In a 2013 NBA Finals rematch, it was the San Antonio Spurs who were crowned NBA Champions in the 2014 NBA Finals against the Miami Heat. The Spurs came into this final hopping to end the reign of the Heat’s two-year title.
Last year, we saw the Spurs get upset in Game 6 and 7 when they had a 3-2 lead and ended up losing the 2013 NBA finals. The Spurs felt the pain that day but that didn’t stop them from coming back in the 2013/14 season and taking it all. The Spurs finished a dramatic 5 game series against the Miami Heat in a 104-87 victory to win their fifth NBA championship on Monday. They Spurs have appeared 6 times in the NBA finals, only losing once to the Miami Heat last year and winning all the other five in 1999, 2003,2005,2007, and Sunday night, June 15, 2014. The Spurs also denied the Miami Heat reach a three-peat. The Miami heat came in to this final hopping to win their third title in a row during the four years they have appeared in the NBA Finals but the Spurs had a different plan for them.
The San Antonio Spurs had a dramatic road to the NBA finals. They ended the season with 62 wins and 20 losses and clinched the Southwest title, home-court advantage and also the Western Conference title. In the first round they faced the Dallas Mavericks, which went to 7 games and ended up winning the series 4-3. The faced the Portland Trailblazers in the second round to win it in five games and received Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder in the third round to win that series in 6 games and clinch not only their 6 Conference title but also a spot in the NBA finals.
They beat the Miami Heat in game 1 110-95 but lost game 2 at home 98-96 but the Spurs rallied from the loss and ended up winning the next three games all by 15 points or more. Game 3 and 4 were in Miami and the Spurs upset the Miami in both games; game 3 winning 111-92, winning 107-86 in game 4 and brining it back to San Antonio to win 104-87 and clinch the title.
The Spurs were down by 16 points in the first period of game 5 but the gods of basketball somehow helped San Antonio come from that 16-point deficit by outscoring the Heat 37-13 from the start of the second quarter midway to the third. Lebron James had 17 points in the first quarter to help the Heat take the lead but it wasn’t enough for them to win it. The spurs were down 28-22 in the end of the first period and came back to take the lead in the second quarter and end the half with a 47-40 lead. In the third quarter it was Manu Ginobli and Kawhi Leonard who helped the San Antonio Spurs get the lead even bigger with Patty Mills getting 14 points in the third quarter alone.
Patty Mills was 5-8 in three pointers and 6-10 in field goals with a total of 17 points. Kawhi Leonard was 7-10 with 22 points along with Manu Ginobli going 6-11 with 19 points. Tim Duncan and Toni Parker were also a big help in this win both going 12-28 in game 5 and a total of 38 points.
Lebron James went for 10-21 in the court with 31 points and 10 rebounds with Chris Bosh going 6-14 with 13 points and 7 rebounds. Dwayne Wade wasn’t in his highest point in this game along with Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis and Mario Chalmers.
Kawhi Leonard was MVP of the NBA Finals and the third youngest player to ever win the Bill Russell MVP award along with Tim Duncan and Magic Johnson.
This was also Tim Duncan’s 5th title along with Coach Gregg Popovich since 1999. This also added to Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli’s 4th title under coach Gregg Popovich and teammate Tim Duncan and was once again the reigning the Big Three in the NBA since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson and Byron Scott.
Tim Duncan is also the only player to win 5 titles in three different decades.
The San Antonio Spurs had a phenomenal season and without the help of the fans, the organization and the great coach the Gregg Popovich is, they wouldn’t have made history the way they did today.
