Coach Erik Spoelstra did not have to pinch himself to check if he was dreaming.
“Ultimately, competition brought out the best game in the series,” the winning coach of the Miami Heat explained after having officially signed in for his appearance against the waiting San Antonio Spurs in the 2013 NBA Finals that starts Friday morning (Manila time).
Nice quote. But if Spoelstra, for example, had said that winning the deciding seventh game against Indiana had the trappings of a dream ride, he would’ve not gained enough approving nod from discriminating NBA diehards.
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It’s like this. Based on their overpowering show (of force, teamwork and skill) in the Eastern Conference decider, the Miami Heat could’ve clinched the 2013 NBA Finals slot much ahead.
That was if they had decided to play as magnificently as they did on Monday.
Of course, masterpieces cannot be churned out everyday.
But there are many bothered fans who continued to ask: What really had been the matter?
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Was winning big not in the menu during earlier games in the conference playoffs?
Or: Was winning earlier than Game 7 not part of the series script?
That would be quite hard to determine.
What continued to baffle was the incredible dam burst in Game 7, considering that Miami and Indiana were separated by only five points (569-564) in the aggregate scores of the first six games.
The Heat were so overpowering Miami was able to soar up by as many as 28 points at the height of one outburst.
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In the process though, the Heat, after having played possum in some crucial points of the previous six games, thundered on incredibly, thereby unwittingly denting the validity of the NBA suspense theater.
Of course, disbelief, if not outright disgust, could also be blamed on strange happenings in previous games of the conference playoffs.
Like, for example: How LeBron James, after having successfully won it practically all by himself with blinding dominance starting the third quarter of Game 4, agreed to play hard only starting the final quarter of Game 6?
Another thing: What magic potion (Mafiosi-concocted?) did Dwyane Wade lace his pep drink with that transformed him into a super cager in the decider, after having played sick in Game 6?
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That, as NBA fathers would most likely put it, is now water under the bridge.
Actually, the best that could be said is that Miami did not conveniently will Game 7 to happen; but that it could’ve just unwittingly allowed it.
Still, there’s this last question before the NBA Finals tip-off on Friday;
Will the NBA be bringing in a better scriptwriter?
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(ATENEO GLORY: The coffee table book “5: Tribute to Excellence” that celebrates and traces the glorious five-peat of the Ateneo Blue Eagles in the UAAP, will be launched tomorrow afternoon at the Ayala Museum in Makati City. Edited and put together by the multi-awarded poet and author Alfred “Krip” Yuson, the volume is a sure collector’s item.)