The Miami Heat failed to win consecutive games yet again. The Heat must now win consecutive games to defend their NBA title. But they haven’t won back to back since the closeout Game 5 of the Chicago Bulls series and Game 1 against the Indiana Pacers. That win actually closed out a five-game postseason winning streak, but the Miami Heat are 5-6 since then.
“It just snowballed down the hill [from then], and we couldn’t control it. And so we just didn’t show the mental resolve that we needed at that point,” Miami Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra said.
Miami Heat point guard Mario Chalmers has been off since game 2. He was 2-for-10 tonight (he had as many turnovers as made shots) and is 4-for-19 since then. 2010 was the last time the NBA Finals saw a game 7. And coincidentally, it was the last time the loser of game 5 in a series went on to win the Finals.
“That might be the series. Come on, this is The Finals. It’s elite basketball right now. There’s not a large margin for error either way. We had some empty possessions, and it cost us,” said Spoelstra.
The Miami Heat troika was formed a few weeks after that game, with the infamous “not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4…..” If the San Antonio Spurs win Tuesday it will make the Miami Heat just 1 for 3 in the NBA finals since the Lebron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh triad formed. The Spurs get 1/100 the headlines, but they could have a perfect Finals record of 5-0 if they can win on Tuesday. Or on Thursday if a game 7 is forced.
Game 6 is Tuesday, the Miami Heat will host 8 p.m. CDT. This is the same exact situation as the 2011 NBA Finals when they lost to the Dallas Mavericks: down 3-2 going home for two. This will go 7 though, mark my words.
“During the year we had 15, 20 games where we were down by ten and had to find a way or up and lose a lead. We’ve been in every situation you can. That’s not an excuse. We just didn’t execute and they did,” said Spoelstra
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