Ten years ago, the Spurs’ redemption against the Miami Heat began with a HOT Game 1 (literally)

Not only were the Spurs hot for revenge, it was literally hot in the arena after the AC went out. Who can forget “LeCramp”?

For the first three rounds of the 2014 NBA Finals recap, we have supplied a summary of each round exactly ten years after that round ended. As a reminder, the Spurs beat the Mavs in Round One of 2014 — a seven-game series in which the Spurs crushed Dallas in the seventh game. In Round Two, the Spurs blew out the Trail Blazers in a “gentleman’s sweep” — the Spurs let up in game four in Portland and then closed out the series 4-1 with a big home win. Next, the Spurs took out the OKC Thunder in six games. Each of the first five games was a blow-out by the home team, but the Spurs won game 6 in an overtime thriller in Oklahoma City to take the series 4-2.

For the Finals, I will not wait until the end of the series. Instead, we will go back ten years for each game.

In their 12 wins before the Finals, the Spurs won by an average of 15 points per game. That seemed unlikely to continue against the defending champion Miami Heat. But unlike 2013, the Spurs had home court advantage in 2014, meaning the first game would be in San Antonio instead of Miami.

Game One was June 5, 2014 — the “Air Conditioning Game”. Or more accurately, the “No Air Conditioning Game”. In South Texas. In June.

In Game One, the 90 degree heat and matching humidity caused Miami star LeBron James to cramp up with about four minutes left — after the Spurs already wiped out a Miami lead. He did not return, and the Spurs finished on a 31-9 run, scoring the last 11 points to win by 15 points: the same average margin of victory as their previous 12 playoff wins. This was the line score:

The 2014 Redemption Finals happened before I started at Pounding the Rock later that year. For Game One, I have pulled up my contemporary summary from my old site for Spurs analysis — Leesfakeblog.blogspot.com. Let the games begin!

If you can’t stand the Heat, get out of the Kitchen: Game One — June 6, 2014

One thing I haven’t heard mentioned anywhere about Game 1: 17,000 fans and 24 sweating athletes in a confined space with no air conditioning.

Wow, it must have stunk.

What also stunk was the commentary of Mark Jackson, former (thankfully) coach of the Golden State Warriors, and now back in the booth. When Lebron first pulled himself out of the game with cramps in the 90 degree heat, Jackson (who I don’t think is an actual doctor) suggested that Lebron needed to tell his body that this was a big game and get back in the game.

Wouldn’t it be nice to live in Jackson’s world, where physical maladies could be commanded to disappear: “Devil, be gone!” That only works with coaches, something Warrior ownership did at the end of the season: “Jackson, be gone”. And so it was.

Would the outcome of the game been different if Lebron had Jackson’s gift of auto-cure and not totally cramped up at the 3:59 mark of the fourth quarter? Impossible to know, but there are several indications that it would not have changed the outcome.

First, while Lebron was on the floor, his plus/minus was actually zero. Second, when Lebron left, the Heat were down two, on the road, and the Spurs had the ball, so the Heat were already an underdog. Third, Danny Green (who Lebron would not have been covering anyway) had already heated up, as had the rest of the Spurs. Finally, this is what happened in the two minutes that followed. The play that may have sealed the deal was Ray Allen’s missed three pointer with 2:08 left (he made his first three 3s, then missed his last five):

So, while the Spurs clearly pulled away after Lebron left, the way things played out could have happened similarly even in Lebron was on the floor: Green would likely have made the three to put the Spurs up 5, Wade would have missed his jumper (he was clearly dragging down the stretch) – and Allen (also dragging) couldn’t have been much more open if there had been 4 Lebrons on the court, all of whom would have passed the ball to the wide-open Ray Allen.

Perhaps more interesting is why Lebron, and only Lebron, cramped up. Everyone else was tired, and especially so with the conditions. But the Spurs were clearly fresher down the stretch.

Other comments:

1. While Lebron’s plus/minus was zero, the Spurs second Frenchman (Boris Diaw) was an unheard of +30 during his time on the floor. Yes, in the 33 minutes Diaw played, the Spurs outscored the Heat by 30.

2. My Man Manu was similar – Manu was +22 during his 32 minutes on the floor, largely as a result of his 11 assists. Like Ray Allen, Manu made his first three 3s, and missed his last three. The difference is that Manu filled the stat sheet with other stuff too – the 11 assists, 5 boards, 3 steals and only 2 turnovers. His low number of turnovers was totally unlike the rest of the Spurs. I think the 90 degree temperature made it difficult to distinguish the red uniforms from the white ones. Hence, 22 turnovers, 9 in the third quarter alone. When the Spurs stopped throwing the ball to the red shirts, they had more opportunities to shoot the ball. Which is a good thing. Especially when you shoot 59% from the floor, including 13 for 25 from three – for an effective shooting percentage of 69% (because, you know, threes count more than twos).

3. I wondered before the game whether the Spurs would play much with Duncan and Splitter on the floor together. Short answer: Nope. They were together for only 8 of the 48 minutes. Essentially, the first 4 minutes of each half. But Splitter still contributed (unlike the 2013 Finals). He gave the Spurs good minutes when Duncan was on the bench, especially a never before seen 9 points in a row bridging the 3^rd and 4^thquarters. Just as importantly, he allowed Duncan to get valuable minutes on the bench, presumably drinking Gatorade, and not Powerade:

4. Another interesting stat from the game: San Antonio Spurs had 30 assists on their 40 baskets. Miami “Can’t Handle the” Heat had only 16 assists on their 37 baskets. (Last year, the Spurs had assists on 60% of their baskets in Games 1 – 5, when they went up 3 – 2, but fell to 38% in Games 6 and 7 – largely because Parker was hurt and unable to generate much offense or push the ball up court.) Another thing to watch for! Assist percentage.

5. The point about Parker’s health in last year’s Finals is key. Will he stay healthy this time? Will Manu and DWade? And will Lebron have any lingering effects from his cramp-out in Game 1? The extra day of rest between Games 1 and 2 will help.

6. The good news is that the Spurs’ crack electrical engineers, who successfully sabotaged the Heat in Game One with the AC malfunction, have apparently “fixed” that “problem”. Game 2 should be played in better conditions for all. Let’s hope the Spurs can prove they can “beat the Heat” with air conditioning that actually works. Go Spurs.