Going into the series, seasoned basketball fans universally acknowledged that this season's incarnation of the Heat was slightly worse than the version of Miami that eked out a Game 7 win against San Antonio last year, while this season's Spurs were better and deeper. However, we also wondered aloud if Miami's possession of the best player on the planet and the ability to rise to the occasion would trump that. Games 1 and 2 of this year's series didn't do much to change those thoughts, as Heat-apologists could argue that Miami was a LeBron James full body cramp away from going back home with a 2-0 series lead.
And then we all witnessed the Spurs layeth the smacketh down on the Heat for 3 straight games. So, what the hell happened? Coach Popovich finally figured out how to utilize his roster's advantages and pick apart the Heat's lack of depth. In Game 3, Popovich inserted Boris Diaw into the starting lineup over Tiago Splitter. Splitter's plodding style is mostly rendered ineffective against Miami's small ball heavy lineups. Diaw's versatility and ability to move the ball was a much better fit. Splitter's minutes decreased every game (23, 19, 16, 15, and 11), while Diaw's minutes increased from 32.5 mpg in the 1st 2 games to 37 mpg in the last 3. With Manu Ginobili rolling and Miami's point guards completely overmatched, Popovich also ditched Marco Belinelli (20 mpg in 1st 2 games and just over 6 mpg in the last 3 games) for the ultra-quick Patty Mills (13.5 mpg 1st 2 games/over 16 mpg last 3 games).
The Spurs' depth and ability to make rotation adjustments on the fly proved to be the difference.
Meanwhile, Heat Coach Eric Spoelstra had no where left to search for offensive production. Bosh had a solid but unspectacular series. Wade looked like he's on his last legs more than ever. But the 2013-2014 Heat had no Mike Miller to turn to. The Mario Chalmers/Norris Cole point guard platoon fell flat on its face. Ray Allen is more 1-dimensional now than ever before. Birdman Anderson didn't look quite as spry as he had in years past. And Udonis Haslem and Shane Battier appear to be done as impact players (literally done for Battier). While I wondered all postseason if Michael Beasley was worth giving a few minutes a game, it's obvious that Spoelstra for whatever reason didn't trust B-EZ and Greg Oden given the stage. What I thought would be offseason steals for Miami wound up being huge whiffs in retooling that bench mob.
Rashard Lewis played admirably when pressed into starting duty and important minutes for the 1st time in his 2 years in Miami, but that was all Miami's role players had to offer. The Chalmers/Coles situation got so bad that Allen started Game 5, and Mar-orris Cham-oles played only 24 minutes. But as Coach Spoelstra searched for a combination that worked, this tweak only made Miami's already weak bench situation even uglier. With Allen starting, the Heat's 2nd unit had no scoring punch whatsoever. So, after the Heat raced out to a 22-6 start, there was no where for them to go but down.
All this while the best player in the world had a great series individually: 28 ppg, 8 rpg, and 4 apg on a hyper-efficient 57% from the floor. How do you beat the Heat while James still plays at an all-world level? Make sure you K-I-L-T everyone else, that's how.
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