by Maurice Bobb / @ReeseReport
SLAM La Familia, it’s your boy Maurice Bobb coming to you live and direct from San Antonio’s AT&T Center for Game 3 of the NBA Finals! Are you ready? Are you stoked? Are you still talking about LeBron James’ block on Tiago Splitter? Of course you are! As per usual, I drove up to San Antone (that’s what the locals call it, or maybe that’s just the drunk guy outside of the BBQ spot I stopped at) from Houston. Can you road trip? Yeah? Not so fast. It was raining cats and dogs until I got outside of H-town city limits and I had to endure truck drivers passing each other on a two lane highway for oh, 150 miles. But hey, I got here just in the nick of time to get my game credentials and elbow my way pass the Texas Gazette beat writers through press row for a seat.
Just a few sidebars before tip-off: I checked for myself and no, there is no statue of Tim Duncan in front of the arena. Not yet. And for those asking, no, Kareem Abdul Jabbar is not out front petitioning for his own statue in front of the Spurs’ arena either. And as far as I can tell, there are no fans waving Eva Longoria’s head on a stick to taunt Tony Parker.
As both teams are warming up on the court, let’s look back at Game 2, shall we? First of all, wow, the Spurs were blown out of the building. That 33-5 run the Heat dumped on ‘em was like watching the Russian beat Apollo Creed to a pulp in Rocky IV. If Coach Pop & Co. want to avoid another mollywhoppin’, they’ll have to cut back on the turnovers (they went from 4 to 17) and get better shooting from their Big 3. Timmy D, Tony P and Manu Ginobili shot a combined 10 for 33 from the field last game. No way they can win like that. And what the hell is wrong with Manu? He needs to put some pep in his Euro step. And fast. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the Argentinian struggle so mightily. Danny Green, you keep shooting, though. A perfect 6 of 6 from deep? Let’s see if the kid from Long Island can keep handling his business behind the arc like his fellow Strong Islanders, EPMD.
Game 3 is as crucial as it gets, so if San Antonio wants to snag the W, Coach Pop’s gonna have to turn his pep talk into a pep rally.
On the other side of the ball, King James, who is averaging almost a triple dub (17.5 points, 13 rebounds, 8.5 assists) in these Finals, will keep doing what he does best: breaking down the defense and dominating from all over the floor. Seriously, is there anything this guy can’t do? As for D Wade, they need him to get his knee right and step it up if they want to handle their business in the Spurs’ house.
To be honest, I didn’t give Coach Spo much credit when it came to X’s and O’s, but I’ll give him this much: he’s showin’ up and showin’ out with that clipboard this postseason. He runs his team with a quiet cool and since the Heat are locked in and looking to repeat, I doubt if he has to do or say much for LBJ and the rest of the world class wreckin’ crew to put another ring on it.
So grab your brews, wine, O’Doul’s or whatever it is you drink and/or nosh when watching the game and strap in with us, because we’ll be here all night offering all manner of analysis, snide/smart-alecky comments and game calling. Make sure to tip your waiter.
In strange news, Tony Parker and Tim Duncan both arrived late to the arena due to inclement weather. Wonder if Coach Pop’ll bench ’em for that?
– Game time, Peeps! Let’s get it!
– This crowd is really into it. Case in point: they just went nuts on that Kawhi Leonard three-pointer.
– I like AT&T Center, but their Internet sucks you know what. I’m having to post from my iPhone, people.
– Nice dunk, Timmy!
– Coach Spo wants to talk about that stuff.
– Spurs fans are really supporting their team. Heat fans could learn a thing or two from them.
– Wade with a nice J. Worth noting that he was getting up some shots before the game and almost hit every one of them.
– Manu gets it to go. Can this be a good sign?
– Miami closes to within 3 with that Wade layup. Coach Pop wants to discuss, what else? Turnovers.
– Manu with the pump fake and the hard body two-gander down the lane!
– Wade seems to moving pretty, pretty good tonight.
– Birdman and Danny Green into the game. Threes and put backs comin’ right up!
– Threes, please! Gary Neal
– The Birdman takin’ flight with a mean two-hander on a dime from ‘Bron.
– Tiago Splitter with the nifty move!
– Spurs play breaks down the close the first quarter. Spurs up 24-20.
– Spurs shot 61% in the first quarter. I’d say that’s decent…
– Nice WTF shot, Manu.
– Gary Neal is Mr. Automatic from deep.
– Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award just awarded to Bill Fitch. Well deserved.
– The Kiss Cam always has that awkward moment where a dude wants to kiss the girl he brought to the game, but gets shot down. Doh!
– Shane Battier in the game. Guess he didn’t order the turd sandwich tonight.
– Norris Cole with the corner three. Spurs cling to one point lead with 7 minutes left.
– Gonna have to start calling Matt Bonner “Red Head Kingpin” from now on.
– Danny Green with the three ball. Spurs up 32-26.
– Around here, they pronounce Jesus like this: “Hey sooz”
– ‘Rio with three fouls already? That may hurt come crunch time.
– Nice outlet pass Timmy! Spurs up 40-30.
– Spurs on a 13-4 run.
– Neal with another three point bomb.
– Mike Miller answers with one of his own.
– Wade climbed over somebody’s back like they had a stepladder attached to them.
– Miami making a run in the waning minutes of the half. Closes gap to four.
– You can not, I repeat, can not, leave Mike Miller open.
– Gary Neal nails a three at the buzzer. Spurs up 50-44 to end the first half.
– Hopefully they will fix the bleepin’ Internet during the half. It’s ridiculously hard to live blog from my cellphone :-/
– Hey, look Ma, I’m live blogging from my laptop again!
– Ok, time to peel yourselves away from that engrossing halftime show with Magic Johnson and the crew. The second half is upon us. LeBron has to come alive in the second. Four points is crazy low production from your MVP.
– He should have thrown it up for Timmy D to catch an alley.
– Haslem egged that one on.
– Timmy can hit the J, too…
– Green with another bomb. Spurs up 11.
– If Green would have gotten that one on Bosh…
– Spurs crowd is now copying Heat fans’ “White Stripes” influenced chat.
– Mike Miller stops the bleeding once again. Spurs up by 10.
– Danny Green is earning some extra bucks in these NBA Finals.
– Mike Miller is cookin’ out here! He has 15 for the game, so far…
– Oh lordy! Manu gets up for another slam dunk! Did he eat his Wheaties today?
– Maybe Tim Duncan should get stuck in traffic more often…
– The Spurs are putting on a three point clinic right now…
– Paging Tony Parker…paging Tony Parker…
– Forgot to mention that we ran into David Robinson before the game. That man is still very loved in these parts. Sidenote: I think he gets his jeans from the same place as Michael Jordan.
– Gary Neal’s been studying Tony Parker’s teardrop…
– And just like that, the Spurs are up by 21.
– Hearing Tony Parker had to go to the locker room, but is now back on the bench. Let’s hope he’s not hurt.
– They might as well bring in T-Mac…
– LeBron finally gets off 4 points with that 3.
– LeBron now has 11 points with 26 seconds left in the third.
– Spurs up 78-63 to end the third. LBJ starting to cook, he has 13 after being stuck on 4 for most of the game.
– Can the Spurs hold on without Tony Parker? 12 minutes to find out.
– Back to back threes from Gary Neal. Ouch.
– That fast break was perfection!
– This is starting to get out of hand for Miami. They are down 23 with 7:47 left in the game. This crowd is crazy hype. If someone hits another three, the roof will explode.
– Gary Neal, Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard are 13 for 20 from three point land.
– T Mac in the game with 6:39 left!
– This is gettin’ ugly. Spurs up by 31…
– This crowd can’t wait for T-Mac to get buckets.
– Why has DeJuan Blair been in Pop’s doghouse? He has game.
– That’s all, folks. Spurs get revenge for that Game 2 blowout with one of their own, win 113-77 at home.
