2013 NBA Finals: Miami Heat Showcase All The Pieces To Their Puzzle
5 Reasons The Miami Heat Were More Than LeBron
It’s the play that everyone was buzzing about. Tiago Splitter got the perfect bounce pass from Tony Parker, took a step, cocked the ball back and was ready to put somebody on a poster.
What happened next had the whole sports world talking.
LeBron James met Splitter at the apex and tossed the ball back at his face, and the crowd went nuts as he stood and stared while the play went the other way. It was a highlight that stayed on replay but it wasn’t even the momentum changer. The game was already changed — with defense as their moneymaker.
The Miami Heat were out there with active hands, active feet and pretty tight rotations. They even switched up looks on Parker by going under the San Antonio Spurs’ screen and rolls like they were bent on showing the world why they haven’t loss back-to-back games since January 10 in Portland.
Then, the offense took over.
"Mario [Chalmers] was able to make some plays. Ray [Allen] and Mike [Miller] both found open gaps for the shooting,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said via the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. “Dwyane [Wade] and Chris [Bosh] were able to make plays in the first half."
Miami made a living playing penetrate and pitch, and as Wade said it himself, working inside out is what made them a good team all year.
For more keys to Miami’s victory, please scroll through the next five slides.
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Richard Nurse is a Miami Heat columnist for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @blackirishpr.
The Return Of This Guy
You know things were getting bad for Ray Allen when he went to the line and people started wondering how many free throws he would miss instead of make.
He was about one series away from me begging for him to hang it up with Grant Hill and Jason Kidd — then he suddenly began to emerge from inside and outside the arch.
Mr. Stay Ready
Ever since Mike Miller stepped in for the struggling Shane Battier, the Heat have benefited from his shot, extra hustle and surprising defense.
Rio Makes Sure It Doesn’t Get To The Clutch
“I felt like we had them on the ropes at the time. I told him, ‘Let’s go for the kill,’” Mario Chalmers said to LeBron James via ESPN.com.
Chalmers wasted no time pressuring the Spurs with an array of shots from every inch of the court. He also stayed away from his usual string of plays that Miami reporters have taken to calling the Mario versus Wario experience.
D-E-F-E-N-S-E
In a must-win game against the San Antonio Spurs, the Miami Heat defense caused nothing but problems for Gregg Popovich’s team by switching everything to frustrate and confuse the offense — giving them no space to breathe. That's Heat basketball at its finest.
A Little Of The Big Three
With Dwyane Wade creating shots for himself and others, and Chris Bosh chipping in with a double-double, they held things together for the first three quarters while LeBron James struggled. Then, he brought them home in the fourth.
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