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.

Manu's Mano

The Spurs, already one of the teams most adversely affected by the back-breaking back-to-back-to-back schedule borne out of the lockout, has caught another bad break. Manu Ginobli, the team's leading scorer, fractured his shooting hand and will miss two months. This time period will test whether the team is over the Hill - and we're not alluding to the advanced ages of Tim Duncan and Tony Parker, but rather the exit of the up-and-coming George Hill, who signed with the Pacers. San Antonio will insert Gary Neal, another one of the franchise's fine finds, who was called up from the D-League (he played in 80 games for the Spurs last year).

The Southwest, early on, appears to be the weakest division. The Spurs sit atop it and every other team has a losing record. Last season's sweethearts, the Grizzlies, are dealing with a grizzly injury of their own to All-Star Zach Randolph. A torn MCL will shelve him for the same amount of time as Ginobli. Meanwhile, the Mavericks look incapable of defending their championship due to departure of the team's best defender (Tyson Chandler)and their best sub (J.J. Barrea). They've strangely chosen to replace those two difference-makers with trouble-makers: a guy who's acted as if he's allergic to defense (Vince Carter) and a complete headcase (Delonte West). They've also imported a Kardashian and her thin-skinned husband (Lamar Odom), thus completing the three-ring circus of awful additions. Also, Jason Kidd hurt his back in the Mavs blowout loss to the Spurs on Thursday (Neal lent a hand, chipping in with 12 points, all on threes), in a contest that saw Spurs power forward Matt Bonner outscore Finals MVP Dirk Nowitzki by 11 points (17 to 6), causing Bonner to quip, "That was a Christmas miracle."* What would be a New Year's mistake is counting San Antonio out.

*The Bonner household must've been last on Santa's list for him not to arrive until January 5. Old St. Nick is blaming the delay on a faulty GPS and plans to replace his reindeer with a TomTom (that way, he'll only have to remember one name when commanding his sleigh to be guided).