Momentum is fickle in the NBA Finals. Game 2 between the San Antonio Spurs and the Miami Heat felt similar to a competitive series opener for a good 30 minutes, but in the end the Spurs sputtered and Miami won 103-84.
NBA Finals 2013, Spurs vs. Heat: Turnovers, poor shooting doom San Antonio in Game 2
A more aggressive Miami Heat defense stifled the San Antonio Spurs, but Gregg Popovich’s Big Three didn’t make enough shots either way it’s sliced.
The Heat used 17 San Antonio turnovers to blow the game open while getting into transition, this after the Spurs coughed the ball up a total of four times in Game 1. As it scored 19 points off those miscues, Miami did a good amount of protecting the ball itself, turning it over just five times.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich didn't know whether it was the turnovers or missed shots by his Big Three of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili -- that trio went 10-of-33 from the floor -- that was a bigger deal.
“You need to shoot well and you need to take care of the basketball,” Popovich said. “It’s a bad combination.”
What was the change from Game 1? Ginobili said it was simply the aggression from the Heat players, who switched more on pick-and-rolls and early in the game got into passing lanes. Chris Bosh recorded three steals and especially found himself recovering and disrupting the San Antonio offense.
“There are some tweaks after every game,” Ginobili added. “I don’t think their system changed, their general ideas. They did it with better aggressiveness, better hands.”
On top of the turnover issues were the missed shots.
Duncan went 3-of-13 from the field for nine points. He said that Miami contested his shots well, but the coverages were nothing all that dissimilar from Game 1, when he went off for 20 points. Parker put much of the blame on himself after recorded five turnovers and shooting 5-of-14 from the floor.
Popovich, shockingly, played coy and credited Miami simply for playing a better game. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra did the same and failed to mention any defensive changes.
“I don’t know. I really don’t know,” Spoelstra answered when asked about holding the Spurs to 41-percent shooting. “They’re great players. Duncan made a lot of those shots last game. Same thing with Parker. We try to keep a body in front, try to make them work for us. We got a little more to our identity in getting mistakes.”
Source: All quotes via NBA.com’s postgame media conference stream.
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