In Game 1 of the 2013 NBA Finals, the San Antonio Spurs knocked off the Miami Heat on the road. Because of that, you can expect the Heat to come out in Game 2 with a sense of desperation. Here’s what both teams need to do to bring home a victory in the important second game of the series.
Miami Heat
Slow down Tony Parker
Not only did Spurs’ guard Tony Parker stick the dagger into the Miami Heat with his late bucket to clinch Game 1, but he also had a team-high 21 points. Parker made nine of his 18 shots, but his six assists to no turnovers also were a huge factor. He played about as perfect a game that a point guard can and while he didn’t go ballistic on offense, his 21 points were slightly higher than his season average. Miami needs to force him into some tougher shots and hold him to around 15 points if they can. The Heat tried a few players on him, including LeBron James, but nothing really worked that well. Miami would surely prefer not to have James expending his energy on defense, but if it means shutting down Parker, they may need to do more of it.
Force turnovers
The Spurs are led by a pair of veterans including the aforementioned Parker and center Tim Duncan. Getting the team to turn the ball over isn’t all that easy, but San Antonio played virtually mistake-free basketball for nearly 48 minutes on Thursday. San Antonio had only four turnovers … in the entire game. Miami needs to get out into passing lanes and step up the defense to force the Spurs into some mistakes. That’s particularly true in the case of Parker, who handles the ball quite a bit as arguably the team’s best player.
Get LeBron James going on offense (seriously)
It sounds odd to suggest that a player with a triple double in a playoff game could do more, but James will need to do a bit more scoring if he wants to give his team a good chance to win. James had 18 rebounds and ten assists, but it’s his 18 points that were part of the problem in Game 1. That was the lowest output of the playoffs for James and while the Heat won two postseason games against the Chicago Bulls and Milwaukee Bucks when he scored only 19, those teams simply weren’t as good as San Antonio. And in the case of the game against Chicago, he only played 32 minutes in a blowout win. James is obviously pulling his fair share, but if Miami wants to win, they’ll need even more scoring from him.
San Antonio Spurs
Shoot better
Despite winning Game 1, the Spurs actually were less efficient on offense than the Heat were. San Antonio shot less than 42% from the field while Miami was over 43%. Neither team shot particularly well, but the Spurs have to take into account that the Heat will be playing desperate in Game 2 and will want to play much better. My guess is that if the Spurs are going to win Game 2, they’ll need to shoot better than they did on Thursday.
Win the rebounding battle
Usually this is something that applies to the Heat, but there’s no doubt that the Spurs have to do a better job on the boards in Game 2. Tim Duncan and Kawhi Leonard both rebounded well with a combined 24, but the rest of the team was largely absent as no one else had more than five. And as a whole, the Spurs were -9 to the Heat. Part of the key will be keeping James off the glass as he had a monster Game 1.
More efficiency from Manu Ginobili
After averaging only 23 minutes in the regular season, reserve guard Manu Ginobili played a whopping 30 in the first game. That’s not a huge surprise as coach Gregg Popovich likes to play his veteran guys in the postseason. But while Ginobili scored 13 points in the game, he did so on only 4-11 shooting. I don’t have much of a problem with Ginobili playing that much if Pops is comfortable with him and thinks his legs will hold up. But if he’s going to be on the court that long instead of other players, he has to be more efficient. As a whole, Ginobili hasn’t shot well in the playoffs this year. He shot nearly 47% against the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round, but only 36% since then.
