Take what the Heat did in game two, flip it 180 degrees then times it by ten and you have what happened in game three. The Spurs lit the Heat up and set a record for most three pointers made in NBA Finals history, with 16. They simply out played the Heat in the third quarter and made them look like fools. The game was tied with around 35 seconds left in the second quarter, until the Spurs hit two three pointers, one of which was a buzzer beater by Gary Neal.
Danny Green and Gary Neal were the story of game three. They combined for 51 points on 18-32 shooting and 13-19 from three. They were both unstoppable, knocking down open and contested shots. I honestly do not even remember them missing that many shots. They were simply on fire. This type of performance wont likely happen again, but they both proved that they can be counted on later in the series. The big three for the Spurs played well, but the stats will not show it. In the first quarter, they combined for 12 points and 6 assists. Parker finished with only 6 points on 2-5 shooting, but he did have 8 assists. It was worrisome when he went to the locker room late in the third quarter, but he did come back in the game for a short amount of time, which is a good sign for San Antonio. Tim Duncan finished with 12 points and 14 rebounds, he also had two blocks, one of which started the beginning of the end for Miami. Ginobli continued his bad shooting, finishing 0-4 from three point range, but he did show he can be effective when it comes to driving in the lane.
I need to give a special shout-out to Kawhi Leonard. He is 21 years old and has played the best defense I have ever seen on LeBron. He is really bothering him by not letting him drive and making him settle for jumpers. He finished with 14 points 12 rebounds and 4 steals. The 4 steals are the most telling because he is not letting LeBron get into his passing rhythm. When Leonard was off of the court at the end of the fourth quarter, James scored 7 points. It is obvious that Leonard is in his head and that is not good for the Heat going forward.
LeBron James played very bad. He shot poorly from the field, 7-21, and it seemed as if he was not in the game at all, finishing with only 5 assists. It is obvious that Leonard is bothering him, but the Spurs are playing great team defense by keeping him out of the lane. James needs to find his shot again in order for him to become more effective in this series. Dwyane Wade played a lot better than he has latel, but it did not seem to matter. He finished with 16 points on 7-15 shooting and he added 5 assists and 4 steals. However, he did not grab any rebounds, which I think it telling about how he feels about his knee. Chris Bosh also did not play well, which is not straying from the mean in this series. He had 12 points and 10 rebounds, but could not make a mid range shot to save his life, which put Miami down early. Mike Miller was the only role player that really helped, he made five three pointers on five attempts and if it was not for him, this would have been an even bigger blowout. No other role players helped out in a futile attempt to steal game three in San Antonio.
Game three was the exact same and complete opposite of game two at the same time. Both were blowouts, but game two belonged to while San Antonio took game three. Danny Green and Gary Neal put in great performances from the three point line. Kawhi Leonard played great defense on LeBron and, unlike games one and two, he played well on the offensive end. Nobody showed up for Miami, which is why the game was such a blowout. They will need much better performances from everyone, especially LeBron, if they don't want to go down 3-1 heading into game five.
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