The Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs will tipoff their NBA Finals series tonight at the AAA. Here are the game times and dates for the series, all games will be broadcast by ABC, Channel 10 in South Florida:
Game 1 Thu, June 6 9:00 pm @ Miami
Game 2 Sun, June 9 8:00 pm @ Miami
Game 3 Tue, June 11 9:00 pm @ San Antonio
Game 4 Thu, June 13 9:00 pm @ San Antonio
Game 5 * Sun, June 16 8:00 pm @ San Antonio
Game 6 * Tue, June 18 9:00 pm @ Miami
Game 7 * Thu, June 20 9:00 pm @ Miami
* -- If Necessary
* -- If Necessary
The Spurs and Heat met with the media yesterday and they were full of compliments for each other. Yahoo! Sports was there:
These two teams met twice during the regular season, and believe me, those results mean absolutely nothing. Miami won both games, by the way, at home on November 29, 105-100, and in San Antonio March 31, 88-86. In the game in Miami, the Spurs rested four of their starters, choosing to send Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, and Danny Green home to San Antonio during a long road trip. The team and Head Coach Gregg Popovich were reprimanded and subsequently fined by the league. In the game in San Antonio, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Mario Chalmers all missed the game due to assorted injuries.
My thoughts on this series:
The Spurs are a MUCH BETTER team than the Pacers, however, I believe they don’t matchup as well as the Pacers did against Miami. We know Tim Duncan is a hall of fame player, and his presence and experience are huge. His front-court partner, Tiago Splitter is a tall drink of water, but the 6’11” 240 pounder from Brazil isn’t going to ever be confused with David West. Duncan is no spring chicken at 37 years of age, and although he is still a formidable player, he cannot be asked to carry the load 48 minutes per game. First of all, Duncan is not the post-up player he used to be, and he is also going to have to worry about Chris Bosh on the defensive side of the court and Bosh’s midrange game is going to give him something to do. Trust me: Chris Bosh will come up big in the finals. The Spurs are tall with Splitter and Duncan, but they are not nearly as athletic or as physically strong as Indiana’s Roy Hibbert and David West. The Spurs were the 29th worst offensive rebounding team in the NBA this season, don’t look for these number to change against Miami.
What will San Antonio do against LeBron James? Pretty much not anything more than what the rest of the NBA is able to do against the best player in the game. You can expect to see Kawhi Leonard match up against LeBron most of the time, and maybe Boris Diaw when Leonard is on the bench. Danny Green will be spending most of his time guarding Dwyane Wade, and Wade really needs to come up big in this series. His game 7 against the Pacers is a good sign. Green could be effective against Wade, but it comes back to, can anyone really hope to stop LeBron? It wouldn’t surprise me to see LeBron put up 35-point games, while only attempting 12-15 shots.
Spurs point guard Tony Parker should worry Miami a bit. He is almost impossible to defend with the Spurs’ ability to use the pick and roll to free Parker up. Miami will probably use different coverages to defend Parker, sometimes with quickness, other times with size and strength (spelled LeBron James). I really don’t see the Heat just putting LeBron on Parker for long stretches because all LeBron would be doing is fighting through constant picks and screens. Norris Cole and Mario Chalmers are going to have to cover Parker like black beans on white rice, and they need to make him work on defense. I believe the X-factor for San Antonio is Manu Ginobili. His role will continue to be to provide a safety valve for a driving Tony Parker, and if he shoots effectively, could pick apart the Heat’s defensive schemes and rotations. If that happens, the series could be closer than what I expect.
This is a case where the nine-day layoff could benefit the Spurs, and the seven-game brouhaha against the Pacers could have the Heat a bit tired. I just don’t think so.
The Heat were forced to change their game against a physically strong Pacers team, and Miami will be able to play their brand of “small ball” without having to take the physical punishment the Pacers were able to dish out. Miami’s shooters, Ray Allen, Shane Battier, and Mike Miller, will open up the floor, pulling the Spurs’ front line away from the rim. You cannot discount the advantage Miami will have by having an extra shooter on the floor at all times, as opposed to a bigger body that they needed to battle the Pacers.
As much as I have always loved the San Antonio Spurs and their head coach, Gregg Popovich, I truly believe that the 2013 edition of the Miami Heat and their head coach, Erik Spoelstra, will be able to win this series in five games.
TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: This year’s finals feature four players who have been named MVP of the finals previously. (Dwayne Wade, LeBron James, Tony Parker and Tim Duncan) Twice before, a series has had five Finals MVP’s playing. When and who? Tell you later, alligator.
Let’s go the the diamond. The Marlins starters continue to pitch well, but they have nothing to show for it as the Fish lost again today, 6-1. Jacob Turner pitched 6 innings and allowed only one run, but left with the game tied at 1-1. In the seventh, AJ Ramos allowed a two-run triple to Ryan Howard and a two-run homer by Domonic Brown, his 18th of the year. The Fish have the day off today, as they prepare to take on the New York Mets in a three-game series this weekend up at Citi Field. The expected pitching matchups are:
FRIDAY Jose Fernandez vs Matt Harvey 7:10 pm
SATURDAY Kevin Slowey vs Jon Niese 1:10 pm
SUNDAY Tom Koehler vs Jeremy Hefner 1:10 pm
The Marlins return home after the series with the Mets, and will take on the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and then will host the St. Louis Cardinals for a three-game series starting on Friday.
The Fish are still the worst run-scoring team in MLB, with 177 runs in their 60 games. We congratulate the KC Royals, who have joined the party at the “bottom five” rankings in runs scored, replacing the Phillies.
TEAM W-L Runs
Marlins 16-44 177
White Sox 25-32 199
Nationals 29-30 201
Dodgers 25-33 208
Royals 24-32 214
In the major leagues yesterday, in the American League,
Yankees 6 Indians 4
CC Sabathia threw the complete game as the Yankees swept the three game series with the Indians. Travis Hafner and Brett Gardner homered, Hafner with one man on, Gardner with two runners aboard.
White Sox 7 Mariners 5 (16 innings)
In a truly bizarre game, Alejandro de Aza drove in the go-ahead run in the top of the 16th inning, but that wasn’t the story. The teams were locked in a scoreless tie through 13 innings. In the top of the 14th, the White Sox scored five runs, only to give up that lead in the bottom of the inning.
Cubs 8 Angels 6 (10 innings)
Anthony Rizzo came through with a three-run double in the top of the tenth inning.
Rays 3 Tigers 0
The Rays broke open a scoreless tie with three runs in the top of the ninth inning, with the go-ahead run scoring on a Matt Joyce sacrifice fly.
Rangers 3 Red Sox 2
Elvis Andrus hit a tie-breaking two run double in the seventh inning.
Astros 11 Orioles 7
Matt Dominguez drove in three runs and was one of six Astros to connect long distance. Jose Altuve, Jason Castro, JD Martinez, Carlos Peña, and Marwin Gonzalez all went yard.
Royals 4 Twins 1
David Lough went 2-4 with two RBI.
Over in the National League,
Braves 5 Pirates 0
Julio Teheran carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning while Evan Gattis (El Oso Blanco) and Gerald Laird connected back-to-back homers in the sixth inning. The Braves swept the three-game series with the Pirates, and now head to Los Angeles to take on the Dodgers in a four-game series starting tomorrow.
A’s 6 Brewers 1
Bartolo Colon pitched seven innings of one-run ball, and has allowed only two runs in his last 4 games, covering 30 innings. Brandon Moss homered with two on and Josh Donaldson went 3-4 with two RBI.
Blue Jays 4 Giants 0
RA Dickey pitched 8 1/3 innings, holding the Giants to two singles and two walks. Dickey helped his own cause with the bat, connecting an RBI double to break a scoreless tie in the fifth inning. Mark DeRosa added a two-run single.
Mets 10 Nationals 1
Marlon Byrd blasted two home runs, Byrd and Anthony Recker drove in three runs apiece. David Wright also connected long distance in the win.
Rockies 12 Reds 4
It was the Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki show last night, as CarGo connected three home runs and drove in six runs, while Tulo finished with three RBI. Todd Helton also joined the party with a two-run homer.
D-Backs 10 Cardinals 3
Paul Goldschmidt hit a grand slam and the Diamondbacks won for the fourth time in five games. The Cardinals lost consecutive games for the first time since the end of April.
Padres 6 Dodgers 2
Jason Marquis took a no-hitter into the sixth inning as the Padres avoided a three-game sweep. Jedd Gyorko connected long distance and Yasmani Grandal drove in two runs.
Today’s games:
In the American League,
Rays @ Tigers 1:08 pm
Roberto Hernandez vs Max Scherzer
Orioles @ Astros 2:10 pm
Jason Hammel vs Bud Norris
Rangers @ Red Sox 7:10 pm
Derek Holland vs Jon Lester
Twins @ Royals 8:10 pm
Mike Pelfrey vs Wade Davis
A’s @ White Sox 8:10 pm
Dan Straily vs Jose Quintana
Yankees @ Mariners 10:10 pm
Phil Hughes vs Aaron Harang
Over in the National League,
Mets @ Nationals 7:05 pm
Shaun Marcum vs Gio Gonzalez
D-Backs @ Cardinals 7:15 pm
Ian Kennedy vs Shelby Miller
Phillies @ Brewers 8:10 pm
Tyler Cloyd vs Wily Peralta
Padres @ Rockies 8:40 pm
Andrew Cashner vs Jhoulys Chacin
Braves @ Dodgers 10:10 pm
Tim Hudson vs Zack Greinke
Here are the up-to-the-minute standings in MLB:
Here are the individual league leaders in MLB:
The Biogenesis investigation is taking some interesting turns, and we can expect more of the same over the next few days, weeks, and months. Here are some of the stories:
The overall picture on ESPN:
There is a report out that Alex Rodriguez refused to give money to the owner of Biogenesis. I guess if there is no hush money, the guy will throw everyone under the bus. The complete story:
Yahoo! Sports’ Jeff Passan talks Alex Rodriguez as well:
I’m positive that we will be hearing more and more on this in the coming days, weeks, and months.
More illegal drug stories. Drug agents in Cleveland are investigating a shipment of marijuana that was sent to the home of Cleveland Indians closer Chris Perez. Here’s the full story from ESPN:
In college baseball, here is the NCAA tournament bracket this year. The Super Regionals begin tomorrow, with the winners advancing to the College World Series in Omaha:
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THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: his year’s finals feature four players who have been named MVP of the finals previously. (Dwayne Wade, LeBron James, Tony Parker and Tim Duncan) Twice before, a series has had five Finals MVP’s playing. When and who?
In 1985 and 1987, the Lakers and Celtics matched up and the teams had five Finals MVP’s on the court in those series:
1985 1987
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Magic Johnson Magic Johnson
Dennis Johnson Dennis Johnson
Larry Bird Larry Bird
Cedric “Cornbread” Maxwell Bill Walton
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Behave yourselves, and always remember that tomorrow will bring us a brand new day.
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