Even though the Miami Heat hve been to the NBA Finals each of the past four years, they were, without question, the weaker of the two teams in the 2014 NBA Finals.
The San Antonio Spurs were magnificent. The team was easily nine-man deep and their precise passing and sharp decision-making simply overwhelmed a team which features the best player in the world. And while responsibility for a team’s loss usually falls on its most talented player, it is neigh impossible to fault LeBron James for the Spurs’ 4-1 beat-down of the Heat.
In the deciding Game 5, with their backs up against the wall, James was fantastic. He had a GmSc rating of 26.8, which was heads and shoulders above the next closest player (Kawhi Leonard, 18.9). During the Finals, Lebron averaged 28.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals per game. He did this while shooting 57.1% from the field, 51.9% from three-point range and 79.3% from the foul line. In comparison, Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard averaged 17.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2 assists and 1.6 steals per game.
The real blame can be placed on Miami’s talent surrounding James. To put it simply, the Heat had no one who played consistently well aside from LeBron James.
Spurs bench has outscored the Heat 35-4. They have almost twice as many bench points as Heat this series (176 for SA, 89 for MIA) #MIAvsSA
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) June 16, 2014
To make matters even worse, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh were not effective against the Spurs. Dwyane Wade never looked slower or more glued to the ground, as reflected by his GmSc of 7.9. Combined, Wade and Bosh had a meager average GmSc of 18.5 in the Finals. As Kyle Wagner of Deadspin notes, that’s almost comparable to Drew Goodson and Boobie Gibson posted in the 2007 Finals for LeBron’s Cleveland Cavaliers’ squad. That is not good company. If Wade and Bosh can barely produce more than Drew Goodson and Boobie Gibson, you’ve got problems.
The Spurs, who have the deepest bench in the league, only highlighted Miami’s lack of depth. Manu Ginobili may be the most overqualified sixth man in NBA history and he eviscerated the Heat.
For the series, Ginobili is +72, best of any player (including a game-high +10 in Game 5) #MIAvsSA
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) June 16, 2014
In Game 5, the difference in talent between the Spurs and Heat was at its most apparent:
Spurs had the advantage in bench points in every game of the Finals. In Game 5, they outscored MIA 47-24, (41-6 through the 1st 3 quarters)
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) June 16, 2014
It may seem cliche to insist that basketball is a team game, but the Spurs demonstrated how simple, yet true, that cliche is when its at its best. The deepest team in the league faced off against the best player in the league and the deepest team won.
Spurs outscored Heat by 14 pts per game in 2014 NBA Finals, the largest points differential in a single series in Finals history #NBAChamps
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) June 16, 2014
