Wasn’t the most aesthetically pleasing first half. Particularly the opening frame. It was a ferociously contested, intense, chaotic, frenetic first half. Cats were hungry and fervid but it resulted in a abevy of turnovers, erraticism, a lack of pragmatism and slipshod ball handling sand decision due to jitters and overhypeness. Thankfully the game cleaned up, and developed a nice, fluid pace in the 2qtr. Bron started off deferential, looking to others involved. Most notably, he wanted to get Wade going early. After Wade got off and into a rhythm Bron increased his aggression as the half progressed scoring 15 points. The Chosen One splashed two triples, but he had to watch for getting overly infatuated with the deep ball. After a slow start, Wade’s mid-range j was great, as he had a big 14-point first half. The previously slogging Battier, who’d been getting good looks, but been faltering from the land of plenty, busted some big trayballs. Birdman gave nice sweat after Bosh had to go to the bench with 3 fouls. For the Spurs, Kawhi scoring, rebounding and defense was outstanding in the first half. He was incredibly cool and equable to be so young in such a pressurized situation. Kawhi compensated for the Heat’s conscientious nullification of Green. He was totally negligible, only registering a single point. Manu knifed through the lane very assertively, leading to layups off dump-off presents. Ginobili’s confidence was a very, very encouraging, auspicious sign for the Spurs. Parker and Timmy were very effective inside. Parker was looking like a young Isiah Thomas at times, as he sliced the Heat off pick and rolls and in transition like salami. Duncan got pretty much whatever he wanted inside. Really puzzling why SA don’t go to him virtually every possession like Hakeem and the Rockets cause he’s obviously got a definitive edge. Especially facing primarily one-on-one coverage. Whenever the Spurs fed him the tangerine good things happen. We in for another fireice, exhilarating finish.
Posted on: Fri, 21 Jun 2013 20:56:35 +0000