NBA Finals Game One Review

Game one of the NBA Finals was as good as advertised. Neither team pulled away, nor look ready to pull away. The Spurs won the game with a very good fourth quarter. Tony Parker and Tim Duncan ran the show and Kawhi Leonard played great defense on LeBron James.

LeBron James had his second straight Finals triple double, but it was not as dominant as some of his others. He finished with 18 points 18 rebounds and 10 assists, but those 18 points were on 16 shots, which is not good efficiency. He was only 1-5 on three pointers and only got to the free throw line four times. He was obviously bothered by Leonard, going 2-8 from the field when he was guarding him. James needs to try and go into the post more because I think he has the advantage there.

Dwayne Wade did not play as well as some thought. Early in the game, many were saying the old Wade was back. However, he only scored 17 points on 15 shots and he did not play good defense. He also had the worst plus/minus rating in the game at -11. If Wade cannot be efficient on offense and does  not play good defense, there is absolutely no reason in having him on the court. Chris Bosh has also been terrible in recent games. He took bad shots in game one, four threes, and he got absolutely abused on the boards. He was also not able to score inside. He falls in the same boat as Wade, if he keeps playing like this, he is useless.

Tony Parker was the star of the game. Not even counting that miracle of a last shot, he still would have had 19 points 6 assists and 0 turnovers. LeBron James was guarding him for most of the fourth quarter, but even then, he was hard to stop. If the Heat cannot find a way to slow him down, they will be in grave danger of losing this series before it goes back to Miami.

Tim Duncan was dominant on the inside, he absolutely shut down the Heat on the boards. He was also good on offense, if he keeps getting touches inside, he should be unstoppable, because no one on the Heat can stop him. Kawhi Leonard played a very good defensive game. His wingspan really bothered LeBron on the outside, he was also good on the boards, grabbing 10 rebounds. He did not play a great offensive game, missing all four of his three point attempts. If he improves on the offensive end for next game, the Heat will be in some trouble. Manu Ginobli did not play a good game either, 4-11 shooting. Ginobli needs to improve, but he has not had a good series yet in the playoffs. I think he is less important to this team than most think.

Overall, the Spurs did not play a good game which is not a good sign for the Heat. In my mind, the Heat also did not play well, but the Spurs are capable of so much more. If it was not for Tony Parker's crazy shot, who knows how this game would have turned out. However, that does not matter since the Spurs are now up 1-0.