“What he means is Old Testament, Mr. Mayor, real wrath of God type stuff.”
“Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies! Rivers and seas boiling!”
“Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes…” “The dead rising from the grave!”
“Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together… mass hysteria!” – Ghostbusters, 1984
This is more or less how the NBA world feels right now. Both conference favorites are down 3-2 after home Game Five losses. Both now have to go on the road against teams playing with supreme confidence that have lost a combined one time this postseason (Philadelphia beat Boston in Game Two of the second round). What’s more amazing about the Game Five wins is that both Miami and San Antonio were close to unbeatable at home this season. Now the narrative shifts to whether either favorite turned underdog can bounce back.
Let’s start with Miami because they’re struggles are fresh in our minds. The first problem for the Heat Tuesday night was LeBron James and Dwyane Wade combined for 57 of the Heat’s 90 points. Chris Bosh returned, scored nine points and had seven rebounds in just 14 minutes, but looked lost on defense at times. Still, for spacing reasons at the very least, Bosh should’ve played at the end of the game. Even coming back from injury, he was better than every other Heat big except may Udonis Haslem. Bosh said after the game that he felt good. Erik Spoelstra said Bosh will get a handful more of minutes in Game Six. I say start him and play him a ton, especially next to Wade so you give LeBron a little bit of rest and don’t completely screw the Heat in the process.
So far, Rajon Rondo has been brilliant. He really has been and that can’t be overlooked. Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce have both had big games and big moments. Given all that the Heat haven’t played well at all this series and they’re still a couple plays away from being up 3-2 or even awaiting OKC or San Antonio in the Finals. A more involved Bosh could really swing this series over the next two games. Or the Celtics could slam the door shut on the Heat in Game Six and continue a run to this incredibly improbable Finals run (Bulls fans, this is where you stomp kick a door or wall).
San Antonio is a better team than the Miami Heat. However, the Oklahoma City Thunder are a much better team than the Boston Celtics. That’s why people are giving them even less of a chance than the Heat to win Game Six. That isn’t to say people are giving them no chance, but the Thunder are playing so well right now it’s hard to see them losing, especially at home. The Spurs problems are a little easier to fix. Stop turning the ball over and make sure Tony Parker is more aggressive in getting to the basket. The Spurs had 21 turnovers that led to 28 Thunder points. That can’t happen if the Spurs want to win Wednesday night. That also means that take less risks passing, which means less ball movement. That’s why Parker is so key. If he gets in the paint like Games One and Two everything opens back up for San Antonio and they have a good shot at winning. Then again, if Durant goes off like he did at the end of Game Four, it might not matter. Much like the East, I’m fully expecting anything from a Spurs win to a Thunder blowout. ANYTHING’S POSSIBLLLLLLLEEEEEEE.
