The Skillz Report

San Antonio's Game 1 Revenge: Segment C  Segment A  Segment B

 

(originally written 6/20/14)

 

 

More notable plays from Game One of the 2014 NBA Finals:

 

1st Q/7:45 remaining: Splitter ends up guarding Wade deep left elbow on a switch. Wade nearly literally shakes Splitter off his feet, but bricks the open J.

 

1st Q/7:20 Tony Parker inexplicably goes 1-on-2, leaves his feet without a plan, and is bailed out by a trailing Duncan—who is fouled and hits both freebies.

 

1st/:37 Diaw forces James into a shot-clock violation. James flails in a futile effort to draw a call for a nonexistant foul—then is swatted emphatically underneath by Splitter 22 seconds later.

 

2nd/8:50 Allen steals a Green outlet pass and winds up with a wide-open 3 from the very spot he buried the Spurs from one year ago. This sequence is the equivalent of watching some loser making out with your ex at what used to be your spot—any healing progress made becomes totally undone.

 

2nd Q: At least five Spurs hit the floor, including Parker twice (only once is Miami whistled for a foul.) Duncan is visibly slow returning to his feet the second time, but walks it off and goes on to a good game.

 

3rd/7:23  After Cole misses a 3, James fields the loose ball and nails a step-back J over Diaw—from the left corner.

 

3rd/3:25 Leonard finds himself alone as James, Allen and Cole fast-break. Leonard stands his ground, causing James to out-think himself and miss the layup!

 

3rd/1:59 Allen caps a persoal 6-0 run with a transition one-hand slam over Danny Green, putting Miami up by four.

 

3rd/:20 With Miami having gone up five, Splitter dunks over Allen—and gets next-to-no crowd reaction.

 

4th/10:36 As he sinks a right-corner 3, Bosh steps out-of-bounds—meaning no basket. Nice to see my Warriors aren't the only ones guilty of this gaffe.

 

4th/5:33  With James sitting, Green drills back-to-back 3's, then throws down over Wade on a fast break a minute later! These are Green's first FG's of the night, and they put the Spurs—who had been teetering—ahead by two. They never trail again.

 

4th/4:10  James again scores on Diaw, but cannot so much as walk afterward.

 

4th/1:30  A Leonard 3 puts the Spurs up seven; shortly after, a Parker left-corner 3 ices the Spurs victory.

 

 

Segment A  Segment B