Both LeBron James and Dwyane Wade feel last year’s NBA Finals win was far from a miracle. They think the better team won, despite San Antonio being so close to clinching with a Game 6 win, they had the trophy ready in the locker-room. Whether it’s real or not, James said he feels “slighted” when Tim Duncan and the Spurs talk about last year’s Finals as an aberration they will correct this year.
Before the Heat’s practice yesterday, James spoke of the frustration when many believe last year was a fluke.
“We feel slighted. I can’t sit here and lie to you, we do. … It went seven [games], it wasn’t like it was 3-0 and they had us in Game 4 and we took it and won four straight. If you look at the numbers, look at the numbers, the lead changes, the ties and the points in that series, it’s almost even.”
We all know what transpired in Game 6: The Spurs led by five with 28.2 seconds left when Miami came back to force overtime on Ray Allen‘s three-pointer with five-seconds remaining in regulation. Mirroring James’ irritation, Dwyane Wade compared Miami’s Game 6 win to San Antonio’s Game 1 win on Tony Parker‘s miraculous shot before the shot clock sounded:
“Game 6 was unbelievable to be able to come back and win that game. But that’s the game of basketball. You know, the ball bounces funny ways. Game 1, the shot that Tony Parker hit, I mean, that was unbelievable, to get off the ground and hit that shot and just get it off.
“The ball bounces in funny ways. And we’re thankful for Ray Allen making that shot, but there were so many other things that had to play right for us to win that game. So you need a little luck, both ways, even to be in the Finals. We were a recipient of luck in that [Game 6] moment, but we won the championship.”
James reiterated that this year was different, and it does seem like the Heat are looking for an edge with all the verbal sparring before the series that was absent before last year’s matchup. The Spurs feel they were robbed last year, and have used that to get where we are now: on the cusp of a rematch starting tonight. The Heat team doesn’t look at last year as a fluke, they were the better team:
“Both teams put themselves in a position to win an NBA championship [last year], and we just happened to make one or two more plays to win it,” James said. “At the end of the day it doesn’t take away that we did win last year, but that’s last year. Last year is last year and we’re excited about it, but this trophy this year belongs to nobody. It’s up for grabs.”
Many feel the Spurs are better this year; deeper off the bench, more experienced after last year’s crushing Finals, and healthier — aside from Tony Parker‘s ankle. The Heat are a tad worse having struck out on the Greg Oden/Michael Beasley experiment in free agency, and losing Mike Miller to the Grizzlies. Plus, the Spurs have home-court this year, and the Finals have changed back to the 2-2-1-1—1 format of the other rounds.
The Spurs think it’s their time, and a lot of people agree, but James, Wade and the rest of the two-time defending champions are using all of that as motivation. Or this has simply been a distraction and will have no bearing on the game whatsoever.
We like to think both squads are professional enough not to need an extra edge in the NBA Finals.
(ESPN)
What do you think?
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