NBA Finals: The Winners and Losers of Game 3

Jun 11, 2013; San Antonio, TX, USA; San Antonio Spurs shooting guard Danny Green (4) hugs San Antonio Spurs point guard Gary Neal (14) against the Miami Heat in the second quarter during game three of the 2013 NBA Finals at the AT

Winners:

Gary Neal shot 9 of 17 from the field, 6 of 10 from 3, finishing with 24 points total. Danny Green shot 9 out of 15 from the field, 7 out of 9 from 3, finishing with 27 points total. Safe to say, they put on a clinic, beating the Heat with ease. They broke the records for 3s in NBA Finals history totaling 16 with the help of Kwahi Leonard and Tony Parker. Will they be the future of San Antonio Spurs?

Last, but not least:

Greg Popovich

First off, he compensated for  a lackluster performance. Second, outside of 7 consecutive points, when not guarding him actually meant something, LeBron James was neutralized by the plays and coaching of Pop. Lastly,the third largest margin of victory in NBA Finals history. That is something to celebrate about, if you do not lose the war that is.

Mike Miller

 He kept the Miami Heat in the game in the first half and the early stages of the second half, countering the likes of Neal and Green. If only he had a little help from some MVP or something.

Jun 11, 2013; San Antonio, TX, USA; Miami Heat small forward LeBron James (6) passes against San Antonio Spurs power forward Tim Duncan (21) during the first half of game three of the 2013 NBA Finals at the AT

Losers:

LeBron James

Many sequences of the game came with a miss from James, before a 3 made by Green or Neal. As a LeBron James hater, that was a lot of fun to watch. Make that a meme, please! He was  1 out of 5 from 3, 7 out of 21, totaling a 20% 3-point field goal percentage and a 33.33% field goal percentage. This is this year’s MVP?

Erik Spolestra 

You are one of the best coaches in the NBA leading the Miami Heat to a great historic winning streak. However, your team looked completely confused as to how to run an offense this game. By the time the ball was run through Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole, all the Miami Heat teammates had forgotten how to shoot the ball!

Dwayne Wade and  Chris Bosh

They have not had a great playoffs in general. While Chris Bosh did at least get a double-double, (12 points, 10 rebounds) and Dwayne Wade scored 16 points, they certainly did not break out of LeBron’s shadow in this game.