1. Danny Green and Gary Neal (my boy) were unconscious last night. So much for not being able to rely on Green for the kind of production he had in Game 2 every night, right? He and my fellow Snap Fitness alum took turns dropkicking Miami in the face, combining for 51 points on 13 for 19 shooting from 3-point territory, on the way to a NBA Finals team record of 16 made 3's. F***.
Like seriously, f***.
2. LeBron James played like dog s***. And in fact, outside of his Game 2 4th quarter, he's shot the ball like dog s*** for all 3 games of this series so far. Should I stop saying dog s***? Sorry, I'm just trying to emphasize the appropriate amount of dog s***tiness he's shot the ball with. Now, some credit deserves to be thrown Kawhi Leonard and the Spurs' D's way. They clearly are not going to let him waltz freely into the paint for layups and dunks, but for the most part James is just missing wide open, makeable shots. And at this stage of his career, James usually does an excellent job of not settling for jumpers, and instead picking his spots with his jumpshot. But at this point, you would like to see him get the ball and just go...not necessarily go to the basket, but don't catch the ball, turn, make a bunch of moves, pause, look for an open man, then shoot. Catch the ball in rhythm, get on balance, and shoot the ball...a la his playoff performance in Boston last season. He's getting so much cushion he almost has no choice but to operate this way, even if his shot isn't on because San Antonio's D is sagging so far into the lane that there isn't much room for him or anybody else to operate.
Now, that was ugly.
3. Oh by the way, Wade and Bosh stunk last night too. Wade started off strong, but couldn't throw the ball in the ocean in the 2nd half when things started to go south. Bosh at least contributed 10 rebounds, but they combined for 28 points and both shot under 50% as well.
4. Despite those last 2 bullets about the Heat's putrid offense from their Big 3, there has been some great shooting in this series. See above for Green and Neal, but Mike Miller's ability to make shots was the only thing keeping Miami in the game for a while there. It seems like he hasn't missed a 3 this whole series, and he went 5 for 5 from that range again last night.
5. What's up with Tony Parker's hamstring? Just as the sky was raining Skittles for the Heat after Game 2, the Spurs should feel just as high following their Game 3 performance, but Parker seems to be a legitimate question mark for tomorrow night. They could afford to rest him most of the 2nd half last night because they ran Miami out of the gym, but if he can't go the Spurs will have to rely on some combo of Manu Ginobili, Neal, and Cory Joseph at the point, and as good as Neal has been that would certainly change the dynamic of this series.
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