Playoff basketball lends itself to big plays and highlight reel ridiculousness. The theme song to the college basketball playoffs is even called One Shining Moment just to hammer home the point that the sport is as much about the big plays as it is about the final score. We are truly fortunate that this NBA Finals has already twice given us that play, that sequence we won’t forget, raising expectations for the rest of the series to possibly unreasonable expectations.
The first of these plays came courtesy of the San Antonio Spurs’ Tony Parker. Up by only two points, with about a half-minute left on the game clock, San Antonio had the ball but the Miami Heat still had time to either tie or win the game if the Spurs failed to score on this possession. The Spurs got the ball to Parker, who had the unfortunate task of trying to make something happen with LeBron James guarding him. Whatever play they were trying to run completely broke down, Parker almost lost control of the ball several times, then fell down and picked himself off the ground before he was finally able to get his shot off, a mere fraction of a second before the shot clock expired. After reviewing the play, the officials rightfully concluded that Parker got the shot off in time, effectively sealing a 92-88 Spurs win.
Despite everything going wrong around him, Parker managed to (barely) keep control of the ball, keep the play alive and get a shot up just in time. The intelligence and presence of mind needed to even come up with an emergency plan in that situation is a reflection of the Spurs’ dedication to play smart basketball: Parker was able to somehow able to create order out of complete chaos. It’s not every shot that inspires writers to pen oral histories mere hours after the game in question ends.
For the next few days it seemed as if we had already witnessed the biggest play of the 2013 NBA Finals, but it only held that distinction until the fourth quarter of Game Two. After a close game in the first half, the Heat were starting to pull away. Even when the Heat were up 86-67, the Spurs were still fighting and still seemed to have one last run in them, but then Tiago Splitter attempted a dunk and LeBron James responded with the block of the year.
The Block was only the first part of a longer sequence where James effectively crushed the San Antonio Spurs’ hopes, dreams and possibly souls. At least until Game Three. After the block, James passed the ball to Ray Allen who hit a three-pointer. On the very next play Mike Miller stole the ball from Tony Parker and got it to LeBron who made an emphatic exclamation point of a dunk. By the time the Spurs took a timeout the score was 91-67 with 7:43 left in the game so, sensing inevitable defeat, Gregg Popovich took out his starters and waved the white flag, emptying his bench. The Miami Heat eventually won 103-84, tying the series at 1-1.
While it wasn’t a game-clinching play like Tony Parker’s miracle shot, it somehow felt just as big. The Block was more than just a key defensive play. The Block was a symbolic moment in the game where it became obvious that the Heat planned to impose their will on the Spurs for the rest of the game with LeBron’s emotional reaction, and subsequent stare, contrasting sharply with Parker’s coolness under pressure.
So now that the Spurs and the Heat have both produced signature moments in the first two games of the series, the question has become this: Could anything possibly happen in Game Three that would top what we’ve already seen? Here are a few ideas of what could take the NBA Finals to the next level. These may sound ridiculous at first, but just remember what a wise man once said about the NBA Finals: anything is possible.
1. Tracy McGrady game-winner
For much of his career, Tracy McGrady was one of the biggest stars in the NBA, but until these past two months he had never been part of a team that made it past the first round of the playoffs. After a brief stopover in China, Spurs’ head coach Popovich rescued McGrady and put him at the end of his bench. Now the Guy Who Never Made It Past The First Round is playing in the NBA Finals. Well okay, playing isn’t exactly the right word here, the former All-Star now only sees the floor during garbage time. Even in Game Two, when he was brought in halfway through the fourth quarter after LeBron went all LeBron on the Spurs, McGrady couldn’t make a shot. He ended up being outscored by the likes DeJuan Blair and Cory Joseph.
Don’t be fooled by McGrady’s lack of playing time and production, he’s playing possum. When Popovich puts McGrady in at the end of a close game, the Miami Heat won’t know what hit them when an unguarded McGrady hits a game winning three. Hey, it’s not like McGrady hasn’t done anything utterly improbable before, I’m sure Gregg Popovich remembers him doing this to his Spurs.
2. Tim Duncan accidentally scores on his own basket
It’s not an incredibly common thing, but once in a blue moon a player ends up accidentally knocking in an opponent’s shot. Tim Duncan would be the least-likely candidate to do something like this, which is why this would make it one of the most unpredictable moments in NBA Finals history that didn’t involve Adam Morrison getting two rings.
3. Derek Fisher tries to sneak onto one of the benches
Tracy McGrady isn’t the only aging NBA star who signed up to be a team’s veteran presence this season while harboring not-so-secret hopes of winning a ring. Despite his day job as the president of the NBA Players Association, and the fact that he has already won five rings during his time with the Los Angeles Lakers, Fisher has been bouncing around organizations looking for one last ring these past two years. After leaving the Dallas Mavericks earlier this year for family reasons he un-retired later in the season to join the playoff bound Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder didn’t make it past the second round of the playoffs, but just because NBA rules don’t allow a player to join a different team in the middle of the postseason doesn’t mean that Derek Fisher wouldn’t at least make an attempt. (Note: This would probably not happen in Game Three, Fisher would wait to see which team took a 2-1 series lead before making his decision on which locker room to infiltrate.)
But really, there’s only one crazy outcome in Game Three that would make it a truly satisfying sequel to Game Three and that would be…
4. Tiago Splitter blocks a LeBron James dunk
Circle of life, man. Circle of life.
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