Must-win Game Four

GAME Four of the best-of-seven National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals between the two-time league titlist Miami Heat and the regular season-leading San Antonio Spurs will be held tomorrow, June 13 (Manila time, 9:00 a.m.), at the AmericanAirlines Arena.
Yesterday (MT), San Antonio regained homecourt advantage by crushing Miami, 112-92, in Game Three for the Heat’s first home defeat in nine games in this year’s playoffs.
The Spurs got off to a quick start, going ahead, 41-25, after the first 12-minute quarter on .867 (13-for-15) field shooting for a new single Finals record for one quarter. The relentless Alamo City squad continued its torrid pace by making its first six shots in the second period – 19-for-21 from the field overall – for a mind-boggling 55-30 advantage as shocktroopers Kawhi Leonard (who was 3-for-3 from three-ball) and Danny Green went ballistic on 6-for-6 field clip each for 18 and 13 markers, respectively.
The red-hot Spurs led, 71-50, at halftime – eight points short of the all-time first-half scoring mark for a Finals game (79) set by the Boston Celtics vs. the Los Angeles Lakers in Game One of the 1985 Finals (Boston won, 148-114, at home but dropped the series, 4-2) – while shooting a .758 (25-for-33) from the field, including
7-for-10 from three-point territory, for a new
Finals record for one half. The Heat were not exactly shabby on their offensive end as they themselves shot .559 (19-of-34) from the field, including 7-of-10 from the three-point area.
Miami came within seven points, 81-74, with 1.5 seconds left in the third period but San Antonio hung on for an 86-75 advantage entering the payoff period.
Miami dug itself too big a hole to climb out of, but credit San Antonio for being so awesome offensively in the first 24 minutes to even think of surrendering Game Four on this night.
Leonard topped the Spurs with 29 points (on 10-for-13 FG shooting, 3-for-6 from three-point area). Tony Parker and Green each collected 15 markers, Tim Duncan added 14 points and six boards, Manu Ginobili came off the bench to score 11 markers, and Boris Diaw, who started in place of Tiago Splitter, had nine points, five boards and three assists. Overall, San Antonio shot .594 (38-for-64) from the field, including .476 (10-for-21) from beyond the arc.
Miami was led by LeBron James, who chalked up 22 points, five reebies, seven assists and five steals, Dwyane Wade also tallied 22 points, Rashard Lewis got 14 points (5-for-7 FG shooting, 4-for-5 three-point area) and reserve Ray Allen had 11.
With the loss, the Heat now face a must-win situation in Game Four, if NBA Finals history is to be reckoned with. No team has ever wiped out a 3-1 deficit in the Finals to annex the Larry O’Brien championship hardware.
However, the Heat have gone 47 straight playoff games without consecutive losses, the third-longest streak in NBA history.
A year ago, the Heat trailed 2-1 and 3-2 in their Finals match against San Antonio but came roaring back to secure Game 4 in San Antonio and the sixth and seventh games in Miami.
Meanwhile, only eight clubs have secured a best-of-seven titular duel after being down, 3-2. These are the 1955 Syracuse Nationals (vs. Fort Wayne Pistons), 1962 Boston Celtics, 1969 Boston Celtics, 1978 Washington Bullets, 1988 Los Angeles Lakers, 1994 Houston Rockets, 2010 LA Lakers and 2013 Miami Heat.
The 1955 Nats (the predecessors of the Philadelphia 76ers), 1988 Lakers, 1994 Rockets, 2010 Lakers and 2013 Heat all emerged victorious in the final two contests at home. The 1962 Celtics took Game Seven at the old Boston Garden while the 1969 Celtics and 1978 Bullets (now known as the Wizards) won on the road in the series-deciding seventh game.
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For all the National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals scoring accomplishments of Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James and Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat over the past decade, not one of them has come close to the offensive wizardry of Michael Jordan at his prime and in the biggest stage.
Until now, His Airness still holds the all-time NBA record for the highest scoring average in one NBA Finals.
Jordan secured the distinction when he hit at a 41-point clip for the Chicago Bulls in their 4-2 victory over the Phoenix Suns during the 1993 Finals.
It was the year that Jordan lost the NBA regular-season MVP race to close friend Charles Barkley, who at the time was the Suns’ meal ticket.  The humbling experience served as the
6-foot-6 guard’s motivation.
In addition to Jordan, who’s now the majority owner of the Charlotte Hornets (formerly Bobcats), two other men averaged at least 40 points during the NBA Finals.
San Francisco (now Golden State) star Rick Barry chalked up 40.8 ppg during the 1967 Finals but the 6-foot-7 forward’s work went for naught as his Warriors fell to Wilt Chamberlain and the Philadelphia 76ers in six games.
Bruising LA Lakers forward Elgin Baylor’s 40.6-point average in the seven-game 1962 NBA Finals was likewise put to waste when legendary great Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics came through with a 4-3 triumph after trailing 2-1 and 3-2 in the classical series.
The Celtics owned homecourt advantage in the Finals but were forced to the distance by the Lakers after going just 2-2 at the old Boston Garden, having surrendered the second and fifth games at home. Boston edged LA, 110-107, in overtime in the decisive Game Seven.
In Game Five of the series, the 6-foot-5 Baylor also registered the highest individual score for an NBA championship-series game when he netted 61 points in the Lakers’ 126-121 win at Boston on April 14, 1962 that temporarily gave LA a 3-2 lead.
Among the active players, only Wade and Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant have breached the 30-point plateau in the NBA Finals.
Wade was Miami’s undisputed No. 1 go-to guy during its successful Finals run against Dallas in 2006. (LeBron James and Chris Bosh joined Wade in South Beach during the 2010-11 wars.) The “home-disadvantageous” Heat beat the Mavericks, 4-2, for the franchise’s first of three league championships as the 6-foot-4 Wade scorched the nets for 34.7 points an outing. The Heat thus became only the third team in NBA Finals history to win the crown after trailing 2-0 in the series that was played under the old 2-3-2 home-road-home format. The first two clubs to turn in the trick were the 1969 Boston Celtics (vs. LA Lakers, 4-3) and 1977 Portland Trail Blazers (vs. Philadelphia 76ers, 4-2) and both did it under the now-comebacking 2-2-1-1-1 system. Boston and Portland also won without homecourt advantage.
The 6-foot-9 Durant averaged 30.6 points for Oklahoma City during the 2012 NBA Finals but the youthful Thunder were beaten by the Miami Heat in five games after grabbing the series opener.