One of the dominant storylines of this NBA Finals duel is that both the Spurs and the Heat boast a “Big Three.” Thursday night in San Antonio, Miami’s LeBron James, Dwyane Wade backed that notion up for the first time this series, combining for a staggering 85 of their team’s 109 points. The Heat ended up winning by 16, transforming a teeter-totter series into a best-of-three affair, with the Spurs facing a must-win game at home Sunday night.
The Spurs, meanwhile, used to have a Big Three. They don’t anymore, and we’re not just saying that because Manu Ginobili (5 points in 24 minutes, and a team-worst -22 point differential when he was on the floor) was atrocious Thursday night; we’re saying that because Ginobiil has been awful all year. His knack for getting to the rim, drawing fouls and hitting clutch shots always made up for his highly suspect decision-making. Now that he’s no longer able to get to the rim on a consistent basis, he’s just a reckless bald guy. You know, the type of dude who should be watching the Finals with a flask glued to his lips instead of playing in them. In short, Manu is now Manure.
This article appears in Jun 12-18, 2013.
Now that the spurs have won game 5, i can come back to this article and say “manu will step up eventually, just give him time”