Hamilton: LeBron James Scored a Game 6 Win, But Gregg Popovich Assisted

When it mattered most, James came up huge. His team had no business winning this game, they had no right to beat the Spurs. Unruly and defiant, though, James rose like a champion and dared the Spurs to win in his house.

He challenged them to celebrate on his court.

But over the game’s final 28 seconds, the Spurs made critical mistakes, and the Heat, like champions do, found a way.

If Game 1’s final Parker possession was a lifetime for the Heat, Game 6’s final 28 seconds were three.

After an up-and-down quarter which featured high highs and low lows, James missed a 3-pointer with about 25 seconds to go in the game and the Heat trailing by five points. The Spurs could not corral the defensive rebound.

They simply could not seal the game.

Instead, Miller ended up with what ended up being the game’s second most talked about offensive rebound. He then found James for a second 3-point chance.

Swoosh!

The Spurs lead was sliced from five points to just 94-92.

Popovich called a timeout and sent Duncan, Kawhi Leonard, Green, Ginobili and Parker out on the floor. Up by two points with 19.4 seconds remaining, Leonard could have sealed the game if he converted both free-throws. But in the biggest moment of his career and with the championship on the line, he missed the first and made the second.

That it was Leonard—not Parker or Ginobili—that ended up being the player with the championship in his hands at the line was a questionable development that can be fairly criticized. But Popovich’s monumental collapse in judgment actually occurred after that, and he very well may have cost his team the title in the process.

After Leonard’s first free throw missed, Erik Spoelstra did what Popovich failed to—he made the right substitution.

Spoelstra shuffled Bosh and Miller a bit down the stretch, but knowing that the Heat would be down by at worst three points, Spoelstra reinserted Bosh into the game. Bosh has made big 3-pointers for the Heat before, but his role and placement on the Heat’s final possession of regulation prove that he was in the game for his rebounding potential.

At the time that Bosh was reinserted, for some reason, Popovich countered by substituting Boris Diaw for Duncan.

That left the Spurs with a five-man unit that featured the 6-8 Diaw as its tallest player, as tall as James but three inches shorter than Bosh. The only way that substitution would have made sense would have been if the Spurs—who were up by three points—opted to intentionally foul so as not to give the Heat the opportunity to tie the game on a 3-pointer.

That, obviously, did not happen. And Popovich made clear that was not his intention.

“That’s a European question, right?” He asked sarcastically in response to a reporter from Italy who asked why the Spurs would not foul in that situation.

“We don’t,” he simply said.

So then why take Duncan out of the game? Defensive matchups? Doubtful.

The Heat had James, Wade, Allen, Chalmers and Bosh on the floor; Diaw had done an acceptable job on James for the greater part of the series. Green successfully chased Allen around screens all night long. Wade was hobbled and limited to just 13 minutes in the second half after bumping knees with Ginobili in the first, so Ginobili could have guarded him on the final sequence.

At that point, the only two things that mattered were man-to-man defense and securing a rebound. If anything, Duncan is one of the guys, along with Green and Leonard, who absolutely should have been on the floor for the Spurs.

After those three, two of Ginobili, Diaw and Parker should have been out there.

If you are beating the Heat and need a late stop, you simply do not take your best rim protector and rebounder out of the game. Just ask Indiana Pacers coach Frank Vogel.

But alas, Popovich outsmarted everyone, including himself.

On Miami’s final possession of regulation, Parker and Diaw were matched up on James and Bosh, respectively. Bosh set a high screen for James and Diaw and Parker attempted to trap James, but he managed to get his 3-pointer off. Bosh immediately crashed the boards and easily got to it.

He had three potential targets to hit for the game-tying 3-pointer, but Allen was closest.

The rest, obviously, is history.

Allen made a helluva shot, but Popovich made a helluva mistake.

Bosh grabbed a rebound he should not have had and Allen hit a 3-pointer he should not have been allowed to take in a game that James and the Heat should not have won.

All, perhaps, because Popovich made a substitution that he should not have made.

Afterward, the Spurs, loyal to the core, said nothing to hint at being the least bit concerned or saddened by snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

But we know better.

The Spurs had the game. The Spurs had the championship. Poor execution, missed opportunities and a critical coaching blunder took that away in stunning fashion.

The Heat took advantage and, behind another triple-double from James, refused to quit on their quest for a repeat.

Now, the Spurs must dust themselves off, prepare for Game 7 and do what no team has done since Elvin Hayes, Wes Unseld and Mitch Kupchak helped the Washington Bullets capture the NBA Championship in 1978—win a Game 7 in the NBA Finals on the road.

If any team in today’s NBA can do it, it is the Spurs.

Unfortunately for them, they will have to prove that.

These Spurs have come so far. Together, they have defied the odds.

And now, together, they must do it one more time.

Game 7 awaits.

Moke Hamilton is a Senior NBA Columnist for SheridanHoops.com on assignment in Miami for the NBA Finals. Follow him on Twitter: @MokeHamilton