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Congratulations to the Miami Heat, who have won the 2013 NBA Finals, winning back-to-back championships. Also, let’s give congrats to LeBron James for winning his 2nd straight Finals MVP to go along with his 2nd straight regular season MVP, therefore adding on to his continuing legacy.
Nonetheless, let’s give a big, and I mean BIG, shout out to the San Antonio Spurs. Despite squandering a Game 6 lead to win the title for themselves and a commanding 3-2 lead, this team really pushed Miami to their limits.
Let’s quickly recap all of the seven intense games:
Game 1: Spurs 92 Heat 88: Spurs G Tony Parker sealed the deal with a wild jumper at the ending seconds of the game to give the Spurs the 1-0 edge.
Game 2: Spurs 84 Heat 103: Both teams were neck-to-neck through three quarters until the LeBron James and the Heat went on a run that the Spurs could not recover back from.
Game 3: Heat 77 Spurs 113: The marvelous three point shooting performance of Spurs guards Danny Green and Gary Neal gave the Spurs the huge lead over the Heat.
Game 4: Heat 109 Spurs 93: With F Mike Miller in the starting lineup for the Heat, this gave Miami a smaller lineup to run against the Spurs. The decision resulted in a victory for the Heat.
Game 5: Heat 104 Spurs 114: To match with the Heat, Spurs G Manu Ginobili was added to the starting lineup for San Antonio, and Manu delivered a stunning performance, along with Danny Green’s excellent shooting, to give the Spurs the win an a 3-2 lead heading back to South Beach.
Game 6: Spurs 100 Heat 103 (OT): This was a game for the ages! Miami was down 5 points in a game that could have been their last, but LeBron James was resilient. Ray Allen and James himself help send the game to a controversial overtime. As a result, the Heat won.
Game 7: Spurs 88 Heat 95: The Spurs rallied and fought to regain what they have lost in Game 6, but the Heat wanted the championship more. As a result, the Miami Heat are your 2013 NBA Champions!!!!
Prior to this series, I chose the Spurs in six. For a second, or seconds, I was actually right, but somehow, the Spurs malfunctioned before our very own eyes! It’s over now, I rather not dwell on Coach Pop’s decision of taking out Tim Duncan in those final seconds of Game 6.
I chose the Spurs because I believed that they were actually the better team, plus they have history on their side. However, I never thought that the series would go to seven games, intense game at that.
In my opinion, the big hero was not LeBron, but it was Ray Allen, who tied the game with a (lucky, but clutch) three pointer in that pivotal Game 6 to send the game into overtime, keeping hope alive for the Heat.
Overall, this Finals will go down as one of the greatest of all time at the end of the day. Also, now that LeBron and the Heat has finally clinched a championship against a worthy (and legendary) opponent, the team can finally get the respect that they earn as the NBA’s greatest team.
Once again, congrats to the Miami Heat players, coaches, staff, community, and all the Heat fans around the world. Three-peat next year?
