The San Antonio Spurs routed the Miami Heat in Game 5 of the NBA Finals 104-87 Sunday night to win their fifth world championship in 15 years. It wasn’t only redemption after last year’s heart breaking loss to the Heat, but it was vengeance as well. As it turns out, what we witnessed from the Spurs this past week has been the most dominant performance in NBA Finals history.
So let’s look back, ingest and soak in the beauty that was most likely Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker and Co.’s last run.
The Top 5 Spurs 2014 NBA Finals Moments
Tim Duncan has been the epitome of class throughout his career. It was awesome watching him hug David Robinson on the court following his 5th NBA title on Sunday night. But even better? Watching him answer questions at the press conference with his kids.
How does such a video gain 200,000 views? Because the Spurs play text-book basketball; they play the way the game was meant to be played; the way James Naismith intended when he drew it up more than 100 years ago.
The beauty of this play is how quickly the Spurs swing the ball, ensuring every player executes the play to perfection for the best possible shot. You can be sure high school and college coaches from around the entire country will be showing their players this video come fall; such a rare result from an NBA where one-on-one plays aren’t only common but the majority style of play.
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No one should take joy in someone else’s woes, but this Game 1 moment will live in infamy for years — and at no fault to LeBron. Any one who’s had severe cramping knows how painful it is and that there is no way to avoid it. Still, conspiracy theorists out there will say the Spurs cut their air conditioning on purpose and/or that LeBron faked his cramping.
When is the last time you saw a white guard throw one down like this? This Game 5 dunk was the exclamation mark on what was an utterly dominant series.
Sure white men can’t jump, but evidently Latinos can!
The 22-year-old San Diego State product put on an NBA Finals performance that we haven’t seen in years. I mean, seriously, the kid averaged 17.8 points on 61 percent shooting, and only those who follow pro basketball avidly knew who he was a week ago. When is the last time we’ve seen such a showing?
The answer would be Tim Duncan in 1999, the only other player as young to win the Finals MVP over the last 15 years.
Josh Helmuth is the editor of CraveOnline Sports.
