NBA Basketball
2013-06-18 - San Antonio Spurs at Miami Heat
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States: NBA Finals Basketball
Tuesday 18 June 2013 - Tip Off 9pm
2am (British Time)
Preview
After being such a dominant force in the regular season, some basketball writers had the Miami Heat not losing a single game in the Play Offs on the way to their second title in consecutive years. However, the team that won 27 straight for the second longest winning streak in NBA history is just 5-6 in their last 11 games in the Play Offs and now have to win their remaining 2 games if they are to retain the NBA Championships.
The last time the Heat found themselves in this position of being 3-2 down and returning home in the NBA Finals was also against a team from Texas. Back in 2011, Miami had to watch the Dallas Mavericks celebrate on this court and now they will look to prevent the San Antonio Spurs doing the same.
Game 5 saw another barrage of three pointers from the Spurs and the best game of the series for Manu Ginobili, who was put into the starting rotation, and San Antonio lead 3-2. Tony Parker's hamstring is just about holding on, while Danny Green is the surprise choice for Finals MVP after making a record number of threes in the Finals.
It was down to some lazy defensive efforts that Green was left so open for some of this three pointers, so much so that even Tony Parker was surprised by how much room Green was given. That was a far cry from the effort in Game 4 that Miami had put in on the defensive side of the court and they will need to return to that if they are to overturn this deficit.
Miami will need to join a small list of teams if they are to recover from this deficit and win the NBA Finals. There have only been three previous teams that have come back from 3-2 down to win 2 straight at home since 1985. San Antonio are also playing to go 5-0 in NBA Finals which would leave them one short of the 6-0 that Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls went in Finals.
Game 6 is of extreme importance for San Antonio who are not approaching this one knowing they have two chances to wrap up the Championship. However, it will be interesting to see how the older bodies and injured parts recover with just one day rest between Games 5 and 6.
Both teams are aware of the adjustments the other will make, while there is some real pressure on LeBron James. He was criticised heavily for the failure of the Heat to win the 2011 Finals and he has been lacklustre at times in this series. After winning a title in a shortened season, expect the critics to come out with sharpened knives if this is the end of the Miami season.
Head to Head
Miami still lead the season series 4-3, but the most important scoreline is the 3-2 lead San Antonio have in the NBA Finals.
The Heat have won 4 of their last 5 home games against the Spurs and will need to add to that run twice to win the Championship.
Prediction
So far in this series, the team in a desperate spot has responded effectively to a defeat and there is every reason to think that Miami can continue that trend.
The Heat have been very effective off a loss, going 11-0 against the spread in the last 11 times in that spot and the lack of rest time may work in their favour.
I expect a much stronger defensive effort and for this series to now go into the one-game shootout.
The Pick :
Miami Heat 101-91 San Antonio Spurs
