Status: Spurs lead series 2-1
Date: Thursday, June 13th
Time: 9:00 p.m.
Location: AT&T Center (San Antonio, TX)
TV: ABC
The NBA Finals continues on Thursday with a crucial Game 4. On Tuesday, the San Antonio Spurs took a 2-1 series lead over the Miami Heat with a convincing 113-77 victory. The 36-point win was the third largest margin of victory of all time in the history of the Finals.
The Heat again find themselves facing a virtual must-win. Falling behind 3-1 with a third game still to come on San Antonio’s home court would likely be too much to overcome.
The big story of the game is the health of Spurs’ guard Tony Parker. Parker exited Game 3 in the third quarter due to a hamstring injury. He returned in the fourth quarter, but only briefly, and stayed out the remainder of the game. Parker had an MRI on Wednesday and while he did have a slight strain, nothing major such as a tear was discovered. That doesn’t mean, however, that he’ll be able to suit up. Parker said afterwards that he ‘hopes’ to play and his status will likely be a game-time decision.
Without Parker, the Spurs would be in a heap of trouble. He’s arguably the best player on the team, even though he’s had his share of struggles in the Finals. Parker led the team in scoring (20.3 points) and assists (7.6) per game in the regular season. But against the Heat this series, he is averaging only 13.3 points and his shooting has dropped from 52% to 43%. Still, he’s going to be needed in this series and if he’s unable to play, the Spurs suddenly find themselves at a big disadvantage.
One bright spot has been the play of guards Danny Green and Gary Neal. Green has led San Antonio in scoring the past two contests and his 27 points in Game 3 included seven three-pointers. He’s been a long-distance threat the entire series making nine of them in the first two games as well. Neal’s minutes have increased significantly and in Game 3, he responded with 24 points off the bench. If Parker is going to be missed, Green, Neal, and Manu Ginobili will surely need to step up a bit.
Meanwhile, the Heat have their own problems. But the biggest one to resolve is getting more offense out of their star LeBron James. James hasn’t been terrible and has been a triple double threat the entire series. But he also hasn’t been the scorer the team desperately needs. The forward has failed to score 20 points in any game this series and with his team facing a 2-1 deficit, it would be surprising if he weren’t more aggressive in Thursday’s game. James has only six free throw attempts in the entire series and needs to settle for fewer jump shots.
James’ offensive struggles might not be so glaring if other teammates were stepping up. But Dwyane Wade is still failing to do enough offensively, averaging less than 15 points a game. And while Chris Bosh is rebounding much better, recording a pair of 10-rebound games over the past two contests, he’s doing even less offensively than Wade. Both are scoring significantly less than they did in the regular season and the Heat are running out of options. Players like Mario Chalmers and Ray Allen are capable of stepping up and providing a boost in a single game. But after the Big Three, there aren’t many other players that can put up the type of offense Miami has needed this series.
For the Heat, it’s pretty simple – get LeBron James back on track or head home without a second straight NBA championship.
