The Miami Heat’s three-peat is officially on life support.
After squandering Game 1 amid Crampgate, and then embarrassing themselves on their home floor in Game 3, the Heat needed Game 4. They needed to come out with more energy, better execution and more grit. They just needed to win by any means necessary. They couldn’t go back on the road trailing the San Antonio Spurs 3-1.
Spoiler alert: Miami is trailing San Antonio 3-1.
The Heat suffered a 107-86 shellacking at the hands of the Spurs Thursday night. It was ugly for the Heat. Everything was clicking for the Spurs. The ball movement incredible, the shooting near-perfect, the energy endless.
Nothing similar can be said of the Heat, who came out flat and stayed grounded the entire way. LeBron James tried to inject some life into them late, but his 19 third-quarter points meant nothing…because the Heat scored just 21 as a team.
This game was over before the fourth quarter. Hell, it was over before the third. You could just sense the Heat didn’t have it. Boris Diaw was all over the place. Kawhi Leonard was a beast once again. Tim Duncan was his normal, reliable self. Tony Parker, though he only had two assists, was instrumental in opening up the Spurs’ offense with his cyclical dribble penetration.
Sitting at the podium next to Dwyane Wade—who laid a 3-of-13 egg in this one—afterward, LeBron spoke the cold, hard, unassailable, harrowing, inexcusable truth. Here’s a few of his best quotes from Bleacher Report’s Ethan Skolnick:
LeBron: "We put ourselves in a position where it is about making history…. But all we can do is worry about Sunday."
— Ethan J. Skolnick, 5 Reasons Sports (@EthanJSkolnick) June 13, 2014
LeBron: "I mean, they smashed us. Two straight home games. Got off to awful starts."
— Ethan J. Skolnick, 5 Reasons Sports (@EthanJSkolnick) June 13, 2014
Smashed is putting it kindly. These last two games have been utterly absurd for both teams. The Spurs’ offense is more Spurs-y than usual. The Heat are uncharacteristically porous on the defensive end. They are, for the most part, switching like crazy, which isn’t the way to combat a ball-movement-heavy offensive system.
Now the Heat are on the verge of paying the ultimate price. They’re one game away from missing out on their third straight NBA title. No team has come back from a 3-1 Finals deficit before. The Heat would be the first. And to do it, they must win in San Antonio.
Twice.
So yes, they were smashed. They’ve been getting smashed. Their defense, their offense, their egos—everything about them has bended to the stronger-willed Spurs. Cementing their status as a dynasty is going to take a miracle, some type of phenomenon that can’t be explained.
At the very least, they need to come out with more fire and resolve in Game 5. One contest at a time. That’s how this must be approached. Can’t get to Game 6 or 7 unless you go through Game 5.
“I believe in my guys,” Chris Bosh told reporters afterward. “If anybody can do this, it’s us.”
Once upon a time, we might of believed that.
Four games into these NBA Finals, we unfortunately know better than to place stock in the stumbling, bumbling, fumbling Heat.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com.
