The bank was open late for Tony Parker - it was after 11:30 pm ET and there were 5.2 seconds remaining in the game - and he made a direct deposit . Parker almost lost his dribble, he definitely lost his balance, but he never lost his composure, as he went under and around LeBron James to launch his shot to give the Spurs a four-point lead that would hold. Parker tallied 10 of his game-high 21 points in the final frame and Tim Duncan shook the rust off from a scoreless first quarter to contribute 20 points to the wobbly win.
The Heat, who wasted a triple-double from LeBron - the 10th postseason one of his career - had as many turnovers in the fourth quarter as they did field goals: 5. That number was more one more than San Antonio committed in the entire game and more than twice as many transgressions as Miami made in the first half.
As a result of Parker gathering himself, the Spurs gathered their seventh straight win and improved to 7-1 on the road in these playoffs. They also advanced to 5-0 in the first game of the Finals. None of those numbers nor the homecourt heist are encouraging to the Heat, due to the 2-3-2 format. That's not to say the Heat are licked liked a stack of Taco Bell shells yet.
Tony Parker stumbled, then recovered. The Heat did the former, but it remains to be seen if they'll do the latter.
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