Road to redemption: Spurs take a 3-1 lead over the Heat after winning in Miami once again

By Anthony Caruso III
Posted: June 13th, 2014 at 12:13 pm EST

The Miami Heat are on the brink of being eliminated from the playoffs.

The San Antonio Spurs have improved to 3-1 in the NBA Finals after winning on Thursday night in Miami. The Spurs defeated the Heat, 107-86, at the American Airlines Arena.

The Finals (Photo by the NBA)

The Spurs will now return back to San Antonio on Sunday to potentially win their fifth NBA Finals Championship since 1999. By doing so, it would snap the Heat’s back-to-back Championships.

The Heat’s 13 game win streak following a loss was snapped in this game. In addition, no team in NBA Finals history has overcome a 3-1 lead, as they are 0-for-31.

The Spurs have also won each game by double figures.

Kawhi Leonard led the Spurs with 20 points and 14 rebounds. Tony Parker chipped in 19 points and two assists, while Tim Duncan scored 10 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.

With his double-double, the Big Fundamental surpassed Magic Johnson with his 158th playoff double-double. Duncan also surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in playoff minutes played.

The Spurs had six fast break points against the older Heat. They also had 46 points in the paint and 21 points off of 14 Heat turnovers.

LeBron James scored a game-high 28 points with 8 rebounds and 2 assists. Chris Bosh scored 12 points and four rebounds, while James Jones scored 11 points and Dwyane Wade chipped in 10 points.

Besides James, the entire Heat starting lineup scored 28 points. Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra has announced after the game that he will make changes to the lineup.

“I have a couple of days to mull over things,” Spoelstra added. “We’ll see what happens. We’ll talk it over as a staff.”

The Heat had 7 fast break points. They had just 30 points in the paint. They were only able to score 13 points off of 12 Spurs turnovers.

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Heat are 5 point favorites to win Game 4 as they attempt to avoid being down 3-1

By Anthony Caruso III
Posted: June 11th, 2014 at 2:30 pm EST

One day after being beaten by the San Antonio Spurs, the Miami Heat are a 5 point favorite to win Game 4.

The Heat also have a 57% chance of winning the game, according to Number Fire. Last year, the Heat won Game 4 to tie the series at 2-2.

The Finals (Photo by the NBA)

In that game, the Heat won 109-93 at the AT&T Center. LeBron James led all scorers with 33 points, while Dwyane Wade chipped in 32 points.

This is a big game for the Heat. On Thursday night, they are hoping to avoid going down 3-1 in the Finals.

According to Elias Sports Bureau, teams that go down 3-1 in the Finals are 0-31. The Heat will attempt to win their 14th straight playoff game following a loss.

Reporter Bobby Ramos trolls James, Wade, and coach Spoelstra

By Anthony Caruso III
Posted: June 11th, 2014 at 1:43 am EST

Many of the country may not have heard of reporter Bobby Ramos. But after last night’s NBA finals game, he’s going to be all over the news.

Plus, if the NBA had anything to do with it, he may have covered his final NBA Finals game. It will be up to the league if he’ll be able to return.

LeBron James (Getty Images)

The Heat lost 111-92 in Game 3 of the NBA Finals to the San Antonio Spurs, and that’s when Ramos struck. Game 4 is on Thursday, and it’s likely that Ramos will not be present.

Ramos trolled LeBron James and Dwyane Wade in the players media session, before going after Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra. James and Wade laughed off Ramos question.

Spoelstra on the other hand, just had only one to say to him. “Clearly.”

Flashback? Spurs take Game 3 of the NBA Finals against the Heat

By Anthony Caruso III
Posted: June 11th, 2014 at 12:08 am EST

The San Antonio Spurs are once again leading the NBA Finals.

The Spurs defeated the Miami Heat, 111-92, in Game 3 of the Finals at the American Airlines Arena. It also marked the 38th road playoff win in NBA history, the most ever.

The Finals (Photo by the NBA)

This is also the first loss at home for the Heat all postseason.

The Spurs will now have to avoid a letdown in Game 4 on Thursday night, as the Heat attempt to make it 2-2. Last year, the Spurs won Game 3 by 36 points, winning 113-77 at AT&T Center.

In Game 3 last year, Danny Green stepped up and had 27 points. This year, Kawhi Leonard led all scorers with 29 points.

It seemed like he couldn’t be stopped, as he went 10-of-13 from the field and 3-of-6 from three-point range. He also went 6-of-7 from the free throw line.

Green and Tony Parker added 15 points, while Tim Duncan scored 14 points and 6 rebounds. Duncan will attempt to break Magic Johnson’s career playoff double-double on Thursday in Game 4, as both are tied with 157 double-doubles.

LeBron James, who had a game-high 35 points in Game 2, scored 22 points, along with Dwyane Wade. Rashard Lewis chipped in 14 points and Ray Allen scored 11 points.

Manu Ginobili also scored 11 points for the Spurs.

The Spurs will attempt to take a 3-1 lead at American Airlines Arena. They are looking to win their 5th NBA Finals since 1999.

They have won NBA Championships in 1999, 2003, 2005, and 2007. The 2007 NBA Finals was against James’ Cleveland Cavaliers team.

Game 3 winner of a tied NBA Finals series goes on to win the series 83 percent of the time (30-6)

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) June 11, 2014

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Spurs: 15-3 in best-of-7 series when leading 2-1 in the Gregg Popovich era

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) June 11, 2014

 

Heat take Game 2 to tie the NBA Finals at 1 as the teams head to Miami

By Anthony Caruso III
Posted: June 8th, 2014 at 11:00 pm EST

The Miami Heat have tied the NBA Finals at 1 game apiece.

The Heat defeated the San Antonio Spurs, 98-96, tonight at the AT&T Center.

The Finals (Photo by the NBA)

The series will now move to Miami for Tuesday night’s Game 3. Last year, the Spurs won the first game, before the Heat won the second game.

In last year’s NBA Finals, the Spurs won Game 3 113-77. The Spurs also won Game 5, after the Heat tied the series at 2-2, before they took the final two games.

LeBron James, who left Game 1 in the fourth quarter with cramps, had a game-high 35 points with 10 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. Chris Bosh scored 18 points with 3 rebounds, while Dwyane Wade and Rashard Lewis each scored 14 points.

Tony Parker led the Spurs with 21 points. Manu Ginobili scored 19 points, while Tim Duncan had 18 points and 15 rebounds.

Duncan ties Magic Johnson with his 157th career playoff double-double.

Perfect in Game 1: Spurs defeat the Heat 110-95 to take a 1-0 lead in the NBA Finals

By Anthony Caruso III
Posted: June 6th, 2014 at 12:20 am EST

The San Antonio Spurs have won Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

The Spurs defeated the Miami Heat, 110-95, on Thursday night at the AT&T Center.

Both teams had trouble with the heat in the arena, as there was an air-conditioning failure. This also caused Heat star LeBron James to leave the game in the fourth quarter with cramps.

San Antonio Spurs players vs. Miami Heat players fighting for the ball (Getty Images)

This is the second straight year that the Spurs have won the first game of the NBA Finals against the Heat. This is the first NBA Finals rematch since 1998.

Last year, the Heat went on to win Game 2 to tie the series at 1-1. They will look to do the same on Sunday night.

Veteran Tim Duncan had 21 points and 10 rebounds, as the Spurs improved to 6-for-6 in NBA Finals Game 1s in team history. Manu Ginobili chipped in 16 points with 11 assists and Tony Parker scored 19 points with eight assists.

James, who only played 33 minutes, scored 25 points. The Heat were outscored 36-17 in the fourth quarter that helped the Spurs win game one.

Dwyane Wade scored 19 points with 3 rebounds and 2 assists, while Chris Bosh scored 18 points with 9 rebounds and an assist. Ray Allen came off the bench to score 16 points with 3 rebounds and 3 assists.

The Spurs have had revenge on their mind since losing the NBA Finals last season. They were seconds away from winning Game 6 until Ray Allen hit a key three-pointer that helped the Heat win that game, before winning Game 7.

Wade: Nuggets’ Melo saga should end soon

By Anthony Caruso III | Publisher

Dwyane Wade has put his two cents into the Carmelo Anthony saga. Wade has said that he hopes his good friend has his future resolved with the Denver Nuggets soon.

Wade has dogged questions all last season about his looming free agency. He then elected to stay with the Miami Heat.

Dwyane Wade drives to the basket against the Denver Nuggets (Getty Images)

He said he understands what kind of toll this saga can take on someone.

Anthony has been named in trade rumors since this past summer. He has been rumored to be dealt to the New Jersey Nets for several weeks now.

The New York Knicks have also been rumored in the Anthony saga, as well.

“He seems like now he’s getting to the point where he’s fed up with it, he’s tired of hearing about it, he just wants to focus on basketball,” Wade said. “It’s not really bothering him as much as it was at certain points although no matter what kind of game he has, people are going to say something if he doesn’t score 30.

The two players have talked recently about his situation. Wade and Melo reportedly talked when the Heat visited Denver, Colorado recently to play the Denver Nuggets.

Despite talking, Wade insists that the conversation was mostly “personal matters.”

“The biggest thing you can tell a guy like that is ask him to make sure he’s doing fine mentally,” Wade said.