Spurs Vs. Heat: Can San Antonio Wax LeBron James, Miami Again?

Of all the San Antonio Spurs' 54 victories this season, none may have been as satisfying or exclamatory as the 30-point drubbing handed down upon the Miami Heat on March 4. Teams have beaten the Heat -- the Boston Celtics have a triptych of wins over Miami, and the Chicago Bulls and Dallas Mavericks are also undefeated against South Beach's finest. But no one beats the Heat like that. Miami's combined margin in seven losses to the Bulls, Celtics and Mavericks is -37, and that includes an 11-point loss to Dallas. But San Antonio smoked Miami, in a single game, by 30 points. It just doesn't happen. Even at its worst, Miami is too good to be beaten like that.

Except by San Antonio, apparently, and that's got to worry Miami. The Heat have a top-six defense in the NBA, but the Spurs ran Miami out of the AT&T Center. The Spurs scored 1.33 points per possession in that game, shooting a blistering 56 percent from the floor, 17-28 from long-range and with only eight turnovers all game. San Antonio was hot, sure, but even a hot San Antonio team shouldn't be doing that to a solid defensive squad like Miami. If S.A. comes back to Earth from that performance, and the Heat make defensive adjustments (particularly on the pick-and-roll, where Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker just tortured Miami), will it be enough?

The Spurs, with excellent shot defense and an ability to avoid fouls, seem to have just the antidote to Miami's offensive style; the Heat earned just 20 free throw attempts in the last match-up, for example, well below its season average of 27.8. Breaking that spell requires Chris Bosh to set up in the post (as he did in Miami's win over the Los Angeles Lakers) and Dwyane Wade and LeBron to attack, attack, attack. The Spurs want all opponents to shoot jumpers. All Heat opponents want the Heat to shoot jumpers. Ergo, the Spurs really, really, really want the Heat to shoot jumpers. Miami obliged on March 4. They cannot do the same on Monday and win.