Yeezus Christ!
Can we get a close game? Can we get one of these teams to win two games in a row? Can we get both teams to have a really good game at the same time so that we can really see what a game between the two best teams in the NBA in the Finals is supposed to look like?
As the Spurs did to the Heat in Game 5 what was done to them in Game 4, the series took a predictable turn: inconsistency. But somehow, going into Game 6, inconsistency seems to be the fractious subject matter haunting the Heat in a much different way than it’s being held against the Spurs.
See the Spurs are supposed to have off games, the Spurs are supposed to play brilliantly one game and not be able to recover in the next. They’ve been doing this since before Kanye walked with Jesus. It takes its toll.
Miami doesn’t have that luxury of excuse. A team that found a way to rip off 27 wins in row, now can’t find a way to play at a max-level in consecutive games. If this series holds true to form, there will be a duel close-out game on Thursday night.
But the historical damage has been done. The Heat — even if they somehow pull off a two-game miracle — have played themselves out of the “how do they stack up against great championship teams of the past” discourse. Too inconsistent on a consistent basis. In the end, when it ends, the best we will be able to say about Miami is that they were a good, decent – not great or dominant — team for their time.
Any of Jordan’s, Magic’s, Bird’s, Dream’s, Isiah’s and Russell’s squads would have destroyed them. Now we have to find a whole new LeBron-obsessed topic to embrace.
And that’s the sad part. That’s also the power of expectations. Not only did we expect Miami to be here, in the Finals, so did they. And while not many expected them to be one game away from losing their crown, they (probably) expected to be in this situation only because the Heat know they are at their collective best when their backs are against the walls and when they are 48 minutes away from losing everything.
For some odd reason, that is the only time the Heat ball. And this time it might be too late.
