With the Miami Heat set to face the San Antonio Spurs in the 2013 NBA Finals, one cannot help but wonder if this was destiny or design?
Normally, I am not the type to give theories of games or even leagues being fixed or rigged much thought or attention, but after the Heat’s 23-point blowout win over the Pacers, 99-76, some questions cannot help but be raised about how and why the NBA wants the Heat to win and why.
The Pacers dominated the Heat on the glass, 53-33 in playing tough and hard-nosed team-oriented basketball while Miami looked lost, lethargic, dazed and confused in losing 91-77, in Game 6.
In Game 7, Indiana came out and played like a freshman JV squad against a group of McDonald’s All-American upperclassmen.
While Miami deserves credit for making adjustments and finally solving the riddle of Roy Hibbert and Paul George, can someone please explain how a team in Indiana who out-rebounded the Heat all season long by over 100, were bigger and younger in the low post, and the top rebounding(45.9) and defensive team in points allowed(90.7) ended up getting out-rebounded and pushed around by the likes of Chris Bosh?
It didn’t help that the Pacers led the NBA in turnovers, as they would turn it over 21 times in Game 7, Indiana’s lack of a true point guard on their roster and the loss of All-State small forward Danny Granger can possibly be looked at as contributing factors in Miami’s romp, but is that all an excuse coming from the legion of haters or just that Miami came to play?
To all the many Heat haters and conspiracy theorists suggesting that NBA commissioner David Stern purposely orchestrated the Heat getting favorable calls without any facts, proof or even a valid argument is a bit of a stretch.
There are many out there who felt that the Heat purposely lost Game 6 so that they could win Game 7 at home.
My question to those people is, how and why would this benefit the Heat in giving a veteran team such as the Spurs an extra day of rest and preparation?
So again, is the league fixed to favor stacked teams such as the Heat?
Could be.
The one area where I could hop on the ol’ conspiracy bandwagon is that Stern wanted the Heat in the NBA Finals against another stacked and decorated team such as the Spurs.
While the Spurs have four NBA titles, the four NBA Finals that featured them (1999 vs. New York, 2003 vs. New Jersey—now Brooklyn, 2005 vs. Detroit and 2007 vs. Cleveland) are the four worst ever in terms of ratings.
Getting a more favorable media draw in the star-laden–universally despised–Heat would not only bring the NBA Finals back to the realm of the Bird-Magic days of the 80’s, but also bring in some much-needed ratings.
Outside of the 305 area code, the Heat are the most hated sports entity not named the Oakland Raiders, New York Yankees and Notre Dame Fighting Irish, while the Spurs have been criticized for their boring brand of play, it is much easier to root for the more team-oriented small-market fundamentally sound Spurs than the high-flying, flashy superstars from South Beach.
Make no mistake, The Spurs and the Heat were clearly the class of the NBA and deserve the right to play each other on its highest stage, if the NBA were indeed “fixed” then the Knicks and Heat would have played in the East Finals, rather than the Pacers right?
That being said, theories of fixing will continue to be the proverbial drink of choice for the Heat Hater nation, too bad for them that it’s really bitter in comparison to the cool and smooth mojitos of success that Heat nation have enjoyed so far.
@Miami_Heat #HeatvsHaters #AreYouIn?
Robert D. Cobb is the Founder/CEO/Senior Editor-In-Chief Of The Inscriber : Digital Magazine, for questions, comments and concerns email me at robcobb@theinscriber.com follow me on Twitter @RC_TheInscriber and follow The Inscriber : Digital Magazine on Twitter at @TheInscriber
Nice article. To anyone who still may believe that Stern wants to fix the playoffs to get the desired final, all I have to say is this: why isn’t is Lakers/Heat then. I mean Kobe/LeBron finally happening, a big market and ratings-grabbing team to go against Miami’s big three, Stern has always loved the Lakers, and so on. But that’s not the final. Instead it’s LeBron and the Heat going against the NBA team Sterns hates the most. Case closed, no fixing going on here.
Why isn’t it Lakers/Heat? Because Kobe tore his achilles. No Kobe, no ratings.
After watching Game 4 last night, it’s pretty evident the series is fixed to go 7 games. Each game thus far has been set up to build interest in the next game. Spurs “steal” game 1. The Heat “study tape” and come back with a blowout win. How will Spurs respond at home? With a blowout win of their own. (What happened to all the learnings from game 2, Heat?) Who will step up in game 4? Wade, who’s been supposedly hurt all year, is suddenly playing like he did a few years ago.
Here’s how the rest will play out. The Spurs will win the next game, and the media will create a circus with all the “do or die” time for Miami. Miami will then win game 6 at home to tie the series. Will the Spurs play with their heart and pull out a victory? Nope, the Heat will win and the focus will be on LeBron getting his revenge for the loss in ’07. Stern will love that there’s a new Jordan in the league and he’s here to usher in a new era, without 1st saying that the Spurs have nothing to be ashamed of and go home with their 4 rings.
People should boycott NBA final and Stern and its gambling crew can go to hell. This game is fixed. I’m not a Spurs fan nor Miami but a die hard NBA fan. I enjoy watching NBA but when they turn our favorite game into WWE, that’s pure BS. Manu fouled, Pap taking Duncan out during the final seconds is nonsense. Pap is one of the best coach in the history of NBA, so don’t tell me that it makes sense for him to remove his best rebounder (Tim Duncan) from the game during the last critical seconds. Ok, he decided to give the ball to Ginobli that had over 10 turnovers and barely make shots during the entire game. Face reality, this is a 4 time champion coach with lots of experience (that’s why he coaches the National team). How can he make this mistakes without the manipulation of Stern. I don’t care what anyone says, Lebron James will NEVER be like Jordan. He is a good player, not a great player. He is a GREAT shooter though. Micheal Jordan is a great player and a great shooter. So Stern should stop giving Lebron easy rings to make himself look good. I like Lebron as a player and I want to see him accomplish alot but not this way. NBA under Stern’s govern is crap!!!