NBA Finals Recap: LeBron Overheats as Spurs' Offense Shreds Miami

Usually when people are rushing to question Miami Heat's superstar LeBron James, they usually wait until after Game 3 or Game 4 when James has a bad game leading to Miami losing a game in the series. People come out with their pitchforks, and those whom have hated James in his Cleveland days can come back to roost for a day in the sun. These people arose like zombies in The Walking Dead after Thursday's Game 1 when LeBron couldn't play the fourth quarter as he battled through cramps brought on by AT&T Center losing air conditioning. Toughness has been put into question as the Spurs took Game 1 winning 110-95, but hopefully, people realized how bad of a game the Heat played sans the issues with James. 

The national media will ignore San Antonio winning because James cramping up is the bigger story. People forget this is a problem that's plagued LeBron for his entire career. For whatever reason, the training regime James has before the game leads to him cramping up more so than other NBA athletes. It is like the kryptonite for James' Superman abilities. Cramps are the one thing where it reminds LeBron that he is actually human and not superhuman. Most of the people questioning James' toughness are the same people whom rode the bench throughout high school watching their friends dominate games. Cramps aren't something to pass over. If he couldn't play through another injury, maybe we are having a different conversation. 

There are others having the opinion or the hot take if you will of 'I understand cramps are serious business, but I hate LeBron's theatrics.'  Fine, you want to made LeBron needed some help getting to the bench, or he looked like an assassination attempt happened after James scored a basket in his only possession in the fourth quarter. That's a weird thing to be generally mad about honestly. Let's be clear, most NBA players are overdramatic about nearly everything. Look at Tim Duncan, one of the most beloved players in the league, he is one of the biggest whiners in the NBA, but doesn't get called out for it anymore because it is uncool to make fun of a legend like Duncan. Dwyane Wade is a historical flopper. Also if LeBron acted casual about his injury, would people criticize him even more and say 'He's not really that hurt.'  It is a no-win situation for the best in the NBA. 

But enough with LeBron, people are ignoring the fact San Antonio completely outworked Miami throughout the game especially in the fourth quarter. San Antonio shot  90 percent from the field and played completely out of their mind in the final period. Danny Green caught fire late having 13 points in the fourth quarter including three 3-pointers which helped the Spurs pull away from the Heat.  Green is a microwave-type player. If he heats up, the opposing team is in trouble. There is a chance we might have a straight repeat of what happened in 2013 with Green. Duncan also had a Throwback Thursday-like game with 21 points, 10 rebounds and shooting 90 percent from the field. 

We saw the redemption of Manu Ginobili shine bright as he sparked the Spurs earlier with an impressive 16 points, eleven assists and five rebounds.  If Ginobili is playing at this high of a level, the Spurs become very hard to beat especially when Tony Parker is delivering 19 points as well. If you want to point to an ideal game for San Antonio, this would be it minus the turnovers. They had all of their major players get involved with the scoring and found a way to put Miami in a stranglehold by the fourth quarter.  The fact they won by double-digits and turned the ball over 23 times should terrify Heat fans. No matter what happened with LeBron, the Spurs offense looks unbeatable last night. 

After Game 5 against Indiana, everyone expected LeBron to come up with an iconic game. It didn't happen even though it was an ass-kicking victory. This might be the time where you see LeBron come out with 45 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists. He knows what everyone is saying about him and knows this will be a time for him to prove everyone else wrong. But that kind of game from James will become useless if the Heat defense cannot stop the Spurs. 

Charlie.