To fill the time between now and what could be the last game of the 2013-14 NBA season, we bring you another edition of the Three-Man Weave.
This time, we examine possible NBA Finals MVP candidates – none of whom are among San Antonio’s “Big Three” – and what Miami can do to get back into the series.
1. Who is the NBA Finals MVP thus far?
CHRIS SHERIDAN, PUBLISHER: The kid, Kawhi Leonard. And by the way, has there ever been an older-looking 22-year-old? OK, there’s Greg Oden. But anybody else? Not only is he keeping LeBron James from going off for 40 – something he probably needs to do in Game 5 to send the series back to Miami – he has gone for 20 or more in Games 3 and 4. And on a Spurs team that features such balanced scoring, those totals are even more impressive. Runner-up goes to Boris Diaw, whose exploits were chronicled wonderfully by Jeremy Bauman.
CHRIS BERNUCCA, MANAGING EDITOR: I am well aware of what Boris Diaw is providing for the Spurs, but I believe Kawhi Leonard is the Finals MVP through four games. His change in demeanor for Game 3 totally transformed this series from what was looking like a knockdown drag-out affair into a borderline blowout. Diaw
has been exploiting mismatches; Leonard’s production and efficiency has come while primarily matched up against the game’s best player in LeBron James, whom he has to guard at the other end. A Bill Russell Trophy is a nice piece of hardware to bring to contract extension negotiations this summer.
MICHAEL SCOTTO, COLUMNIST: Kawhi Leonard. Through the first two games, Leonard was tentative on offense while being prone to foul trouble. In Games 3 and 4, he is averaging 24.5 points and nine rebounds while shooting 68 percent (17-of-25) from the field. Not to mention he is doing all this while guarding LeBron James at a high level. Boris Diaw also deserves praise for a consistent effort throughout the series as a rebounder and passer. Diaw had 10 rebounds in the first two games of the series and nearly had a triple-double in Game 4 with eight points, nine rebounds and nine assists.
2. Which Heat player has been the most disappointing thus far?
SHERIDAN: Mario Chalmers is an easy choice, but Dwyane Wade has done a Houdini act – and for a player of his caliber, that is beyond inexcusable. Is he a max player anymore? Probably only in the eyes of the Heat. Certainly not in Bernucca’s eyes. Can I also put in a mention for Erik Spoelstra? He has the white Serge Ibaka at his disposal, and he refuses to use him for the 30-plus minutes the Birdman is able and willing to contribute.
BERNUCCA: While it is painfully obvious that Dwyane Wade is done as a superstar, he hasn’t been nearly as bad as Mario Chalmers, who can’t make a shot on offense and can’t defend without fouling on defense. Through four games, Chalmers has 14 points, 14 assists, 10 turnovers and 15 fouls. And it is more than just a tough matchup with Tony Parker; Chalmers hasn’t scored in double figures since Game 2 vs. Brooklyn. He is a free agent this summer and is costing himself millions of dollars with his poor postseason play.
SCOTTO: Mario Chalmers, without question. While Chalmers isn’t expected to be a scoring machine, he is expected to shoot better than 28 percent (5-of-18) from the field. You can make a case that Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh have also disappeared for stretches of the series, but Chalmers has been so bad that #PGsBetterThanChalmers became a trending hashtag on Twitter. As a result, Tony Parker has dominated this matchup for the Spurs.
3. What can the Heat do to turn things around and win Game 5?
SHERIDAN: They need 40 from LeBron. Not 30, 40. They need to start Chris Andersen. They need to bench Rashard Lewis. They need to bench Mario Chalmers and let Norris Cole get enough minutes to put his speed to use. They need to get Dwyane Wade going in the first quarter. They cannot fall behind. They cannot bench LeBron James at the start of the second quarter. He needs to go 48 minutes – 53 if it goes to overtime. They need to gamble more on D and pick off a few of those crispy clean passes the Spurs have been throwing. And lastly, 
they need to believe in themselves. Right now, they look outclassed, and they know it.
BERNUCCA: Plenty. It’s kitchen sink time. Start Norris Cole over Chalmers. Go to the no-point lineup with Ray Allen if Cole doesn’t provide an immediate spark. Have LeBron James take extended turns defending Tony Parker. Make Udonis Haslem the first big off the bench. Use off the ball screens to free up James and Dwyane Wade to catch the ball on the move. Defend Boris Diaw exclusively as a passer. Use some three-quarter court pressure after makes and dead balls to disrupt San Antonio’s rhythm. Have a sandwich. Drink a glass of milk. Do some bleepin’ thing.
SCOTTO: Drastic changes are needed. Chalmers needs to be benched immediately. Now is not the time to work through struggles with the season on the line. Insert Norris Cole or Ray Allen into the starting lineup. Cole is a better defensive option against Parker, but Allen torched Danny Green in Game 4, netting a verbal scolding from Gregg Popovich. Move Rashard Lewis to the bench and insert Chris Andersen as a starter. Andersen can guard Duncan, while Bosh defends Diaw. Also, give Udonis Haslem more minutes to bring toughness to the frontcourt. On offense, get Bosh more shots and Wade more backdoor cuts to help take the burden off James.
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While the Spurs have both a recent history in the Robinson/Duncan era and a distant past history of blowing playoff series particularly in San Antonio almost blowing Round One of the 2014 NBA playoffs up 1-0 and up 3-2 only to have it go 7 games where I believe by far Dallas is the best team which the Spurs have played in the 2014 playffs; the 2014 Western Conference Finals where the Spurs up 2-0 and 3-2 almost let OKC steal Game #6 in OT until the Spurs went down the stretch, to quote Reggie Miller “Old Man Riverwalk” Duncan at the end of the 4th Quarter and in OT to defeat OKC in that tough Game #6; 2013 NBA Finals up 2-1 and up 3-2 and losing in 7 games to Miami; 2012 Western Conferene Finals up 2-0 and losing in 6 games to OKC; Round One of the 2011 playoffs where in Spurs tradition if seeded #1, the Spurs usually let the #8 seed win one of the first two games played in San Antonio which the #8 seeded Memphis did by winning Game #1 with Memphis winning the series 4-2 as in 2011 the Spurs had a problem at #3 like Miami has in the 2014 NBA Finals presently without Miller stretching the Spurs defense as Miller did in 2013; Round One of the 2009 playoffs where in Spurs tradition, the Spurs allowed the #6 seed Dallas win Game #1 in San Antonio with Dallas taking that playoff series 4-1; again in Spurs Round One tradition, the Spurs allow #6 seed Phoenix to win Game #1 in San Antonio before the Spurs win 4-1 (the Spurs almost always ask for a wakeup call in Round One to a lower seeded team); again as seems to be the rule rather than the exception in the Robinson/Duncan era, in 2007 #6 seed Denver wins Game #1 in San Antonio in Round One as it seems like that is necessary for the Spurs to start rolling for a NBA championship before the Spurs sweep to a 4-1 series over Denver; in Round Two of the 2007 playoffs, the Spurs let 1-0 an 2-1 series leads get away before defeating Phoenix 4-2; 2006 was the year where the Spurs possibly had a NBA championship taken from them because of the NBA playoff scheduling which forced the Spurs to be playing two 2006 playoff in less than 12 hours in two different cities half a continent away as the Spurs wrapped up Round One after midnight San Antonio time in Sacramento in a 4-2 series with the Spurs flying back for Game #1 of Round Two in San Antonio with tipoff time being 12:00 PM which resulted in the #1 seeded Spurs playing catchup in that very close 7 game series loss to Dallas where 1 error by Ginobili at the end of a game cost the Spurs one of those games as the Spurs could never physically recover from playing two 2006 playoff games on against two different team in two different states which is probably the first and hopefully the last that ever happens in NBA playoff history; in true wakeup fashion in the Spurs 2005 championship year #7 seed Denver wins Game #1 of Round One in San Antonio before San Antonio win the series 4-1; interestingly in Round Two of the 2005 playoffs the #2 seed Spurs beat the #3 seed Seattle with Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis 4-2; in the 2004 Western Conference semifinals the Spurs give up a 2-0 series lead to the “Big Four” Lakers (Shaq, Kobe, Malone, Peyton) to lose 4 straight losing the series 4-2 including a heart breaking 1 point loss in San Antonio in Game #5 which put the Lakers up 3-2 rather than the Spurs; again in true Spurs championship fashion the 2003 #1 seed Spurs lose Game #1 of Round One in San Antonio to the #8 seed Phoenix 4-2; again in 2003 in Game #1 of the Western Conference Finals the #3 seed Dallas wins in San Antonio against the #1 seed Spurs to quickly put the Spurs behind 0-1 before winning 4-2; in the 2003 NBA Finals the Spurs lose 1-0 and 2-1 series leads to the New Jersey Nets including losing Game #2 in San Antonio before winning the series 4-2; in 2002 semi-true to fashion in Round One the #2 seed Spurs playing the #7 seed Seattle including Rashard Lewis lose a 1-0 series lead with Seattle winning Game #2 in San Antonio; in the 2002 Western Conference Semifinals the Spurs lose all of their home games to the Lakers to lose that series to the Lakers 4-1; in the 2001 Western Conference Finals the #1 seed Spurs lose the first two games in San Antonio to the Lakers primarily as a young Tim Duncan started to run like an old Patrick Ewing as Duncan had knee surgery the year before late in spring 2000 at the end of that season; the 2000 NBA playoffs were not friendly to the Spurs as Steve Kerr and forward Tim Duncan went down with major knee surgery in the spring of 2000, forward Sean Elliott was forced to come back earlier than planned in the spring of 2000 from his kidney transplant as Elliott was the first pro athlete in a major sport to play with a transplanted kidney after both of his failing kidneys were removed, and forwards Jerome Kersey and Malik Rose suffered broken legs in Round One of the 2000 playoffs where again the Spurs lost Game #1 in Round One in San Anotonio to a lower seeded team as Phoenix won that series 3-1; in Round One of the 1999 playoffs the soon to be champion Spurs started their tradition as usually the #1 seed in the West losing one of their first two home games in San Antonio to a #8 seed which in 1999 was KG led Minnesota as Minnesota won Game #2 of the First Round in 1999 in San Antonio evening the series at 1-1 before the Spurs finally went on a run all of the way to winning the NBA championships including 4 game sweeps of the Lakers (which actually could have easily been a 4 game sweep by the Lakers as each game was close late in the fourth quarter as Spurs Jaren Jackson earned a 3 year $9 million contract just from his 3 point shooting against the Lakers in 1999 and against Shaq and Kobe in their primes as $9 million dollars cannot buy a NBA championship but it kind of did for the Spurs and Jaren Jackson in 1999 as Jaren Jackson never did anything in his NBA career after that) as the Spurs went on to defeat the New York Knicks 4-1 in the last playoff series where a young Tim Duncan ever had two good knees and two good feet; in 1998 in Round One; in 1998 with a 21 year young Tim Duncan the Spurs down 1-2 against Utah after losing in Utah by 1 and 3 points and blowing out Utah by 22 points in Game #3 in San Antonio allowed Utah to win Game #4 in San Antonio and ultimately Utah went on to win the series 4-1; no playoffs in 1997 as the Spurs traded one of David Robinson’s kness at the beginning of the 96-97 season for Tim Duncan in the draft; in 1996 in the Robinson/Elliott/Avery Johnson era the Spurs lost Game #1 in San Antonio in the Western Conference Semifinals to Utah as Utah gained home court advantage and won the series 4-2; in 1995 in the Western Conference Finals the #6 seed Houston defeated #1 seed San Antonio by winning all 3 games in the San Antonio Alamodome which were Games #1, #2, and #5 as each game in San Antonio led to a bigger Houston blowout win as Houston won that series 4-2 as that Houston series spelled the eventual end for the Alamodome as the home of the Spurs as the playoffs expanded seating capacity from 18,000 to almost 40,000 in the Alamodome which gave Houston the home court advantage for all 6 Western Conference Finals games in the 1995 Houston NBA championship year as within a few years the AT&T Center construction started as the home of the Spurs to eliminate any future home court advantage in San Antonio to either Houston or Dallas; in Round One of the 1994 playoffs again a lower seed team in Utah split the first two games played in San Antonio as Utah won Game #2 in San Antonio with Utah winning the series 3-1; in 1993 in San Antonio in Game #6 of the Western Conference semifinals won by Phoenix with the famous Charles Barkley shot over NBA rookie of the year David Robinson gave Phoenix that series 4-2 with the final win as Phoenix triumphed in the series in San Antonio which was the final NBA game played in San Antonio’s Hemisfair Arena; in the 1992 First Round playoffs of the Terry Cummings/Sean Elliott/Antoine Carr/Rod Stickland Spurs era #5 seed pre-Barkley Phoenix beat the #4 seed Spurs in Game #3 in San Antonio as Phoenix swept that series 3-0.
Going back to 1979, in the 1979 Eastern Conference Semifinals, the George Gervin era #2 seed Spurs lost home court advantage to the Dr. J #3 seed Philadlphia 76ers as the 76ers won in San Antonio in Game #5, but fortunately the Spurs came back down 7 with 1 1/2 minutes to go in the non-three point shot era to win Game #7 in San Antonio by 3 points as little used Louie Dampier, ABA 3 point career leader, hit five 25 foot shots in the last 1 1/2 minutes while the 76ers did not score. Those shots would have been all 3 point shots, but the Spurs cut Dampier a month or so later.
Much as did Miami cut Miller one month after Miami’s 2013 NBA championship.
That same1979, the Spurs were up 3-1 in the Eastern Conference Finals over the defending NBA champions in the Washington Bullets gaining home court advantage with 3 games to close that series out and to send the Spurs to the 1979 NBA Finals. The NBA champion Bullets won 3 straigh including Game #6 in San Antonio to win the series 4-3. Since that time as everyone in the nation already had the Spurs in the 1979 NBA Finals, I do not celebrate until that fourth game in a series is won.
My point being is that often the Spurs are surprised in the playoffs in San Antonio when they are expected to win particularly during the First Round with home court advantage usually losing Game #1 of the First Round in San Antonio to a #8 seed.
However, the Spurs are rarely if ever surprised in San Antonio in the NBA Finals.
It is too hard to predict what will happen tomorrow in Game #5 in San Antonio with the Spurs up 3-1 over Miami. Anything can happen. I have seen almost every possibility happen particularly in 2000 when 4 key Spurs players went out with season ending injuries either at th end of the regular season or in the First Round of the playoffs.
Thanks.
Respectfully,
Mike .