Winners rise, Losers fall (NBA Finals Game 7)

Heat are champions!

But not without a gallant stand from the Spurs who traded leads with the eventual champion Heat.

"They pushed us to the limit"

James would eventually admit after the game. He knew, and it made this championship even sweeter, coming off with a monster performance from him (a masterful punctuation mark to the transformation he had to do in order to win the series) where he scored 37 giant points, coming off baskets when they needed him to produce. It took all this effort from him to score their first back to back titles. The Spurs wouldn't give it to him that easily he had to earn everything and last night was a validation of a star. A kind of passing of torch, Them Spurs beating James and company 6 years ago and here right now on the same stage James has taken what he rightfully earned.
 

In defeat, Tim Duncan and the Spurs command respect. Nobody can ever question their desire to win it, only they fell short. The Spurs battled the whole game even cutting the lead to just two on a Kawhi Leonard 3-pointer.

The Spurs fell short, as Tim Duncan missed 2 shots that was his staple shots and Manu Ginobili making errors in the end game.

''For me, Game 7 is always going to haunt me,'' Duncan said.

 The Spurs have nothing to be shamed about, but as they lose comes a summer of reflections, what could have been, what could have been done, to come that close only to fall short. Nothing breaks a players heart much more a competitor's heart more than that. As the Heat savor their victory cigars, Tim Duncan walks down the tunnel head low, for the first time he lost a NBA Finals and it could be his last. The memory will haunt him he says, never has been those words so true.

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• Next week the NBA brings hope as the draft approaches, For Cleveland it'll be huge, another piece to build on and hopefully one that can get them back to play-off contention, one that will surely take LeBron's notice when the free agency of 2014 nears.
• The Clippers and the Celtics have yet to reach an agreement, the first of what could be a promising off-season we better watch this one as it unfolds or fold itself out of discussion.
• Jerry Sloan is back as Jazz Consultant! That's great news for me having been a fan of Coach Sloan's work, he's finally home.
• There are still plenty more coaching vacancies to fill this should keep NBA addicts occupied as we enter the off season, the free agency could also be a good one to watch out for.

There are plenty more of good reads to come, keep on reading 'til next time.

DeAndre Jordan to The Celtics should have been a no brainer!

I don't think it was worth it if the Celtics still asked for Bledsoe.

But when they dropped their asking price for 2 draft picks? Give me a break! It's a no brainer even if DeAndre Jordan has some upside (as he always have, reportedly, when they resigned him and kept him from Golden State's grasp way back 2011, although no development has shown 2 years after) and Kevin is slowly declining a one-is-to-one trade is already a win for LA's other team. Not to mention the right for a champion coach. I mean 2 draft picks isn't that pricy especially when you think that they would probably pick 20th overall or maybe later for that 2 drafts.

Garnett's value is not only when he's physically playing, but he will be a big presence in the locker room. He can pick up the slack when the guys are dozing off and relaxing. He will prepare the team mentally maybe even physically. Something he's done in Boston. And what about Doc Rivers? Doc is Doc and he's well regarded as a great coach.

Clippers still have a chance to do this right. One advice to them? Don't be stupid.

Extra: Scene from the NBA Finals

• As Dan Devine of Yahoo! Sports reports Heat fans dashed out of the exits even before the final score was settled. It's a very ill sight, but then again I guessed it's apt knowing these fans probably were nowhere to be found before 2010. The very example of fair weather fans. I'm glad they weren't allowed back after Ray Allen hit the game tying shot and the Heat eventually won.
• LeBron got another triple double but it would have been for naught because he had 2 late TO's. Thank heavens for Ray Allen.
• Bosh finally had 2 game changing plays in one game!
• There'll be another game 7 the first one we're having since 2010, David Stern must be all smiles.

Hey see you again on Thursday! Hit feedback for comments. :D

Manu is the true MVP of the Spurs!

There I said it so sue me.

It seems to me to have been true since 2005, Everytime Ginobili have a break out game the Spurs follows. It seems that their energy and passion flow through him. In this series (in fact the whole play-offs) Ginobili seem to have lost himself on the play. Averaging just 7.5 points on the series, questions lingered "Are you done?"

Even Ginobili himself seem to doubt himself when he declares he's open to retiring once the Finals is finished.

 ''Everything is a day-by-day basis, Once the season finishes and I see how I feel, I can't imagine me not playing at least one more year here, but time will tell. We'll see. Sometimes I do think about retirement, But then I say, 'No, no. I love what I do. I'm very lucky to be in a franchise like this. So I really can't picture myself being retired already."

''There's a small chance. It's not that I'm really considering, but I can never say 'no' for sure, because I sometimes consider it.''

In Game 5, Manu recaptured his game of old. Shooting 8-14 and finishing with 24 points and 10 assists Manu was Manu again. On the game's opening possession, he stepped back for a foot-on-the-line 23-foot jump shot. You knew he was on attack mode, maybe because of a sense of urgency that made him play this way, or maybe to quiet some doubters or maybe something to prove for himself that no I'm not yet done, maybe the move to the staring line-up helped. Whatever it is one thing is for certain The Spurs go where Manu leads them.

Extra: So much about LeBron James declaring "enough is enough". James did produce the numbers, but again the actual play doesn't speak for itself. Shooting 8-22 in the field, I don't think that is enough to win a basketball game. I don't like when players go declaring something and not backing it up (James already has his shares of boo boo declarations like the not one, not two crap). With their backs behind the wall, James needs to show his character as he said he wants to leave the game known as the greatest. This is the stage where you'll be judged LeBron and so far you are not getting any leverage.

The Big Three comes up big at last!

Finals Game 4.

Nobody in NBA history has ever came out winning a series after being down 3-1 in a series. That is surely a big void that Miami wanted to avoid, and it showed in their play. LeBron, Dwyane and Bosh were on attack mode all night long.

What surprises me is the Spurs resolve to counter these three early on, especially before the half. Miami by then was already threatening to blow the game wide open San Antonio tied it before half (Bosh failed to beat the clock when he launched to what could have been an impressive dunk that could potentially have given them the lead).

The Heat defense produced 7 blocks and forced 19 Spurs turnovers. That while being bolstered by the renewed energy from their leaders prompting the ever quotable Gregg Popovich to say: "When those guys are playing like that, you better be playing a perfect game". Those 19 turnovers produced 23 transition points.

Wade performance came in as a surprise though, hobbled by knee injury the whole post season Wade was Wade of old. The MVP candidate an that kind of energized LeBron as well after a lethargic 3 games, James explodes for 33 points.

Stopping one is already a pain in the ass, how about a three headed monster?

I think Wade is the X-Factor in this series, if he continues to play this well? They might just pull this off. LeBron can score all he wants but if he gets no other help it will be for nut. The Spurs defense will just collapse on him. I think it's on Wade's shoulders fall to give LeBron the help, because Bosh is Bosh.

Now, it's a 3-game series, Let's now see who's the better of both teams the next game. I don't think anybody has an upperhand right now as both teams have been able to quiet the tide. These 3 games might be the most exciting games of these series, stay tuned.