that if this series features many games in the 100s then it easily favors San Antonio. The Spurs just have better scorers top to bottom than Miami. The Heat need to sure up their defense because, up until the fourth quarter, Miami did a superb job blanketing Green. Green couldn’t get the shots he got during the first five games of last year’s Finals until the fourth quarter. Miami made that priority to slow him down, but in the end Green was the difference. I’d like to see Chris Bosh shoot more. He made three out of four from deep, and shot seven for 11 overall. He had the tough assignment of covering Duncan, so Birdman might need to garner more minutes during this series. Game One had its fair share of highlights and clutch plays. This series has all of the makings of being an all timer, and I’m just happy we can all witness.
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