The NBA Finals is hitting a critical juncture on Sunday night as Game 5 goes down between the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs in Texas and with the series tied 2-2 after the Heat won 109-93 in the last game, LeBron James and company are ready to take back control for the championship.
James and the Miami Heat looked like champions in Game 4 as Bosh and Wade combined for 85 points with the King and now the team has the chance to take a 3-2 lead with three possible games left to play. The matchup in Sunday's tilt could come down to injuries and whether Tony Parker can remain his normal self and whether Dwyane Wade can play the same was he did on Thursday night, which was one of his best in the postseason so far. James led the way with over 30 points again in the victory and Bosh did his part with 13 rebounds, while Mario Chalmers was tops with five assists. The Spurs got 20 points from Tim Duncan and Parker added nine assists, while Kawhi Leonard had seven rebounds while defending James.
The game was close most of the way, but the biggest difference came in the fourth quarter when the Heat outscored the Spurs 28-17 and after it looked like the Heat were done with the Game 3 loss, everything got tied up again. Neither team has lost two games in a row in months and that will put the pressure on the Miami Heat to take Game 5 for the 3-2 lead heading into the last two games in South Florida. Parker will be the focus in Game 5 as he deals with a hamstring injury and while he was able to play on Thursday, he likely won't be at full strength for the rest of the series.
Parker said that if it was the regular season he likely would likely sit out for over a week and while the hamstring will be an issue, Parker said he is ready to play through pain. Parker said that the hamstring could tear at anytime and although he looked tired in Game 4, he had multiple days off before Game 5 on Sunday night. The Heat were able to force a number of turnovers after the Spurs gave up just four in Game 1 and since then the team has had 36 total in the two defeats and nearly 50 overall. Manu Ginobili will need to play better for the Spurs to win after shooting under 40 percent in the playoffs and now it will be up to the Big three in Miami in James, Wade and Bosh to shutdown Parker, Ginobili and Duncan.
"You got to be close to perfect to beat them," Ginobili said Saturday. "And we were pretty far from that (in Game 4). If they're having an OK game, we can make a few mistakes here and there and we can mask it. But when they're playing like we just can't make mistakes."
"We have to understand that their identity is to play aggressive defense, and they gamble, and they're going to take a lot of chances with steals and blocks," Parker said. "We just have to be smarter with our decisions."