Ahhh, June...when a young man's fancy turns to the NBA Finals...and so did the Miami Heat's as well last night, as they finally dispatched the Indiana Pacers 99-76 in a not-really-one-for-the-ages Game 7.
For most of this series, Indiana was content to allow LeBron James to do his thing while shutting down Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, and Miami's attack from the 3-point line. This strategy allowed the Pacers to control the majority of the games, but last night while LeBron had his usual quiet 32 points, the Heat got decent enough games from Wade and Allen that the Pacers didn't have an answer.
Bosh suffered through another miserable shooting night, scoring a meager 9 points on 3 of 13 shooting. But he at least was able to chip in 8 boards, and he made himself enough of a threat offensively that it allowed Miami to space the floor the way they are more accustomed to. Much is being made of Wade's night, but if a 21 point outburst on sub-50% shooting is a great game for him, that in and of itself is telling. And the Heat shot a very average 6 for 16 from 3 for the game, but a trio of Allen 3's sparked Miami's knockout blow of a 2nd quarter.
Their offense still wasn't the thing of beauty we had become accustomed to seeing throughout this season. A lot of that had to do with Indy's D, but Miami at least looked determined to take the ball to the basket and get to the free throw line last night instead of settling for jumpers. Roy Hibbert and the Pacers were still able to contest a lot of shots without fouling, but even with the "plane of verticality" we had heard so much about through these playoffs, the law of averages states that if James and Wade throw their bodies into the paint enough times they are going to wind up on the free throw line even if they don't get every call.
Miami also made a few defensive adjustments such as blitzing the f*** out of every pick-and-roll and sending double teams to the post instead of allowing Hibbert and David West to bludgeon them to death every play. I'm not sure why it took so long for the Heat to employ this strategy, as it not only forced Indiana's guards to make shots, but it plays to the strengths of Miami's D - scrambling, rotating, switching, and getting deflections - as well. The combination of those things was just too much for a young Pacers team (who had probably overachieved to make it this far) to overcome.
Now, this sets up the series that most people have been waiting for all season long. While they are a far superior team to the Pacers, the Spurs are probably a better matchup for the Heat. San Antonio is still a solid defensive team, but they are no longer the dominant defensive unit they were over the last decade or so. Like Miami, they are more of a finesse team that relies on speed, floor spacing, and shot making.
The pairing makes for some great individual matchups as well. While Hibbert could only dream of being in Tim Duncan’s class, Bosh would seem to match up much more favorably against him than Indy’s front line. Similarly, the Spurs won’t be able to ground-and-pound Shane Battier (or if Game 7 was any indication, Mike Miller possibly) with Tiago Splitter, and I would actually favor Miami over the Spurs’ Matt Bonner and Boris Diaw in a matchup of stretch-4’s. The matchup of an aging Manu Ginobili and Dwyane Wade could be a wash as well as the Danny Green-Allen one in the sniper role. To me, the Spurs best chance of winning the series is if Tony Parker makes the point guard matchup so one-sided that Miami can’t counteract it.
But still, none of that takes into account the best player on the planet at this moment. Kawhi Leonard is a very good young defender, and he was acquired specifically to go up against big athletic wing players, but James is a different kind of animal. What’s worse is that beyond Leonard, the Spurs have absolutely no one that can contend with him, so managing Leonard's fouls and minutes will be key. Green on LeBron? No thank you. Ginobili? I don’t think so. Diaw? Absolutely not. Tracy McGrady? Ain’t nobody got time for that! Yes, you could argue that the individual matchups across the board might be a draw or even favor San Antonio, but Miami has the ultimate chess piece. And his mathchup as well as the open style of play that the Spurs employ could lead to a monster series from James. My predictions have been somewhere between a** and very a** this postseason, but it’s hard not to like Miami in 6 games at the most. See you later, f***ers.
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