How the Mighty Have Fallen

By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)

Before this series began, it wouldn’t have been a complete shock if San Antonio jumped out to a 3-1 lead. After all, they finished with the NBA’s best record and eventually dismantled an Oklahoma City team that was purportedly a terrible match-up from them. However, after the epic 7-game Finals a year ago, and Games 1 and 2 of this current showdown with Miami, it seemed like every contest was a last-minute affair and the margin separating these teams was as thin as Starvin’ Marvin. That previous competitiveness made it all the more surprising when the Spurs completely obliterated the Heat in these last two games in South Beach. San Antonio’s 40-point combined margin of victory was the largest in NBA history over two consecutive road Finals games (h/t @eliassports). So does that mean the series is over?

As everyone is quick to point out, no team has come back from a 3-1 series deficit to win the finals (in 32 potential chances thus far). The fact that two of the final three games would take place in San Antonio further compounds the difficulties for Miami. Still, there have been 8 times where a team has regrouped to win any playoff series after trailing 3-1. More importantly for Miami, twice a squad has done so by winning 2 of those 3 games on the road. As the older generation of Philadelphia fans surely remember, Boston came back against the Sixers in the Eastern Conference Finals in 1968. Also, Houston rallied versus the Suns in the Western Conference Semifinals in 1995. Both of those teams went on to win the title, which would obviously be the result if the Heat were to pull the trick in these Finals.

Furthermore, twice during the Popovich-Duncan San Antonio era, the team has coughed up 2-0 leads to lose 4 straight games and consequently the series. A similar roster to this one was defeated by Oklahoma City in such a manner back in 2012, and the Grizzlies accomplished the same against San Antonio in 2004. So not only have teams rallied from such a deficit before in NBA history, but the core of this very Spurs group have been swept out of series before after holding a 2-game advantage.

So am I saying the Heat are going to come back and win the series? Of course not, I’m not crazy. The Spurs have been taking apart the Miami defense with the surgical precision of Dr. James Andrews, and Kawhi Leonard looks ready to take the leap and lead the Spurs into the post-Big Three era. All I’m saying is that Miami still has the best player in the world and the 9 games before the last two were all memorable dogfights. Don’t be surprised if the Heat themselves make one last stand in the Alamo.

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