LeBron James says he has to play better if the Miami Heat are going to beat the Spurs in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.  That may be true, but if James and the Heat can’t figure out a way to better defend the 3pt shot, it’s not going to matter how well LeBron, DWade, or anybody else plays on offense, San Antonio will win the game and ultimately the series.

The 113-77 demolition of the Heat was the worst playoff loss in franchise history.  The San Antonio players most responsible for this beat-down were not the usual suspects, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobli, and Tim Duncan.  No, instead Miami was torched by Gary Neal, Danny Green, and Kawhi Leonard.  The trio combined for 65 points in Game 3, but more important was just how damaging the 3pt shot was for these three guys.  They lit up the Heat defense, going 15-22 from beyond the arc.  That’s beyond unacceptable for a team that prides itself on defense.  Miami gave up an NBA Finals record 16 3-pointers to the Spurs on Tuesday.  Even if LeBron and Wade both scored 30pts, it wouldn’t have mattered, the Heat still would have lost.

Effort.  Effort is what it takes to play aggressive defense and control the glass.  In Game 3, James never really seemed in to the game, except for a short spurt at the end of the 3rd quarter when he scored 9 straight points.  Dwyane needs to put a complete game together and Miami cannot afford to have Chalmers score no points with 4 TO’s and 1 assist.  There are plenty of things for the Heat to improve on, but if they can’t defend the 3, it doesn’t matter.  The game tonight and the NBA Finals are over.

It has taken nearly ten years, but NBA fan’s are finally going to have a potential “Finals for the Ages”.  The Miami Heat punched their ticket to the NBA Finals on Monday night after demolishing the Pacers, 99-76.  The San Antonio Spurs have been waiting to see who their opponent would be.  Now it is set, the Heat and Spurs will face off in a potentially epic NBA Finals.

The Heat and Spurs have combined for five of the last ten NBA Titles.  LeBron James is seeking his second ring.  Dwyane Wade is looking for his third.  Both Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili have already won three titles.  Tim Duncan wants one for the thumb(a.k.a. his fifth ring).  All of these future Hall of Famers are going to war on Thursday night with the 2013 NBA crown hanging in the balance.  Finally, NBA fans have an epic match-up.

The Chicago Bulls won six titles from 1991-1998.  The two they didn’t win were captured by the Houston Rockets in 1994 and 95.  Houston and Chicago never met in The Finals.  This year is different.  The Spurs(winners in 99, 03, 05, and 07) will face off against the Heat(winners in 06 and 12) in a battle that could cement one legacy and diminish another.  In reality, San Antonio has already etched their spot in history.  Individually, DWade has also secured a spot in NBA Postseason lore, but believe it or not, LeBron is still trying to nail down his legend.  This is his chance.

Make no mistake, the man once known as King James is under pressure that no other NBA player has felt, EVER!  Some of it is self-imposed, to be sure,  but Bron has, at the very least established himself as the best player in the league right now.  Three tears ago when he joined the Heat, he wasn’t even the best player on his team(yes DWade was better).  Now, there is nobody close.  Not Kobe, or Durant, or anybody else, but that will seem hollow if Miami doesn’t win this year.  James knows that it is win or bust and I think he is ok with that.  LeBron is the one with the most to lose this year, but the NBA fans are the big winner.

This will be the first time that the Spurs and Heat have met in the NBA Finals, yet both have won multiple championships in the past ten years.  That is the first time that that has happened in NBA history.  Heat fans should be very excited.  They should be pretty scared too.

People look forward to Memorial Day weekend for a lot of reasons.  A three-day weekend is always nice and this holiday always is always the setting for the Indianapolis 500, known as the biggest spectacle in sports.  On this Sunday there were actually two races.  Tony Kanaan won the Indy in the afternoon, then the nightcap was a track meet in which the Heat simply blew by the Pacers, 114-96.

Miami jumped out to a 34-30 lead at the end of the 1st quarter behind an incredibly efficient offensive effort from the whole team and never looked back.  Every starter for the Heat finished in double figures including surprising 17 point effort from Udonis Haslem.  Miami set two records that really demonstrate just how efficient they were.  They scored 70 points in the 1st half, which is a team franchise record.  They also had only 5 turnovers for the entire game.  Just an incredibly low number.

Several Heat players were asked to explain the turnaround after having two very tight games in Miami, Game 2 being a 97-93 loss at the AAA.  James talked about ball movement and playing as a team.  Dwyane Wade pointed out the in addition to Haslem’s huge game, the low number of turnovers let the Heat set up their defense in the half court which makes it harder for Indiana execute offensive plays.  Maybe the most important lesson for this game though is people(i.e. the media) need to quit overreacting to just one game.  ”Experts” are so anxious to prop up one team or bury another they jump on a bandwagon before the band.  The Spurs and Heat will probably meet in The Finals, yet San Antonio was declared an underdog after dropping Game 2 against Golden State in round 2, and many of those same people also picked them to lose to Memphis(Spurs are currently up 3-0).  The Miami Heat were declared “in trouble” heading in to tonight’s game, and the Pacers’ just had too big of an advantage in the various match-ups.  114-96.  Miami and San Antonio have combined for five of the last ten championships and it’s because they present plenty of match-up issues for other teams too.

Many Miami fans think this series is already over.  There are some Chicago fans that fear that it’s over, while others cling to hope.  Tonight in Game 4, if the Heat take down the Bulls, that hope is gone.

From the first minute played, this series has been somewhat unfair.  The Miami Heat have the best roster in the NBA and entered the playoffs at full strength.  The Chicago Bulls on the other hand, limped in to the postseason and continued to have health problems stack up as the playoffs have gone along.  Derrick Rose continues to suit up in a suit.  Luol Deng and Kirk Hinrich will both be out again tonight.  Even with these key players missing, the Bulls have managed to stay competitive, with the obvious exception of the 37 point demolition that occurred in Game 2.  They have been relentless on defense and utilized a very physical style to try to both slow Miami down and take them out of the game mentally.  Tonight however, is the Bulls’ last stand.  They will be playing at home for possibly the final time this year.  If the Heat win, the series is over, but if Chicago can pull off another miracle, the series will be tied 2-2 as the teams head back to South Beach.

So what happens?  Barring LeBron James and Dwyane Wade both being ejected from the game for falling in to the Chicago mind game, Miami will win this game.  Ever since the Boston series last year, this team has delivered a knockout blow whenever they have had the chance.  The Bulls have put up a valiant effort, but they are done.

Like many nights on South Beach, this one started off festive.  LeBron James had just been awarded his fourth NBA MVP award and the Miami Heat were jacked up about playing their first game in over a week.  But like many mornings on South Beach, the Heat and their fans woke up to find themselves with a headache and looking up asking how this happened.

The Chicago Bulls, a team that resembles a patchwork quilt due to all their injuries, outhustled and outlasted the world champs to win Game 1 93-86.  Derrick Rose didn’t play.  Neither did Kirk Hinrich or Luol Deng.  It didn’t matter as the Bulls used essentially a six man rotation and simply wouldn’t give in to the Heat.  Even as Miami carried a lead in to the fourth quarter, Chicago refused to be put down.  During the year the Heat were 33-0 when leading after three quarters.  It didn’t matter to the Bulls, who scored 35 points in the final quarter on over 52% shooting.

Defense has been the Bulls calling card since the arrival of Head Coach Tom Thibodeau and they clamped down on the boys from South Beach big time.  The MVP LeBron James had 24 and Dwyane Wade, who did come out looking refreshed, added 14.  They were the only two Heat players in double figures as Chicago held Miami to less than 40%FG for the game.  By comparison, five of the six players who logged big minutes for the Bulls scored in double figures.  The Heat have been the best team in the NBA all year, but the M*A*S*H unit that is Chicago was the better “team” on Monday night.

Now Bron and Co. find themselves down 0-1 for the third time in the “Big 3″ era.  The previous two times(Bulls ’11, Thunder ’12) Miami ran off four consecutive wins to take the series 4-1.  I’m sure Heat fans are hoping for just that kind of response, however, given how brutally unwavering these Bulls have been, that’s not very likely.  No, the Heat have just entered a dogfight.  One that will be hard fought and probably go at least six games.  Chicago is a beast when it comes to rebounding and have found some unexpected scoring from the likes of Jimmy Butler(21 pts).  Miami has to counter and we can expect a much better effort in Game 2 on Wednesday night.

The NBA Playoffs only have two series decided so far.  Both Miami and San Antonio swept through their first round match-ups easily 4-0 over Milwaukee and the Lakers.  Now these two teams have been resting up for their next opponent, and as they have there have been some pretty big developments that make the Heat and Spurs look to be your two NBA Finalists.

Oklahoma City looked great until Russell Westbrook went down.  Actually, they looked pretty good for one game without him as they took a 3-0 series lead over Houston.  Now they have lost two straight to the Rockets and have to travel to Houston for Game 6.  Meanwhile, the Knicks are trying to pull a typical New York choke move against the Celtics.  The are also up 3-2 and heading on the road for Game 6, after losing two in a row to Boston.  The Knicks probably have more to worry about in terms of getting to Round 2, but OKC now looks really vulnerable in a very tough Western Conference.  Neither one of these teams has any shot to beat the Spurs or Heat, even if they make it to the Conference Finals.

The rest of the teams on both sides are playing very competitive, entertaining series, but none of the teams, other than possibly the Memphis Grizzlies pose any real threat to the two big dogs currently idle.  No, Miami and San Antonio look much better than the rest, even when they are not playing.  This would be an interesting Finals though.  Tim Duncan and crew won their fourth and last NBA Championship back in 2007, one year after Dwyane Wade and the Heat won their first in 2006.  Now if LeBron, DWade, and the rest of the crew can topple the Spurs, it would be Miami’s third NBA Title, and the team’s second in a row.  San Antonio has never won back-to-back Championships and this is probably their final shot.  Of course, experts have been the Spurs have been too old for years, yet here they are with a big inside track to a showdown the Heat.  This could be a great 2013 Finals.

The Miami Heat are off the radar.  That seems a little weird for a team that just tied their franchise record for wins(61) last night with a victory over the Milwaukee Bucks, but it’s true.  The Heat have had the #1 seed in the East clinched for a while now and they are right on the brink of clinching the #1 overall seed in the upcoming NBA Playoffs.  Nobody is really paying any attention to a team that went on a 27-game winning streak earlier this season.  I think that’s just fine with all of the Miami players.

In fact, the only national discussion regarding the Heat has been centered around whether some of their players have actually been hurt as they sit out games toward the end of the season.  LeBron James has missed a couple of games, while DWade has missed five in a row and might sit out the rest of the regular season.  Now, it should be Eric Spoelstra’s right to rest whoever he wants to rest before the playoffs begin, but some NBA folk around the country think otherwise.  There has been speculation that Commissioner David Stern might even levy some sort of fine against Miami, similar to the fine he hit San Antonio with earlier this year when Greg Popovich sent star players home before a game in Miami.  That seems borderline Communist, but Stern has come across as a dictator from time to time.  Of course, it’s hard to fine a team for sitting star players when they continue to win anyway.  The Heat went to San Antonio and beat the Spurs without James, Wade, and Mario Chalmers.  The Commissioner needs to just let Spoe coach his team.

So as Miami gets set to break the franchise record for wins, wrap up the #1 overall seed, and coast to the playoffs, let teams like New York and the Lakers dominate the conversation nationally.  The Knicks have won 13 straight, yet will probably never get to play Miami in the postseason.  They would have to reach the conference finals to see the Heat and that is highly unlikely.  Kobe and the Lakers might not even make the playoffs.  Meanwhile, Wade and the rest of the guys are resting up for another title run.  This team would rather dominate the conversation in June, not April.

It’s funny what a 24-game winning streak will do to people.  No longer is the talk of another NBA Championship the dominant topic of conversation in South Florida.  The idea of back-to-back titles has actually slipped back a little now that it appears Miami actually has a shot at what was considered an unbreakable record.  Now the focus and the questions revolve around whether or not the Heat can break the early 70′s Lakers single season record of 33 straight wins, and if they do will that launch them in to the conversation as one of the best teams of all-time?  The answers are yes and yes, although the second question is certainly more complicated.

If the Heat win 34 or 35 games in a row, but fail to win another title this year, then the season will be considered a failure.  Let’s face it, nobody outside of Shane Battier really remembers the Houston Rockets winning 22 straight games back in 2007-08.  But if Miami breaks the record and successfully defends their NBA Title, then yes they will be in the discussion of “best teams of all-time”.  Yes, this team that was put together around three superstars has actually defined the team concept more than any team in the league.  For instance, as well as DWade and LeBron have played during the streak, both guys have had off nights, but somebody has always picked up the slack, whether it’s the other guy or simply another guy, like Mario Chalmers or Ray Allen.  The bottom line is that Miami finds a way to win.

Defense.  That was Pat Riley’s calling card, and it is definitely Eric Spoelstra’s as well.  When the Heat turn up the defense they are as good as any team in the last 30 years.  I maintain that Wade and James are the modern day equivalent of Jordan and Pippen, except that the Heat stars fall in between the Bulls’ Hall of Famers.  Both Heaters are better than Scottie, but neither is as good as MJ.  That’s ok, what we are looking at right now is the best teams of all-time and Miami will be in that discussion if they break the record and repeat.

The Heat have been playing great defense and moving the ball phenomenally in the offensive set.  They have looked like far and away the best team, not just in the east, but in the entire league.  There is also little question that LeBron James is playing the best basketball of his career, not that his play in Cleveland was bad at any time  All of that said, the Heat are not a lock to win at all.  Bron didn’t start playing clutch until the end of the Boston series last year, and the health of Wade is seemingly always in question.  At this point maybe the question is “Can they get the record?”  Well, they can take a step towards that by not falling behind by 27 points to a team like Cleveland on the road.

     Normally, if Mario Chalmers is your best player you are going to lose.  And normally if LeBron James is on your team and he is your 4th leading scorer, you are going to lose.  Well, both of these things happened on Sunday night as the Heat took on the Pacers, yet Miami beat down Indiana, 105-91, and extended their NBA season-long winning streak to 18 games.

     Many media members around the league were talking about this game as if it were almost a must-win for Miami, just from a mental standpoint.  The Pacers had already beaten the Heat twice this season, and they appear to be the one team in the East that might be able to put a scare into the defending champs.  The only people that were scared of anything on Sunday night were Pacers’ fans who watched (C)Roy Hibbert go down with a twisted ankle in the 4th quarter.  The good news for them is that he seems to be OK.  The bad news is that they still got lit up by Chalmers and Chris Bosh to the tune of 50 points combined.  Super Mario was just that.  He looked like a reincarnation of John Starks from many Miami nightmares.  Chalmers shot 7-9 from the field, including 5-6 from 3pt land.

     LeBron and Dwyane Wade both logged in 36 minutes, but yet neither was in the top two players in scoring(Wade was only 1 point behind Bosh with 23).  Both players played well though and D3 almost equalled his career high in steals in a game(7).  He swiped 6 from Indiana on Sunday.  It’s interesting to note that his career high came against James and the Cavaliers back in 2009.  LeBron put up numbers that looked like his normal halftime stats, 13 pts, 7 asst, and 6 rebs.  Probably the most important stat though was FG%.  Miami shot 56% as a team, while Indiana was held to under 42%.  Whenever your team is on the positive side of that disparity, your going to win that game.

     Now Miami has beaten every team in the NBA this season.  That’s the first time in franchise history that they’ve ever done that in a single season.  The current 18-game winning streak is also a franchise best.  Yes, this season continues to exceed expectations, even though that in itself seems almost impossible.  Of course, the downside is that anything less than another NBA Title will be viewed as a failure.  Then again, they have been dealing with that reality for three years.  The biggest difference now though, is that this team looks like their having fun as they roll through the season.  That is not good news for anybody outside of South Florida.

The Miami Heat came in to tonight’s game with Memphis riding a season-long twelve game winning streak.  The longest streak since the Bosh-James-Wade merger back in 2010, and the second longest in franchised history.  During this run Chris Bosh was good, Dwyane Wade was great, and LeBron has been otherworldly, so the Heat have been unstoppable.  Not the case tonight.  Wade led the way with 22 points and was efficient(9-16 FG), but certainly not superb.  Chris Bosh was pretty average(13 pts, 6-12 FG) and Bron was awful for 3 1/2 quarters.  He appeared to be building a house with all of the bricks he was throwing up, and halfway through the 4th he was stuck in single digits scoring with 7 points.  The fact that he finished with 18 points and 10 assists is a testament to the fact that this year, unlike years past he doesn’t seem to get too discouraged when he is having a rough game.  In fact, the play of the game was the 3-pt shot he knocked down with less than 30 seconds left that really sealed the game.  That is a shot he never would have taken in the past when he was struggling so mightily.  He made it and the Heat beat the Grizzlies, 98-91.

This game was plenty ugly for both teams shooting the basketball.  Memphis shot at less than 43% for the game, while Miami was at 46.6%.  The Heat number doesn’t sound so bad until you realize that they were 10-19 from 3-pt land(52.6%), which certainly help their overall shooting percentage.  The 3-pt shooting of Miami, especially Shane Battier(4-5 FG, all from behind the arc), is what won them the game.  These offensive struggles shouldn’t be too surprising, however, as both of these teams are great defensively.

The Memphis Grizzlies have the type of team that can beat the Heat.  In one game, sure, but in a series, probably not.  The truth is that right now, nobody is good enough to beat this team in a 7-game series.  The Heat are nearly unbeatable when Wade and James are playing at their best, but if they can win when one of those guys is off, they are even more likely to repeat.  Magic Johnson even said it on ESPN, ” if you want to repeat as NBA Champions, you have to win these types of games.”  The Heat won and now own a 13-game winning streak, and maybe the most impressive part of this run is that 6 of those 13 wins have come against teams that are playoff teams right now. No question, right now Miami is scary-good.