Thoughts from Game 2

First and foremost I want to apologize for my absence.  In a time of such great commentary/blogging opportunity that the NBA Finals presents, such an absence is inexcusable.  That chicken salad may have been a bit too old last night... With that being said, I'd like to catch up on a few thoughts from Game 2 that I was unable to talk about.  I would also like to apologize beforehand for all the Lebron James talk that may be seen as biased towards him.  But hey, my blog, my opinions.  So shut the hell up.

1. There was no way in hell the Heat were going to lose that game.
- Let's get this straight.  The score reflected a blowout, yet, the game was far from a blowout.  The score merely reflected the blowout of a run in which the Heat went on 35-9 run.  Up to that point, the game could have gone either way, and, the Heat, knowing that they couldn't go down in the series 2-0, "flipped the switch" as many call it.  And its about time.  Everyone knew it was coming at one point or another.  It was the same kind of basketball that the Heat displayed throughout their record-setting win streak this season, and the reason why this team of talented individuals was put together.  And Lebron James wasn't even the one scoring the buckets, which leads me to my next point

2. In a game full of struggles offensively for Lebron, he did what all great players do: he determined the outcome of the game in other ways.  He found a way.
- If you were watching the game, it was undeniable that Lebron James was being stifled offensively.  The spurs with their lengthy defenders and help defense were completely shutting Lebron down offensively.  We were all thinking the same thing; "here we go again--Lebron James the choke-artist".  But this is why Lebron has grown up.  Even when he's not on his game scoring the ball like we're accustomed to, he's affecting the game through defense, passing, and orchestrating a dominating run where he barely scored the ball.  He finished with a modest 17 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists, but, like the score, it wasn't at all reflective of the game he had.  Even though he wasn't scoring, he was creating opportunities for high percentage shots.  He was setting screens, which allowed him to catch the ball in attacking areas such as the middle of the defense.  When you can get Lebron into scoring areas before he teven takes a dribble, it forced the entire defense to collapse on him.  And with vision and strength like Lebron, good things will happen (hence the 35-9 run).  The monstrous block on Tiago Splitter was simply a play that gave us a lasting image on the kind of performance this man had.  Doesn't matter if you're a fan of Lebron or not.  This performance was one to be respected.

3.  In the midst of all the Lebron praise, let's not forget about the great play of the Heat role players, and the miserable play of the Spurs' stars.
- The whole talk about this posteaseason for the Heat was how Lebron James needs help.  He can't do it on his own, even if he is Lebron.  And in Game 2, the role players for the heat gave him exactly what he needed.  I needn't speak much about the great play Mario Chalmers and company provided (as Chenny already talked about that- see below) but I would like to emphasize just how bad the Spurs played down the stretch--something we almost never see with a team of such poise and veteran leadership/experience.  Pop runs a very tight ship that is the Spurs offense, but it just looked as if none of those guys (excluding Danny Green) showed up to play.  Perhaps it was the emotional come down, after such an exciting win in Game 1, perhaps these guys are just getting old.  Manu looked like my grandpa out there, he's Chinese!  But you gotta give credit to the Heat defense as well.  They play tenacious defense, and are really working together to get stops on every possession.  They may not be the most disciplined defensive team, but when you have Lebron James anchoring the defense playing safety in the middle, you're a solid team defensively (even with dinosaurs Gay-Allen and hunch-back Mike Miller guarding the perimeter)--solid enough stop the Spurs well-executed offense.  Don't be fooled though, the Spurs can only be held for so long.