It was a tight first quarter. Both teams were aggressive offensively and defensively although there were lots of turnovers, misses, fouls, and freethrows. As usual, San Antonio’s big three—Tim Duncan, Manu Ginóbili, and Tony Parker—did the job well for the team. It’s worthy to note that San Antonio inserted Ginóbili in the starting lineup.
Dwyane Wade, who played a monstrous Game 4, had turned the ball over to the opponent a few times. LeBron James was still cold, not showing much basketball action in the first quarter. He missed a couple perimeter shots and has not picked up his game yet. Danny Green, on the other hand, started hot and fired threes. Kawhi Leonard also helped widen the lead with shots beyond the arc. The Spurs made twelve straight points going to the last minute; they’re up by 13 in the first quarter.
1st Quarter Score: San Antonio Spurs 32 - 19 Miami Heat
San Antonio opened the second quarter with a tremendous run. Leonard was aggressive in attacking the rim, going straight to the goal strongly for added points. The Spurs are playing great offense despite several air balls and missed shots in both ends in the early minutes of the quarter. One of the highlights for the quarter happened when Duncan, who was actively present in the paint, completed a play with a slam dunk off an assist from Ginóbili.
Leonard and Danny Green continued to fire from downtown. The latter made history 6 minutes to go in the first half. He broke Ray Allen’s record of making the most threes in an NBA finals. Take note it’s still Game 5. Green has been the man for San Antonio so far.
However, the Heat made twelve straight points including a four-point play courtesy of Ray Allen. Duncan ended Miami’s 12-0 run with a fadeaway shot while being guarded by Chris Bosh, who’s been taking care of the boards for Miami. James started to pick up his pace and also made a fadeaway jumper. He overpowered Spurs defender Danny Green, making an easy two under three minutes remaining in the second period.
Duncan, on the other hand, capitalized on an entry pass from Ginóbili to add two more for San Antonio. Both teams weren’t playing with a point guard in the last minutes of the second quarter until Parker went back in for a fast play and added two just four tenths of a second. Spurs ended the period ahead by nine. Strong first half by San Antonio.
2nd Quarter Score: San Antonio Spurs 61 - 52 Miami Heat
With Mario Chalmers coming back into the game, Miami opened the third quarter with a 7-0 run, including his three-pointer off a pass from James who faked a drive. San Antonio retaliated with another three from Green quickly after a Wade turnover. He was shooting 70 percent from the three point range so far tonight.
Both teams exhanged firing threes under eight minutes in the third. Chalmers sank one while Leonard missed. Miami has stepped up their offense with James trying to grab rebounds and steals early on. Miami missed a couple transition opportunities while on the other end Parker successfully knocked a floater in. Spurs leading by four at this point. Parker continued to go extra hard and contributed more for San Antonio, but the Heat didn’t give up easily and kept coming back in transition to stay close in the game.
Miami was able to cut the lead to 1 after Wade completed a three-point play as Ginóbili committed his second foul. San Antonio launched a retaliation via a 3-point shot from Green and a completed 3-point play from Ginóbili. They had a 10-0 run while Miami committed a couple turnovers. Tough time for Miami in the third. San Antonio up by twelve.
3rd Quarter Score: San Antonio Spurs 87 - 75 Miami Heat
San Antonio had two very bad possessions to start the fourth quarter. Two minutes were gone as both teams had missed shots and turnovers, until Ginóbili responded huge with a floater to end the scoring drought. The left-handed shooting guard erupted tonight after struggling in the first 4 finals games.
The Spurs nailed Heat to 75 while they continued to play well, reaching a 19-point lead that forced Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra to call a timeout. The lead was extended to 20 with 3 minutes gone in the fourth. Allen’s back-to-back threes weren’t enough although Miami was taking it slowly to recover, one possession at a time. San Antonio had hit the 100th mark 6 minutes to go in the final quarter. Wade had a good look for an assist to Allen for a three-point corner shot to cut the lead. It was an 11-point game, 2:24 remaining.
Parker ended the Heat’s 9-0 run with a layup. The lead was sealed further by Ginóbili with a three. The Spurs took Game 5 at home and are one win away from an NBA title.
4th Quarter Score: San Antonio Spurs 114 - 104 Miami Heat (Final). San Antonio wins, Spurs lead series 3-2.
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