The Margin: San Antonio Spurs 111, Miami Heat 92

by Matthew Tynan

So. I may just stick to The Margin duties from here on out. The Spurs have lost just once since I’ve had the privilege of counting bullet-points, and that was Game 2; other than that, they’ve won by double-digits every time. It’s bad for my sleep patterns, but I’m willing to take this … ahem … BULLET … for the good of the Spurs. So here we go: 19 points.

• The first 16 minutes of Game 3 was some of the best basketball you or I will ever see in our lifetime, unless the NBA turns into a game full of cyborgs and bionics. Then again, the Spurs weren’t far from robotic last night. They hit 19 of their first 21 shots, including all six attempts from the 3-point line, and opened up a 55-30 advantage with 8:09 remaining in the freaking first half. Humans still make up the vast majority of NBA players (Lance Stephenson and Chris Andersen notwithstanding), but it appears the revolution took a big first step on Tuesday night.

• Speaking of humanoids, Kawhi Leonard hit a different level in Game 3. San Antonio’s unflappable 22-year-old notched a career-high 29 points on just 13 shots and was a wall on the defensive end, guarding LeBron James as well as anyone would’ve expected. And you could see the energy right from the start. We’ve spent a lot of time, both during the regular season and these playoffs, talking about the differences between the Spurs with and without Leonard on the floor, and this was yet another example of his impact. When he plays even remotely close to this level, San Antonio goes from really good to virtually unbeatable.

• The Spurs shot 75.8 percent from the floor in the first 24 minutes on Tuesday, which set an NBA Finals record for shooting in a half.

• Not only was that the best game I’ve ever seen Kawhi play, that was by far the best I’ve ever seen Danny Green play. He had 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting to go along with five steals, and it was just the fourth time in his career he’s reached the 15-point plateau by hitting one 3-pointer or fewer. I’ve never seen him hit that many inside runners in one game before, and his defense was spectacular. And he only played 21 minutes due to foul trouble.

• Leonard and Green combined for 44 points on 21 shots. That’s helpful.

• Gregg Popovich finally pulled the “start Boris Diaw” card we’ve been awaiting for some time now. I understand the reluctance in making the move, as maintaining consistency in the rotations is nearly as important as the matchups they present. But with all the floor-spacing issues Miami causes, this was bound to happen sooner or later, and there’s too much athleticism on the floor for Matt Bonner to fill that starting void. And Boris was a plus-20 while on the floor, once again the highest of any Spur. Like clockwork.

• And how about that starting group? The Diaw-Leonard-Green-Tim Duncan-Tony Parker lineup outscored Heat by 13.3 points per 100 possessions and had a true-shooting mark of nearly 80 percent in 12 minutes of court time. On top of that, they grabbed every single available defensive rebound. Pop made the move, and it surely paid off.

• Per SportVU data, the Spurs were 16-of-28 from the floor on uncontested field-goal attempts. On attempts that were contested (a defender within four feet of the shooter), they were 22-of-36. San Antonio was just rolling in Game 3.

• LeBron James played 40 minutes on Tuesday, and Leonard was on the floor for 39 of those minutes. During that time, James was a minus-19 and turned the ball over seven times. He still shot well (9-of-14), but Leonard was in his pocket all night, and ten of his shots were contested, per SportVU.

• We’re ten bullet-points in and just now getting to Parker and Duncan. At plus-14 and plus-8, respectively, they had the two worst plus-minus totals out of the starting five. But in a game of this magnitude, neither had to play more than 33 minutes, and it was a Popovich-Parker moment caught on a microphone that summed up their impact. Pop pulled Parker off to the side near the end of the game to say, “T.P., great leadership. You didn’t get 30 (points) but great leadership and solid, solid play with the ball.” Parker then followed, “I have to trust my teammates in this series. Kawhi was great.” Eh, just listen for yourself.

• Also this…

• There was a discussion last night about whether or not this series is going the way of last year’s. I have no idea. I tend to separate these things, as there is a relatively small number of general possible outcomes through three games of a series between teams that know one another so well. Yes, there are some similarities, but I come back to a few things when I look back: 1) Home-court advantage is switched. Though that’s not quite as big a factor considering the format change from 2-3-2 to 2-2-1-1-1, it still means a potential Game 7 in San Antonio. 2) The Spurs are a better team this time around, and I’m not sure the same can be said about the HEAT. 3) Miami was seriously fortunate to win that series last year. This isn’t taking away from what they did, because they made the plays they needed to win Game 6. They took advantage of the opportunities San Antonio provided and those they provided themselves. Still, they needed several bounces to go their way, and that’s putting it lightly. That can’t be glossed over. 4) Another thing to think about: After nine Finals games against one another, these teams know what the other is doing. There’s a reason Games 6 through 9 were so close (Game 1 of this series was an outlier, given the conditions and then James’ cramping), and that’s because of the familiarity that now exists between these two. I thought last night’s performance was the most impressive of any of the previous games against the HEAT over the last two years. Yes, they hit a lot of shots, but they also created so many fantastic looks and didn’t just go berserk from the 3-point line (they hit just nine last night); and when Miami made its run, Pop’s guys weathered the storm. Remember, the two Spurs blowouts took place in San Antonio last year. This was in South Beach. The Spurs didn’t just look like the hot team last night, as I thought was the case in all four blowouts last year; they looked like the better, deeper team. Still, this is all so subjective. It’s just a feeling, I don’t actually know. There’s a lot more basketball to be played, and Miami will come back angry. We react so intensely to each individual game because that’s human nature; but it’s important to understand that each night has its own time and space, and Game 4 will be different, regardless of the outcome. All the HEAT need is one win and we start a three-game series.

• The HEAT got great contributions from their backcourt duo of Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole during the 2013 Finals. This year, the two have pulled a disappearing act. It really is amazing. The two combined to score more than 15 points per game last June; they’ve got 20 points total through three games this year. Miami needs more help from certain role players, because the Big Three can’t keep up with the Spurs all on their own.

• If you missed something called Bobby Ramos providing all his unintentional comic relief during last night’s post-game presser, please catch up. My goodness.

• I hit on it a bit earlier, but San Antonio won this game without a single part of its Big Three playing very well. Parker, Duncan and Manu Ginobili combined for just 40 points as a trio, took only 25 shots and dished out only seven assists. The scorched earth the Spurs left behind after 16 minutes gave them enough of a cushion to weather a Miami surge, but as weird as it sounds, they can be better over the course of 48 minutes.

• Marco Belinelli’s impact has gone from a huge plus during the regular season to a tangible minus during the postseason. But he’s had important moments. When a Cole layup with 1:59 remaining in the third quarter cut the Spurs’ lead to just seven, Belinelli hit a HUGE 3-pointer to stem the massive wave of momentum the HEAT were riding. Aside from one made Andersen free throw less than a minute later that cut the lead back to nine, the gap was no smaller than 10 for the final quarter and change.

• Ginobili has clearly been a better player this year than he was last, without question. Yet, we’re still in wait-and-see mode every night with this guy. But then again, if you’ve been expecting otherwise, you haven’t been paying attention for years. I said it after Game 6 in the Finals last season: As long as he doesn’t kill you with turnovers and he plays within himself and his capabilities, you take everything he gives you. He’s still so important for this team, running the offense and orchestrating the symphony of that bench unit. It felt like he toed the line a bit last night, but he never went over. That’s the least you can ask of the guy.

• Spurs bench points: 29 ; HEAT bench points: 23. Again, San Antonio wasn’t even at its best last night, as evidenced by a quiet bench output. Oh by the way, Aron Baynes hit a 20-footer from the corner. That kinda night.

• For all the talk of this being the same as last year, there is one thing that absolutely rings true: we saw what can happen with a 2-1 lead in a series. Enjoy this one, because it was a blast, but everything starts anew on Thursday. Miami is going to come out like a bulldozer in hyper-speed, as it’s basically a must-win situation for the HEAT. A 3-1 deficit heading back to San Antonio would surely feel like almost certain death. So be ready, people. Game 4 is going to be wild, and it’s just around the corner.

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