(BDCi) — The NBA playoffs are now down to two teams fighting for a championship. It is a rematch of last year’s thrilling NBA Finals that went to seven games.
NBA FINALS
(1) San Antonio Spurs vs. (2) Miami Heat SAS leads 1-0
What an interesting game one it was on Thursday night. First off, the air conditioning in AT&T Center broke so the temperatures got pretty warm on the court. It certainly affected the players as LeBron James could not finish the game because he had cramps. Despite 23 turnovers for the Spurs which is uncharacteristic of them, they managed to pull out the victory. The Spurs are averaging only 12 turnovers a game during the playoffs. It was a huge fourth quarter for the Spurs as they had to mount a comeback. It certainly helped not having to deal with LeBron but it was guys like Danny Green who hadn’t scored all game before the fourth quarter and the Spurs being the Spurs by sharing the basketball and knocking down 3s. Again, this was a game of who could push through the heat and pull out the victory. The Spurs were able to do that in front of their home crowd. This is going to be a long series as air conditioning may have been the problem for game one but that will not be the case for the rest of the series. Expect the Heat to respond in game two and possibly tie up the series. These are two teams that know each other well and it certainly will be an exciting series.
Brazilian Player Watch
Tiago Splitter-Center, San Antonio Spurs. 8.2 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. In game one of the NBA Finals, Splitter scored 14 points and grabbed four rebounds. It was the first time Splitter had scored double figures in points since the Portland series. Splitter was doing well early as the pick and roll was working for San Antonio that allowed Tiago to get easy baskets. He was four of five from the free throw line and had two blocks. The only knock on him is that he had four turnovers but then again the Spurs had 23 so everyone needs to do a better job of taking care of the basketball. Splitter has the ability to be effective in this series since Miami does not have a true center. Hopefully, Splitter can take advantage and also if he can protect the rim, the Spurs will be in good shape.
Stats: NBA.com