Epic, historic, ginormous-Anyway you slice it, Game Three will be huge

First appeared on June 4th, 2011
in The Lebanon Reporter

In losing a 15 Point fourth quarter lead Thursday night before dropping Game 2 of the NBA Finals at home to the Dallas Mavericks, the Miami Heat put together a performance that legendary color man Bill Walton would have likely labeled “the single greatest choke job in the history of organized sport.” Funny what a difference 48 hours can make.


After Game 1 most in the sports writing/commentating business had crowned Miami champions. Like a horde of rabid AMS certified weathermen, so many earnestly celebrated the arrival of the Heat. Suddenly LeBron was the greatest player on Earth again as those in the know tweeted the most popular one-liners the bestselling “Greatest Hits of Sports Media Catch Phrases” have to offer. Unforgettable snippets like “Smothering defense” and “Won’t be denied”.

Dallas looked hopeless after Game 1. Things were so dire the Mavericks surely reassessed the workouts legendary coach Holger Gerschwindler was holding with their star Dirk Nowitzki. It appeared instead as though the Mavericks would benefit more by suiting the 66 year old Gerschwindler up; provided he could rebound of course. But something happened on the way to Game 2.

Miami struggled early only to later fight out to a 15 point fourth quarter lead. And then came the moment. That one singular span of time where it appeared Dallas had no sand left to speak of in their hourglass. A lucent moment where an open armed world would welcome the Heat as champions. But suddenly Dallas began getting stops and making shots. And in the end it was too much Nowitzki. With the surge of his play during these playoffs, the lanky 7 foot German has to be considered, at the very least, the most talented nine-fingered player in NBA history.

And so The Finals have arrived at a crossroads. And with all disrespect to Games 1 and 2, like expecting parents, we must now await the arrival of our all important Game 3. Games 1 and 2 had their moment. The time has come for them to open packages of underwear or Savings Bonds at Christmas while Game 3 is the one getting the shiny red bicycle or Star Wars Millennium Falcon complete with Han Solo Gunner Station.

Since the mid-80’s The Finals have been tied at 1 game apiece 11 times. In every case the team that has won Game 3 has gone on to win the series. That interesting nugget of information comes courtesy of those at ESPN because they have: a. Access to more resources b. Larger paychecks and c. More time on their hands.

So it is, Sunday night’s Game 3 will be the biggest game the NBA has seen in 10 years; or at the very least, the most important NBA game played that day; take your pick. And as we collectively gather the necessary resources (see: diapers, box of celebratory novelty cigars and list of emergency babysitters) and wait with baited breath for our beloved Game 3 to arrive one must ask who should the edge go to?

The Mavericks will be playing at home where they have been dominant while Miami has two of the greatest players on Earth. When James and Wade are locked in defensively, Miami is completely unstoppable. Most of their spectacular dunks and full court alley-oop passes came courtesy of defensive turnovers.

So clearly the challenge for Head Coach Erik Spoelstra is to keep his two megastars focused defensively until the final horn of the Finals. Of course we’re not in uncharted waters here, Spoelstra’s been trying to slay that same three headed monster all season.

© 2011 Eric Walker Williams