Miami Heat 88 vs San Antonio Spurs 92
It's a Tony Parker spell with 5 seconds left to send the credits up Game 1 of the NBA Finals. The Franco-Belgian playmaker, after ending up in the Heat's defense shirts and tripping, gets up, avoids Lebron James's attempted block and invents the +4 shot as the 24-second clock expires, effectively making the game useless Miami's last possession and giving the Spurs the win.
A tight series was expected and, judging by Game 1, the promise was kept, even if the underdogs belonged to the defending champions Miami Heat, who played within the friendly walls of the AmericanAirlines Arena. The match, after the initial escape of San Antonio (9 to 2 after a couple of minutes) always remained on the edge of balance, despite Miami's attempts to extend between the second and third quarters. Attempts always contained by the Spurs who, despite the bad percentages from the field (41% against 51% of the Heat) and the clear rebound defeat (37 against 46), have always remained in contact with their opponents.
Merit of the performance of coach Popovich's team, who lost only 4 balls in the whole game. Thanks above all to Tony Parker, which after a silent match ignites in the final quarter, putting 10 points on the scoresheet (of the 21 total, plus 6 assists), including the two in the bracket with five seconds left. Beside him, great performance also by Tim Duncan who, despite the initial shooting difficulties, ends with 20 points and 14 rebounds and the usual great defense. Slightly in the shadows, however, Ginobili, despite a couple of triples, while an honorable mention goes to the young Kawhi Leonard, who has the most difficult task of all: to try to limit, as far as humanly possible, the Mvp of the League Lebron James. The Spurs small forward brings to the cause a solid contribution of 10 points and 10 rebounds, and an excellent defensive performance on King James.
Lebron ends the game with respectable numbers – a triple double with 18 points, 18 rebounds and 10 assists -, but at the same time leaves the feeling of not having done everything possible to shoulder the offensive weight of his team in the moment of greatest need.
For the Heat, however, some of the problems already glimpsed during this postseason and which forced the South Beach team into a grueling Game 7 with the Pacers just 48 hours ago are confirmed. Wade, after a great start to the game, gradually faded away until he disappeared from the field, still limited by knee problems, while the last (in every sense) of the Big Three, Chris Bosh, confirmed his questionable evolution in an increasingly peripheral player. The big man from Miami scores 13 points with bad percentages, picking up only 5 rebounds and substantially exempting himself from the battle in the center area. Ray Allen's performance was more than discreet, finding his hand hot from long range, putting 13 points on the scoresheet with only 4 shots from the field.
Race 2 will take place on Sunday night, again at the American Airlines Arena in Miami. Then we will go to San Antonio, which for the moment has snatched the field factor from its opponents and can look optimistically to the continuation of the series. Woe, however, to give up for dead the Heat, who also lost game 1 last year (at the time it was away), to then put on four consecutive victories and put the ring on their finger. "Never underestimate the heart of a champion" is one of the symbolic phrases of the NBA. And Lebron and Wade, as well as Parker, Duncan and Ginobili on the other side, are champions.
