Summoning the strength to play in unplayable conditions, the Spurs outlasted then blasted the Heat late, beating them by a final score of 110 to 95. My sources tell me that Doris Burke, still delirious from heat exhaustion, is currently wandering San Antonio with her handheld thermometer and reporting the temperatures of various inanimate objects to a cactus that looks like Jeff Van Gundy.
What I'm saying is that Game 1 was weird and for this article, I wanted to break down exactly why it was so strange and really relive the experience. So I pushed my A/C out the window, gave myself a really intense Charley horse by continuously flexing my calf until it seized up and then -- fully immersed in the Alamo Armpit -- I sat down and re-watched the game. Along with some general notes and random asides, this is what I saw on second viewing:
- The Spurs outscored the Heat by 12 points in the paint (48 to 36) and shot a staggering 58.8 percent from the field. Miami usually neutralizes the points they give up inside because of their lack of size defensively by hitting their three-pointers, but on Thursday the Spurs finished the game with one more long ball (13) than the Heat (12) and they shot it at a more efficient clip too (52 to 41.4 percent). These numbers are slightly deceiving though since the Spurs caught fire and shot 6 for 7 (including 4 for 4 from downtown) after Lebron left the game with four minutes to play. During that same time period, the Heat looked hapless: connecting on only 1 of 4 attempts from the field and coughing the ball up twice. But before Lebron succumbed to cramps and the Spurs popped off, the Heat were only trailing by two, both teams were shooting about 42 percent from downtown and the Spurs turnover issues had more or less negated their dominance inside (San Antonio took 10 fewer shots in the game than Miami because they could not take care of the basketball). The game was ostensibly a coin flip, but then Lebron took a seat and the Spurs' numbers inflated accordingly. That's why even in the loss, Heat fans should take heart: if Game 1 is any indication, this will be a 50-50 series and if it is, it's always better to have the best player in the world on your team -- big time players like that have a way of tipping the scale in their favor.