Press Start to Play Well

All it took to get Manu Ginobli started was for the Spurs to start him. The one-time Sixth Man of the Year wasn't among the first five in any game this year, but Gregg Popovich inserted him into the lineup and Ginboli immediately ingratiated himself with his coach and teammates. Ginboli began by sinking his - and the game's - inaugural basket, then assisted on San Antonio's next two baskets, on his way to a season-high 24 points, coupled with 10 assists.

The Heat were within striking distance - down four with a little over two minutes left in the third quarter - when Ginboli struck back, by scoring 7 of his squad's subsequent 9 points - and assisting on the other - to build the lead back up to 12. Prior to Ginboli ginormous performance, he was half the Manu he used to be, averaging 7.5 points and shooting 34.5% from the field, but following a pep talk from Pop before game 5, he, ahem, Manued up.

Ginboli, who they weren't aware was on the court during this series, had excellent court awareness on Sunday. He kept finding his teammates for threes as Danny Green swished six to set record for most three-pointers made in the Finals, surpassing the antecedent amount, appropriately, by three. The camera captured Ray Allen, the previous holder of the mark, scratching his head on the Heat's sidelines, looking stupefied and sullen. You could almost hear Allen thinking to himself, "Who the hell is this dead-eyed dude?" The simple answer is: a guy you have to guard 25 feet away from the bucket because Green drained one from there with two defenders on him. The Heat might have to triple-team this tremendous triple-maker. When Green and Ginobli both have great games, that's some serious 'G'-force that the Heat may be helpless to halt.

Spurs Trip(le) Up the Heat

If the NBA Finals were Sesame Street, the shooting show that was game three would've been brought to you by the number three. The Spurs set a Finals record from beyond the arc, swishing 16 three-pointers, which is beyond comprehension. As in game two, there was another thrashing in the third quarter, but this time the Spurs were the ones doing the spanking, not being spanked. The result was a 36-point whooping, the third largest in Finals history. Everything really is bigger in Texas - even the blowouts. Even Count von Count grew tired from ticking off the 16 (ah, ah!) treys.

Dwyane Wade and LeBron James were mere mortals in the presence of Danny Green and Gary Neal, who sunk seven and six threes, respectfully - and remarkably. Neal and Green's buried so many deep baskets, they buried Mike Miller's 5-5 display from long distance - 23 feet, 9 inches deep. Physics teaches us that two objects cannot occupy the same space, but basketball tells us that two men can occupy the same zone. Green and Neal were in it comfortably and their sharp shooting gave San Antonio a comfortable win.

Neal had a buzzer-beating bomb before the half, to give him 14 points, one for every minute played, midway through the game. He contributed 10 more before his night was over. He hit back-to-back threes to begin the fourth, followed by a behind-the-back pass to Kawhi Leonard for a dunk and added an assist to Green for another triple, to cap a 13-0 run.

Neal's threes had company. Green, who was a flawless five-for-five on far away field goals in game two, picked up where he left off, stroking seven of nine to top all scorers with 27. In his first Finals appearance, Green isn't playing like he's green; he's totaled six more points in the series than his former Cavs colleague, LeBron. Neal and Green were so locked-in, if Chad Johnson wasn't in locked up, he'd give them both a pat on the posterior.