NBA Finals 2013: Danny Green, Manu Ginobili carry Spurs to 3-2 series lead

The Spurs got off to a fast start, with a rejuvenated Ginobili scoring seven early points. The Heat weathered the storm momentarily, but San Antonio finished the first quarter on a 15-2 run to take a 32-19 lead to the second.

The Spurs appeared on the verge of blowing things wide open in the second quarter, as a flurry of Green threes pushed the lead out to as many as 17 points. The Heat responded with a 12-0 run to cut their deficit to five, but the Spurs took a nine-point lead into the break thanks to a slashing layup by Parker in the final seconds of the half.

(Note: he was actually telling a funny story about pump-faking LeBron James. We don’t care.)

Popovich clearly felt the need to go small after watching Splitter have a hard time defensively in Game 4. The 28-year-old finished with just four points and three rebounds in under 14 minutes of work during Miami’s 109-93 victory. Despite Ginobili’s struggles this series, he was still an asset to San Antonio in the regular season. Ginobili averaged 11.8 points on 42.5 percent shooting with a 19.0 PER in the regular season.

• Flannery: The sad song of Manu’s decline

As we head into Game 5, the only thing most people can agree on is that the Spurs do need to win in order to survive the return trip to Miami. But really, who can tell? Duncan, of all people, offered the most insightful response:

“You get familiar with what’s going on and you get into kind of a rut,” he said. “Obviously their defense was rotating kind of perfectly and knowing exactly what we were going to do. So you have to change things up. You have to change the pace of things, the way you do things, and in that way it kind of keeps them on their toes. More than them understanding exactly what they’re going to do, I think that’s what we have to do in this upcoming game.”

Tiago Splitter was supposed to have a coming out party in the playoffs, but poor play of late could result in the San Antonio Spurs benching their center, according to Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express News.

The 6’11 Brazilian was highly effective against the Memphis Grizzlies, scoring efficiently against one of the toughest frontcourts in the league. Then LeBron James happened -- OHHHHHHHH HO HO HOHO OH DUDE WATCH IT AGAIN -- and since then, Splitter’s game has been shot. He averaged 10.3 points per game in the regular season, but has yet to hit double digits in the Finals. In Game 4, he was blocked on two of his three field goal attempts. Gregg Popovich kept Splitter in the starting lineup, but opted to pull him after less than a minute, and he totaled just 13:41 of playing time, his lowest amount of on-court action since an injury in the conference semifinals against the Golden State Warriors.