MIAMI—One of the big questions after the San Antonio Spurs dismantled the Miami Heat in Game 4 of the NBA final was if they could possibly duplicate the feat in Game 5.
They could.
And more.
In another display of near-perfect offensive basketball coupled this time with brilliant defence — not to mention a shocking capitulation by the two-time defending champions — the Spurs are now within one win of the fifth title of the Tim Duncan-Gregg Popovich era.
San Antonio’s thorough, wire-to-wire 107-86 rout of the Miami Heat here Thursday night — which included the Heat being booed off the court by their home fans at halftime — gave the Spurs a 3-1 lead and they can close out the series Sunday at home.
No team in NBA final history has ever come back from down 3-1 to win and there is no suggestion off the last two games that the Heat would be capable of being the first.
They once again played with no passion and little energy, down 19 points at halftime and never able to get closer; they were dismantled by the brilliant Spurs offence and unable to crack a San Antonio defence that played its best game of the series.
The Spurs, meanwhile, did what they do. They executed a ball-movement offence to near perfection, got outstanding production from so-called role players and did not let the Heat get anywhere close to back in the game after taking control early.
Even a 19-point third quarter from LeBron James couldn’t help Miami, which got little or no production from anyone else. Despite that outburst by James, San Antonio was able to stretch a 19-point lead at the half into a 24-point bulge going into the fourth.
The Heat never made a run in the final 12 minutes and saw a streak of 13 straight playoff wins following losses come to an end.
Tony Parker, the Spurs point guard who is beating up Miami’s Mario Chalmers in an incredibly one-sided matchup, had 19 points for San Antonio while Boris Diaw had another old-school outstanding night with eight points, nine rebounds and nine assists.
Kawhi Leonard, once again playing good defence against James, finished with 20 for the Spurs.
The game was so lopsided that James and Wade watched the final three and a half minutes in disgust from the bench. James had 28 points but Wade was just 3-for-13 from the field and had 10 points.
The Spurs picked up in the first half of Game 5 right where they left off Game 4.
They didn’t shoot 76 per cent from the floor — as they did in a 71-point first half on Tuesday — but they didn’t have to thanks to a stifling defence that held James to nine points, Wade to four and the Heat to 36 points as a team.
The off-day message was heard loud and clear.
“That’s what we spent all of our time on was the defence, because I thought we did a pretty mediocre job,” said Popovich. “It’s always like that. Doesn’t matter whether you win or lose, coaches always find something to moan and groan about.”
The Heat, on the other hand, were strangely dispassionate in the first half, lacking any sense of urgency despite the significance of the game.
They knew what they did wrong on Tuesday and did nothing, really, to correct it, allowing 55 first-half points on 56 per cent San Antonio shooting from the field.
They had a message and apparently ignored it.
“I have a report, but it was pretty obvious the things we needed to do better,” head coach Erik Spoelstra said before the game. “We don’t need all the analytics that I get, 25 pages worth, to see we had 28 turnovers (for) 23 points, (the Spurs) flattened us out offensively, and then defensively them shooting a record-high field-goal percentage.
“That has to change. I don’t have to look any further than that.”
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