NBA Finals: Miami Heat vs. San Antonio Spurs – Game 6 Talking Points

Tim Duncan #21 of the San Antonio Spurs reacts in the second half while taking on the Miami Heat during Game Six of the 2013 NBA Finals at AmericanAirlines Arena on June 18, 2013 in Miami, Florida. (Getty Images)

Tim Duncan turned the clock back:

Tim Duncan has had a relatively quiet NBA Finals so far. He may have put up decent stats, putting up 18-odd points and raking in 10-odd rebounds, but he hasn’t had a signature dominant Finals game that one expects of Duncan.

The possible explanation was that maybe the years may have caught up to him, but in Game 6 Duncan was in no reticent mood. He sensed the finish line and the possibility of the Spurs wrapping it up and he winning a Kobe-equaling fifth ring. Many savants believe that in the debate of who has been the better player of the last decade, Kobe holds a slight advantage because of his five rings to Duncan’s four.

Duncan maybe never cared for the debate, but he cared for the opportunity ahead and he sensed the importance of him setting an example. And he did set an example as he rained down his full repertoire on Bosh and company in the first half, as he raced away to 25 points in the first half. He was also ever-active on the boards hauling down 17 rebounds, and was by far the best Spurs player on the floor.

His disappearance in the fourth quarter, when he failed to score a single point due to some inspired defending by the Heat, was maybe one of the major reasons why the multi-dimensional inside-out Spurs team turned into a perimeter shooting team and allowed the Heat to creep back into the tie.

Danny Green had an off-night:

25-38 from beyond the arc in the NBA Finals. An NBA Finals record and in view of many fans and savants, Danny Green has been the best Spurs player in the series. Many called for him being the leading Finals MVP candidate as he shot the Spurs into comprehensive Game 3 and Game 5 wins.

However, as has happened with all great shooters, when the margin for error is so little, one is expected to have off-nights once in a while. Nothing surprising as almost every great shooter has gone through such phases. To the Spurs and Green it couldn’t have come at a much worse time.

Green just didn’t seem like the Green that had starred in all games of the Finals so far. He was smothered and bothered on offense all night long, with Coach Spoelstra and the Heat giving primal attention to containing him. They had multiple people guarding him, and they were smarter with their defensive rotations off the off-ball screen and chased him off the three-point line. They forced Green to make tougher contested shots and forced him off his rhythm.

Green not so surprisingly struggled as his shots just wouldn’t fall and he finished with 3 points on 1-7 shooting. His transition block on James might be his only consolation, as he needs to get much better in Game 7 for the Spurs to have any chance.

The good news is that shooters finding rhythm is just a matter of them making one or two shots. Come Game 7, it should be the Spurs prerogative to find him early offense and get him going, because he is one scoring punch that they can’t afford to lose.