Spurs’ turn to sputter in NBA Finals

Was it a case of Tim Duncan reprising the LeBron James burnout at the height of a critical NBA Finals game windup?

Game 2 in the ongoing NBA crown series was, as pundits love to put it, a lot closer than the final 98-96 score indicated.

The match, played under old conditions with the defective air-conditioning system at AT&T Center in San Antonio back like new, could’ve been decided by a single point, or could’ve gone into extension.

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But something in the tested San Antonio team communication system malfunctioned, with the suddenly erratic Duncan falling to indecision and flubbing a basic interior relay, thus throwing a match that could’ve given them a 2-0 lead.

Of course, before this, there was the case of Duncan and the old reliable Tony Parker miserably missing four consecutive free throws between them, with the Spurs up by two and needing only maybe a single point for a fair closing cushion.

The Spurs, in short, sputtered in the thick of pressure, an area where they’ve patented an enviable survival pattern.  It was a case of the San Antonio fool-proof machine blinking when it was least expected.

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Meanwnhile, James, singlehandedly blamed for Miami’s fall in Game 1, was back at his magnificent self, although there was not much of his dam-burst heroics this time out.

James yesterday opted to be rested several times to prevent a repeat of the hideous Game 1 burnout, where he was sidelined in the last four minutes due to cramps.

He also took it upon himself to play a controlled thinking game.

Later, James told a female interviewer that his teammates did provide him enough support and moving room to play his usual game.

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The tied series thus resumes as a normal coach-vs-coach encounter after it had initially been predicted to start as a Gregg Popovich-James Finals.

Miami’s Erik Spoelstra himself displayed commendable maturity, like James himself, as he ably countered and jammed San Antonio’s tested selfless move-around offensive.

Out there in San Antonio, there were postgame taunts that this time out, with the airconditoning system working, the Spurs fell prey to the Real Heat.

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There’s a whole world of significance in yesterday’s result.

“Based on playoff records this year, it looks like the Heat might make it three NBA crowns in a row,” notes sharp-eyed Joseph Dumuk, former chief national sports statistician. “The Heat have not lost in seven home games while the Spurs are 10-2.

“In away games, SA has five losses in eight; while MIA has won six in ten,” he adds. “However, I still think the Spurs could have a ‘Swan Song’ for Duncan, Parker and Ginobili-atoning for last year’s Game 6 nightmare.

“The ‘Heart’ might still swing it for the Spurs.”