WEBVTT - Episode 6: The Shot 0:00:05.120 --> 0:00:07.800 I'm always one of the most specialist records for me 0:00:07.920 --> 0:00:11.480 because I was on tour with litl Wayne and Ross 0:00:11.960 --> 0:00:15.880 and I was so excited to get with Drake, you know, 0:00:15.880 --> 0:00:18.280 seeing Drake and tell how much I want to, you know, 0:00:18.400 --> 0:00:22.400 make history with him. And he played me this one 0:00:22.560 --> 0:00:27.120 verse and hook and I was like, oh my god. 0:00:27.360 --> 0:00:29.280 He says it to me, and I was like, Yo, 0:00:29.400 --> 0:00:32.320 this is the record. Let me finish it. So he 0:00:32.360 --> 0:00:33.839 gave me the blessings to go finish it. 0:00:33.920 --> 0:00:34.000 Now. 0:00:34.040 --> 0:00:36.680 Wayne put Ross on it and Little Wayne on it. 0:00:37.280 --> 0:00:39.880 Ross knocked it out for me when we was on tour, 0:00:40.320 --> 0:00:42.720 and you know, Wayne goes in the studio every night, 0:00:43.000 --> 0:00:46.320 no matter what's going on, and he knocked it out 0:00:46.400 --> 0:00:49.159 like five six in the morning. And this is me 0:00:49.240 --> 0:00:54.120 coming off a tour. I'm excited, my careers starting to climb, 0:00:54.920 --> 0:00:58.000 and then boom, I record a song with Drake, Lil Wayne, 0:00:58.000 --> 0:01:04.000 and Rick Ross called I'm One. That record changed the 0:01:04.319 --> 0:01:10.360 energy and the level of greatness for a decade. After 0:01:10.400 --> 0:01:14.600 that record came out, It's like everybody. 0:01:14.080 --> 0:01:14.959 Had to step it up. 0:01:15.640 --> 0:01:18.200 DJ Khaled was on top of the music world at 0:01:18.200 --> 0:01:21.160 about the same time his favorite team, the Miami Heat. 0:01:21.560 --> 0:01:24.920 We're living their dream as well. Welcome back to four 0:01:25.000 --> 0:01:28.680 years of Heat. I'm your host Israel Gutierrez and this 0:01:28.720 --> 0:01:29.640 is episode six. 0:01:30.200 --> 0:01:30.920 The shot. 0:01:35.440 --> 0:01:38.320 I'm on one, in which Lil Wayne drops a pat 0:01:38.400 --> 0:01:41.600 Riley reference and a Heat double Entandra in his verse, 0:01:42.240 --> 0:01:45.600 was released during Miami's first championship season with this core, 0:01:46.520 --> 0:01:49.760 and by the time the twenty thirteen finals began, the 0:01:49.800 --> 0:01:52.840 defending champion Heat had been through a sixty six win 0:01:52.960 --> 0:01:56.200 regular season that included a twenty seven game win streak 0:01:56.640 --> 0:01:59.360 and made it through the Eastern Conference playoffs, highlighted by 0:01:59.360 --> 0:02:02.800 a seven games series against a rugged rival, the Indiana 0:02:02.840 --> 0:02:06.680 Pacers in the conference finals. Awaiting them in the finals 0:02:06.720 --> 0:02:10.120 was the type of test this Heat team hadn't experienced yet, 0:02:10.560 --> 0:02:14.440 a physically daunting task that was unlike the Pacers, who 0:02:14.480 --> 0:02:18.080 did it with size and toughness. The Spurs exhausted teams 0:02:18.200 --> 0:02:22.160 by making them chase a basketball constantly in motion, forcing 0:02:22.200 --> 0:02:26.080 one close out after another after another, only to still 0:02:26.120 --> 0:02:29.280 find an open opportunity, and if the shot went in, 0:02:29.960 --> 0:02:33.760 it only drained defenders a little bit more. It was 0:02:33.800 --> 0:02:39.679 a constant test of conditioning and mental resilience. Eudonis Haslam 0:02:39.680 --> 0:02:42.800 remembers just how taxing it was to stay with these Spurs, 0:02:43.639 --> 0:02:47.120 especially in the last series of the year, after the 0:02:47.160 --> 0:02:49.840 Heat had already played ninety eight games to that point 0:02:50.240 --> 0:02:53.080 and were in their third straight year reaching the final 0:02:53.160 --> 0:02:54.120 series of the season. 0:02:54.639 --> 0:02:56.120 Like I knew this about these guys. 0:02:56.120 --> 0:02:57.880 I knew the way they played a game of basketball 0:02:57.960 --> 0:03:01.360 is the right way to play the game. Maximizing the 0:03:01.400 --> 0:03:03.400 potential of all your guys that's on the court at 0:03:03.480 --> 0:03:05.480 one time. Very few teams do that. You know, you 0:03:05.560 --> 0:03:07.720 might maximize the potential of one of two guys and 0:03:07.760 --> 0:03:09.000 the rest of the guys got to fill in the 0:03:09.040 --> 0:03:11.400 gaps of get the scraps. They maximized the potential of 0:03:11.440 --> 0:03:13.200 all five guys on the court at the same time. 0:03:13.360 --> 0:03:15.120 You had to worry about all five guys. 0:03:15.120 --> 0:03:18.119 Everybody was active, everybody was a threat, everybody was involved. 0:03:18.520 --> 0:03:21.440 It was just a basketball team, man, a great basketball team. 0:03:21.480 --> 0:03:23.320 So you know, we knew that they were going to 0:03:23.400 --> 0:03:26.000 push us, you know, to our limits, you know, mentally, 0:03:26.360 --> 0:03:29.040 you know, not just physically, but more so mentally than anything. 0:03:30.000 --> 0:03:33.400 Shane Battier already felt he'd reached his physical limit by 0:03:33.400 --> 0:03:36.120 this point, after a regular season of playing as an 0:03:36.200 --> 0:03:39.840 undersized power forward for the small ball heat, Battier didn't 0:03:39.840 --> 0:03:42.520 even have much left for the Pacers in the conference finals. 0:03:42.640 --> 0:03:45.400 He hit just two of his fifteen shots in that series, 0:03:45.760 --> 0:03:49.200 all but one being three point attempts, and by Game seven, 0:03:49.680 --> 0:03:52.640 Battier didn't play at all. So heading into a Spurs 0:03:52.680 --> 0:03:55.200 series where the ball whipped around the court much faster, 0:03:55.920 --> 0:03:58.560 Battier wasn't excited about his prospects. 0:03:58.840 --> 0:04:02.080 I was exhausted by that. So I've played the entire year, 0:04:02.720 --> 0:04:07.720 full year. We have obviously a great year, and I spent, 0:04:07.800 --> 0:04:10.200 you know, thirty minutes banging at the power forward every 0:04:10.240 --> 0:04:13.320 single night, and the garden guys, you thirty forty pounds 0:04:13.320 --> 0:04:15.640 heavier than me, every single night. I could do it, 0:04:15.680 --> 0:04:17.800 and I did it, and I was smart about it. 0:04:17.839 --> 0:04:20.840 But by the playoffs, I was just gassed. I had 0:04:20.880 --> 0:04:27.640 no legs and that showed in my shooting, and I 0:04:27.960 --> 0:04:29.560 got to a point where I couldn't make a shot 0:04:29.720 --> 0:04:34.120 and was beyond frustrated. I was embarrassed. I was embarrassed 0:04:34.520 --> 0:04:36.280 for how bad I was playing now, how much I 0:04:36.360 --> 0:04:37.160 was letting the team now. 0:04:37.520 --> 0:04:41.160 Battier was always helpful with an intelligent quote, whether it 0:04:41.279 --> 0:04:43.720 was dissecting how to guard the best players in the 0:04:43.800 --> 0:04:46.760 league or gauging the mood of the team at any point. 0:04:47.520 --> 0:04:50.160 On the subject of his poor play and eventual benching. 0:04:50.160 --> 0:04:54.240 In Game seven against the Pacers, however, Battier probably offered 0:04:54.279 --> 0:04:56.600 his most memorable quote as a member of the Heat. 0:04:57.440 --> 0:05:00.920 He said of the benching, sometimes you've got to eat 0:05:00.920 --> 0:05:06.039 a turd sandwich makes the ribbi I taste better next time. Okay, 0:05:06.400 --> 0:05:09.039 so maybe you didn't want to remember that quote, but 0:05:09.120 --> 0:05:12.880 it stuck anyway, And after that unfortunate meal, there was 0:05:12.920 --> 0:05:15.920 only one option for a follow up ribbi that season. 0:05:16.920 --> 0:05:19.080 It would have to be the Spurs of Tim Duncan, 0:05:19.480 --> 0:05:23.719 Manu Genobili, Tony Parker, and Kawhi Leonard, who offered a 0:05:23.760 --> 0:05:26.360 completely different look than those Pacers did. 0:05:26.400 --> 0:05:26.799 Anyway. 0:05:27.160 --> 0:05:28.159 Well, they played small. 0:05:28.200 --> 0:05:30.760 They were able to match up our small ball, and 0:05:30.800 --> 0:05:33.920 so put Duncan on on cbe and put Kawhi at 0:05:33.920 --> 0:05:36.760 the at the flour and play Genobi and Parker and 0:05:37.000 --> 0:05:42.520 a shooter. And so where Indiana stylistically was much different game, 0:05:43.160 --> 0:05:46.000 it was much more ground and pound. The Spurs were 0:05:46.000 --> 0:05:47.760 able to take away some of our some of our 0:05:47.800 --> 0:05:50.240 space and with their speed and so that was really 0:05:50.279 --> 0:05:51.800 the first time a team tried to match up with 0:05:51.920 --> 0:05:54.359 us and go small, and it was it was like, 0:05:54.560 --> 0:05:55.680 you know, looking in the mirror. 0:05:56.120 --> 0:05:58.719 What was staring back at Miami was the most dominant 0:05:58.760 --> 0:06:02.560 team in those playoffs. According to the numbers, the Spurs 0:06:02.600 --> 0:06:05.480 outscored opponents by seven full points in their twenty one 0:06:05.520 --> 0:06:08.479 games at postseason. The only other team that was even 0:06:08.560 --> 0:06:11.320 close was the Heat, at a six point four differential. 0:06:12.440 --> 0:06:15.600 Just for reference, in the twenty one to twenty two postseason, 0:06:15.960 --> 0:06:19.000 the champion Warriors outscored opponents by an average of five 0:06:19.040 --> 0:06:22.480 points in their twenty two games, the largest gap that postseason. 0:06:23.360 --> 0:06:25.680 Matt Bonner was a reserve on that Spurs team that 0:06:25.760 --> 0:06:29.920 had beaten the Lakers, Warriors, and Grizzlies that postseason. He'd 0:06:29.920 --> 0:06:32.159 already won a title over Lebron James while with the 0:06:32.200 --> 0:06:35.800 Spurs in two thousand and seven, when they defeated Lebron's Cavaliers. 0:06:36.880 --> 0:06:39.520 Bonner also happened to be a teammate of Chris Bosch's, 0:06:39.800 --> 0:06:42.240 having began his career with the Toronto Raptors in two 0:06:42.240 --> 0:06:45.359 thousand and four. He saw a Heat team that was 0:06:45.400 --> 0:06:48.039 more daunting than any opponent he'd faced so far in 0:06:48.080 --> 0:06:53.600 those playoffs a team so defensively capable, they employed tactics 0:06:53.800 --> 0:06:55.960 that didn't exactly match up with the times. 0:06:56.520 --> 0:06:59.800 They had a lot of talent, but they were really 0:07:00.040 --> 0:07:03.640 well coached. They all had really high basketball i q's 0:07:03.800 --> 0:07:06.480 in Their level of execution on both ends of the 0:07:06.560 --> 0:07:10.840 floor was a very high level. Like they guarded pick 0:07:10.840 --> 0:07:14.680 and rolls by hard hedging, which you rarely see this 0:07:14.800 --> 0:07:16.640 day and age in the NBA. They had one of 0:07:16.680 --> 0:07:20.280 the top defenses in the league on top of all 0:07:20.280 --> 0:07:22.720 the talent down on offense. But I just remember like 0:07:23.600 --> 0:07:25.800 there was no let up no matter what five they 0:07:25.840 --> 0:07:29.760 had on the court. There was no like, all right, 0:07:29.800 --> 0:07:31.720 we can relax a little bit, or we could take 0:07:31.760 --> 0:07:34.560 advantage of this line up. There was very there was 0:07:34.560 --> 0:07:35.520 like no weaknesses. 0:07:36.120 --> 0:07:38.600 Game one of that finals would beg to differ. 0:07:39.200 --> 0:07:41.320 The box score was a bit of a puzzle, as 0:07:41.360 --> 0:07:43.480 the Heat shot better than the Spurs from the field 0:07:43.560 --> 0:07:47.600 and the three point line and out rebounded San Antonio, 0:07:47.760 --> 0:07:50.080 but the Spurs would only turn the ball over four 0:07:50.160 --> 0:07:54.480 times the entire game compared to Miami's eight, giving San 0:07:54.480 --> 0:07:58.320 Antonio the few more shot attempts it needed, and with 0:07:58.400 --> 0:08:01.119 his team up two points with digits on the clock, 0:08:01.600 --> 0:08:04.960 Tony Parker turned a broken play into a game winning 0:08:05.000 --> 0:08:08.640 bank shot that remains one of the craziest finishes to 0:08:08.720 --> 0:08:12.000 an NBA Finals game, and yet not even the craziest 0:08:12.000 --> 0:08:13.240 finish of this series. 0:08:13.400 --> 0:08:15.480 Shot clock at won Parker not going to get a 0:08:15.520 --> 0:08:17.800 shot off any What a. 0:08:17.920 --> 0:08:19.000 Shot for Parker. 0:08:20.240 --> 0:08:22.880 Parker discussed his wild banker afterward. 0:08:23.040 --> 0:08:24.040 It was a crazy play. 0:08:24.560 --> 0:08:26.240 I thought I lost the ball like three or four 0:08:26.280 --> 0:08:29.520 times and didn't work out like I wanted to. But 0:08:29.840 --> 0:08:31.080 you know, at the end, I was just trying to 0:08:31.080 --> 0:08:33.920 get a shot up and felt good when I left 0:08:33.920 --> 0:08:36.080 my hand, and I was happy you. 0:08:36.120 --> 0:08:38.200 Went in just like that. 0:08:38.559 --> 0:08:40.439 The Heat were down one game to none in the 0:08:40.559 --> 0:08:44.800 NBA Finals for the second straight year. Unlike the last Finals, 0:08:45.080 --> 0:08:47.600 when Miami was confident it would recover from its Game 0:08:47.640 --> 0:08:50.520 one loss to the Thunder, this loss to the Spurs 0:08:50.600 --> 0:08:55.280 left the Heat confused. Where were the glaring mistakes to 0:08:55.320 --> 0:09:00.240 fix it? Was hard to tell, but somehow Lebron only 0:09:00.280 --> 0:09:03.280 manage eighteen points, the most on the team. Wade had 0:09:03.360 --> 0:09:06.719 seventeen and Boston Allen both had thirteen, and given how 0:09:06.720 --> 0:09:09.880 it ended with the Spurs capitalizing on a little luck 0:09:09.920 --> 0:09:12.959 at the end, it felt like a season of amazing 0:09:13.000 --> 0:09:15.880 feats was already on the brink of ending with a 0:09:15.960 --> 0:09:18.520 second finals failure in three seasons. 0:09:18.920 --> 0:09:19.640 Here's hassling. 0:09:20.040 --> 0:09:22.439 We were a little nervous. We're a little nervous, I 0:09:22.520 --> 0:09:22.800 tell you. 0:09:23.000 --> 0:09:26.120 Losing game one, okay, See, we built confidence because you 0:09:26.160 --> 0:09:28.400 can look back and say, okay, I made this mistake, 0:09:28.480 --> 0:09:30.360 I made that mistake. If I don't do this, I 0:09:30.360 --> 0:09:33.840 don't do that. These are different things that San Antonio. 0:09:33.880 --> 0:09:38.720 You're like, where did we go wrong? 0:09:39.120 --> 0:09:41.360 What happened? You know what I'm saying? When did this? 0:09:41.480 --> 0:09:41.960 You know what I mean? 0:09:42.040 --> 0:09:44.839 So now they said they have you searching a little bit, 0:09:45.160 --> 0:09:46.560 you know what I'm saying, instead of going right in 0:09:46.559 --> 0:09:47.760 the locker room saying, you know what, I knew. 0:09:47.760 --> 0:09:49.240 I messed that up. I knew I messed this up. 0:09:49.240 --> 0:09:51.120 We fixed this, We'll be fine. Now. 0:09:51.160 --> 0:09:52.679 You just kind of searching a little bit, and they 0:09:52.720 --> 0:09:55.079 put you in that place where is what we do, 0:09:55.520 --> 0:09:57.920 are is what we're bringing? Is it good enough? Is 0:09:57.960 --> 0:09:58.400 it enough? 0:09:58.440 --> 0:10:00.520 They put you in that place of a little a doubt. 0:10:00.559 --> 0:10:03.800 Sometimes that's the doubt you get from San Antonio because 0:10:04.080 --> 0:10:06.720 unlike some teams, they're not gonna lose it, You're gonna 0:10:06.760 --> 0:10:07.240 have to win it. 0:10:07.760 --> 0:10:10.400 To pull this series out against the Spurs, not only 0:10:10.400 --> 0:10:12.600 would the Heat have to face an offense it gives 0:10:12.640 --> 0:10:15.480 you no time to think and runs you ragged, they'd 0:10:15.480 --> 0:10:19.119 have to face a defensive philosophy that had already confounded 0:10:19.200 --> 0:10:22.160 Lebron James in the past. Not only did Spurs coach 0:10:22.200 --> 0:10:25.559 Greg Popovich implement a defensive game plan against Lebron in 0:10:25.600 --> 0:10:27.880 the two thousand and seven Finals that earned his Spurs 0:10:27.880 --> 0:10:31.800 a title, but Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle brought back similar 0:10:31.800 --> 0:10:35.640 strategies to slow Lebron and eventually win the twenty eleven Finals. 0:10:36.240 --> 0:10:39.520 The first two plus quarters of Game two did very 0:10:39.559 --> 0:10:43.440 little to quell the concerns of the Heat that Popovich 0:10:43.480 --> 0:10:47.000 defense once again kept Lebron under wraps, as he missed 0:10:47.080 --> 0:10:50.600 ten of his first thirteen shots in that game. Late 0:10:50.640 --> 0:10:53.480 in the third quarter, the Heat were trailing by a point. 0:10:54.720 --> 0:10:58.359 In arena decked with Heat fans wearing white was noticeably 0:10:58.400 --> 0:11:01.480 nervous as the Spurs were calmly keeping Miami in check 0:11:01.559 --> 0:11:05.880 for a second straight game. That's when Mario Chalmers, the 0:11:05.920 --> 0:11:08.360 point guard who saved the day in Game four against 0:11:08.360 --> 0:11:10.800 the Thunder in the previous finals by having a big 0:11:10.840 --> 0:11:14.360 scoring night against Kevin Durant came to the rescue again. 0:11:15.040 --> 0:11:19.080 Before the series began, Chalmers figured this wasn't going to 0:11:19.120 --> 0:11:21.440 be a great series for him once he learned the 0:11:21.520 --> 0:11:24.480 Spurs tried not to anger their opponents. 0:11:24.800 --> 0:11:26.360 I know it's gonna be a tough series for me. 0:11:26.800 --> 0:11:29.040 Where they told me that San Antonio is a team 0:11:29.080 --> 0:11:31.959 that kills you with kindness, and like everybody knows me. 0:11:31.960 --> 0:11:34.319 I'll love a confrontation. I love when you talk to me. 0:11:34.360 --> 0:11:35.200 I'm gonna talk. 0:11:35.000 --> 0:11:38.520 Back, but I can't handle Oh you missed that shot, 0:11:38.600 --> 0:11:41.960 You'll make it again next time, Like huh, Like how 0:11:41.960 --> 0:11:43.520 are you on the opposite team telling me I'm gonna 0:11:43.520 --> 0:11:45.040 make the shot next time? I shoot it, Like I 0:11:45.080 --> 0:11:45.600 can't hit it. 0:11:45.640 --> 0:11:46.280 I don't know what to. 0:11:46.240 --> 0:11:46.599 Say to that. 0:11:46.800 --> 0:11:48.320 So who would say that? 0:11:49.920 --> 0:11:50.280 All of them? 0:11:50.280 --> 0:11:52.679 Tim Duncle said, Tony Parker will say like they were 0:11:52.720 --> 0:11:55.520 such a nice team and nice guys. 0:11:55.720 --> 0:11:56.079 Was like. 0:11:57.679 --> 0:11:59.319 Like, no, we're out here for blood, like this is 0:11:59.360 --> 0:12:01.600 for the Championshi, Like, I'm not supposed to like you. 0:12:02.480 --> 0:12:04.320 I was supposed to respect you, which I do respect you, 0:12:04.320 --> 0:12:06.000 but I'm not supposed to like you. In this moment, 0:12:06.080 --> 0:12:08.400 and you're not giving me nothing to not like you, 0:12:09.160 --> 0:12:11.080 like you papped me on the back, you helping me out, 0:12:11.640 --> 0:12:13.280 like you just being a nice guy. And it's kind 0:12:13.280 --> 0:12:16.640 of like I like that, Like I don't like you 0:12:16.679 --> 0:12:18.120 being a nice guy to me. You can do that 0:12:18.160 --> 0:12:20.679 off the court, but basketball were going at it. 0:12:20.760 --> 0:12:24.360 In Game two, though Chalmers didn't need the Spurs players 0:12:24.400 --> 0:12:28.000 to tick him off. The score and situation already did. 0:12:28.800 --> 0:12:31.240 The Heat were at home and it was starting to 0:12:31.280 --> 0:12:34.480 feel like that Game six in twenty eleven, when Dallas 0:12:34.559 --> 0:12:38.320 quieted the Heat's home crowd for good. With three eleven 0:12:38.400 --> 0:12:41.480 left in the third, Chalmers drove for a layup, which 0:12:41.480 --> 0:12:44.280 he converted while being fouled by Spurs guard Danny Green. 0:12:44.559 --> 0:12:48.160 Chalmers counted hand along. I don't know if Green actually 0:12:48.160 --> 0:12:51.360 got a piece of it. Either way, James miss fires, 0:12:51.360 --> 0:12:53.120 but Chalmers with an aggressive move. 0:12:53.760 --> 0:12:56.280 Chalmers would convert the free throw and on the next 0:12:56.280 --> 0:13:00.199 play assist on a Ray Allen three pointer. Then, after 0:13:00.240 --> 0:13:04.000 assisting on a Lebron layup, Chalmers finished the quarter with 0:13:04.080 --> 0:13:05.040 another and one. 0:13:05.720 --> 0:13:09.920 Chalmers into the lane push shot gun it unfound hand 0:13:09.960 --> 0:13:12.920 a reel to the line for another round one. 0:13:12.880 --> 0:13:16.079 In the fourth, Rio added another short jumper to give 0:13:16.120 --> 0:13:19.280 him eight points and two assists during a twenty three 0:13:19.320 --> 0:13:23.679 to two run that gave Miami a sudden nineteen point lead. 0:13:24.400 --> 0:13:28.000 The game was never close again, and despite Chalmers outscoring 0:13:28.040 --> 0:13:31.000 all his teammates with nineteen, it was enough of a 0:13:31.040 --> 0:13:34.840 team effort to comfortably beat San Antonio and tie the 0:13:34.920 --> 0:13:37.920 series at a game apiece. In the hallway from the 0:13:37.960 --> 0:13:40.280 court to the Heat locker room, a space the team 0:13:40.360 --> 0:13:45.600 calls Championship Alley, cameras caught Lebron praising his point guard 0:13:45.640 --> 0:13:46.920 big timers. 0:13:47.000 --> 0:13:48.480 Big time boy, what puck? 0:13:49.559 --> 0:13:52.520 Still, the Heat had given up home court advantage to 0:13:52.559 --> 0:13:55.440 the Spurs and were facing the daunting task of having 0:13:55.520 --> 0:13:59.360 to play three consecutive games in San Antonio and win 0:13:59.400 --> 0:14:02.600 at least one to avoid elimination and regain the home 0:14:02.600 --> 0:14:06.760 court edge. Well, Game three did just as much to 0:14:06.840 --> 0:14:10.040 hurt Miami's hopes as Game two did to booie the Heat. 0:14:10.760 --> 0:14:13.920 After winning by nineteen in Game two, the Heat lost 0:14:13.960 --> 0:14:17.400 by thirty six. In Game three in San Antonio, the 0:14:17.440 --> 0:14:21.200 Spurs shooters were at their most lethal, as Danny Green 0:14:21.360 --> 0:14:24.440 and Gary Neal combined to hit thirteen three pointers in 0:14:24.560 --> 0:14:25.720 just nineteen attempts. 0:14:25.960 --> 0:14:28.320 Neil has to put it off way outside, then he 0:14:28.440 --> 0:14:31.880 knocks it down. Carry Neal having the game of his 0:14:32.000 --> 0:14:35.240 life here in the NBA Finals. Neil tries it again, 0:14:35.520 --> 0:14:40.360 puts it in carry Neal coming on a show. The 0:14:40.560 --> 0:14:45.280 twenty one point lead, He's got twenty four letter drives. 0:14:46.240 --> 0:14:48.800 Neil touched past the green another three pointer. 0:14:48.960 --> 0:14:49.480 That's good. 0:14:50.960 --> 0:14:54.080 Thirteen threes for San Antonio. 0:14:55.120 --> 0:14:58.920 And to this point, Lebron James's scoring totals were eighteen 0:14:58.960 --> 0:15:02.520 in Game one, seventeen in Game two, and fifteen in 0:15:02.560 --> 0:15:06.640 Game three. It was a troubling pattern that if it 0:15:06.760 --> 0:15:10.080 followed the one from the twenty eleven Finals, would then 0:15:10.120 --> 0:15:14.360 see Lebron have his worst performance in Game four. And 0:15:14.520 --> 0:15:18.360 unlike the Dallas series, James wasn't getting the same level 0:15:18.360 --> 0:15:22.400 of support from Wade. Miami's shooting guard had only scored 0:15:22.440 --> 0:15:27.200 forty three points through three games himself. In fact, by 0:15:27.240 --> 0:15:29.440 the time the Heat reached Game four of the Finals, 0:15:30.200 --> 0:15:33.600 Wade had only experienced two twenty point scoring games the 0:15:33.720 --> 0:15:37.080 entire postseason, scoring twenty one way back in Round one 0:15:37.120 --> 0:15:40.320 against Milwaukee and another twenty one coming in Game seven 0:15:40.360 --> 0:15:43.240 against the Pacers. If Wade was going to win his 0:15:43.320 --> 0:15:46.520 third title in his tenth year in the league, he'd 0:15:46.560 --> 0:15:49.800 need to be more of a compliment to James, just 0:15:49.920 --> 0:15:53.040 like the previous postseason, when the Heat needed Way to 0:15:53.080 --> 0:15:56.200 win Game four in Indiana and he responded with thirty points, 0:15:56.360 --> 0:15:59.600 nine assists and six rebounds. They needed him to come 0:15:59.640 --> 0:16:02.880 up Hughes in another Game four that also felt like 0:16:03.080 --> 0:16:03.760 a must win. 0:16:03.960 --> 0:16:06.040 He looks up from must we gotta go get it 0:16:06.040 --> 0:16:07.760 back tonight, try to begin it. 0:16:08.120 --> 0:16:10.040 I not is difficult. 0:16:10.480 --> 0:16:14.360 Is costed it last? 0:16:14.400 --> 0:16:18.400 Second weight weight. 0:16:20.200 --> 0:16:23.120 Wade was at his best when a championship team needed 0:16:23.200 --> 0:16:27.600 him most, scoring thirty two points with six rebounds, six steals, 0:16:27.800 --> 0:16:31.640 and four assists. James and Bosh also combined for fifty three, 0:16:32.120 --> 0:16:35.359 giving Miami the performance from their stars that they desperately 0:16:35.400 --> 0:16:37.640 needed for a one oh nine ninety three win. 0:16:37.960 --> 0:16:40.320 Alan kicks it out to Wade. Wade to the basket 0:16:40.400 --> 0:16:44.200 off but under and backs it in. What a performance 0:16:44.200 --> 0:16:46.960 from Dwayne Wade and the Heat with their largest lead 0:16:47.040 --> 0:16:47.440 of the night. 0:16:48.000 --> 0:16:50.280 It was the type of show you Donnis Haslam had 0:16:50.280 --> 0:16:53.000 seen from Wade so many times through their first ten 0:16:53.080 --> 0:16:53.680 years together. 0:16:54.400 --> 0:16:58.400 I've always, you know, sat back and just watched you, 0:16:58.480 --> 0:17:01.760 Wade Man, and just be a part of his journey, 0:17:01.840 --> 0:17:03.480 you know what I'm saying. Obviously, you know, if I 0:17:03.520 --> 0:17:05.680 wasn't out there setting screens for him, I was watching them. 0:17:06.080 --> 0:17:07.760 So you know, when you when you. 0:17:07.960 --> 0:17:10.520 Have a relationship with somebody like that, you know, you 0:17:10.920 --> 0:17:12.520 just happy to see them do well, no matter what 0:17:12.600 --> 0:17:13.199 situation there. 0:17:13.320 --> 0:17:14.600 And so for me, I was just happy to see 0:17:14.600 --> 0:17:15.800 my boy out there doing well. 0:17:15.960 --> 0:17:18.480 Wade went on to play forty eight more playoff games 0:17:18.520 --> 0:17:21.080 in his career after those thirty two points in Game four, 0:17:21.880 --> 0:17:25.080 and he'd only surpass that total one more time in 0:17:25.119 --> 0:17:28.879 a twenty sixteen series against Toronto. It was the last 0:17:28.920 --> 0:17:32.639 time Wade would call upon his powers at that championship level, 0:17:32.920 --> 0:17:36.320 and it would come at the absolute perfect time. The 0:17:36.359 --> 0:17:39.600 finals were tied again at two to two, giving Miami 0:17:39.680 --> 0:17:43.280 the critical home court advantage right back. It was usually 0:17:43.359 --> 0:17:47.320 Wade relying on James in big playoff moments, but James 0:17:47.400 --> 0:17:50.320 knew this was a much needed performance from his co star, 0:17:50.880 --> 0:17:52.280 and he said as much afterward. 0:17:52.560 --> 0:17:54.879 More than anybody, we needed d Wade to be the 0:17:54.960 --> 0:17:59.080 Flash of six. He definitely came through for us. Every 0:17:59.119 --> 0:18:01.639 single play that we need he made, especially in the 0:18:01.680 --> 0:18:04.560 fourth quarter, who was doing a zero step and he 0:18:04.600 --> 0:18:06.960 was wrapping the ball over people's heads, dunking the ball. 0:18:07.160 --> 0:18:09.119 I mean, he was all over the place, man, and 0:18:09.400 --> 0:18:12.399 we needed that type of game from him to even 0:18:12.400 --> 0:18:13.240 the series out. 0:18:13.480 --> 0:18:16.760 By Game five, the Spurs were looking to change the momentum, 0:18:17.000 --> 0:18:21.080 so coach Popovitch made a couple of adjustments. Man U Jenobili, 0:18:21.160 --> 0:18:23.720 who'd made a career of coming off the bench, would 0:18:23.760 --> 0:18:27.119 be inserted into the starting lineup, and there would be 0:18:27.160 --> 0:18:31.679 one more major defensive adjustment. Six foot eight forward Boris 0:18:31.760 --> 0:18:35.160 Dia would play more minutes and guard Lebron James for 0:18:35.240 --> 0:18:38.919 almost all of them. Yeah, the Spurs had Kawhi Leonard, 0:18:39.359 --> 0:18:42.359 but he couldn't handle Lebron by himself. Not in his 0:18:42.440 --> 0:18:46.320 second year in the league. Diao, whose minutes were ragged 0:18:46.400 --> 0:18:50.119 to start the series, provided the perfect option to defend Lebron, 0:18:50.560 --> 0:18:54.240 especially with the strategy Popovich implemented, which was essentially to 0:18:54.280 --> 0:18:57.720 try to force James into contested two point jumpers. Diao 0:18:57.840 --> 0:18:59.640 didn't even play in the first round of the twenty 0:18:59.640 --> 0:19:02.480 thirteen in playoffs because of a procedure on his back 0:19:02.520 --> 0:19:05.840 that kept him out nearly a month. By the finals, 0:19:06.440 --> 0:19:07.479 he was a major player. 0:19:07.520 --> 0:19:12.240 Again, here's d l So, you know in April, just 0:19:12.840 --> 0:19:15.320 a few games before that, I had a back surgery. 0:19:15.920 --> 0:19:19.800 Uh they drilled through my spine and and my back 0:19:19.880 --> 0:19:24.040 muscle to take an assist that was inside my spinal canal. 0:19:24.600 --> 0:19:27.520 So I was trying to come back from that, and 0:19:27.520 --> 0:19:31.199 and the back is something that takes some time and 0:19:31.359 --> 0:19:34.879 you using your back for everything. And so I was already, 0:19:34.920 --> 0:19:37.720 you know, struggling coming back from from this injury. And 0:19:37.720 --> 0:19:40.480 that's why the playoff already started. It's stuff to kind 0:19:40.480 --> 0:19:42.920 of get back into the game. You know, the coach 0:19:42.960 --> 0:19:45.720 already has his team that they started the playoff, and 0:19:45.720 --> 0:19:49.119 you have a momentum. So so yeah, early on, I 0:19:49.200 --> 0:19:52.480 wasn't playing much in those in those playoffs, just coming 0:19:52.520 --> 0:19:57.040 back from from that injury. But then it's basically wanted 0:19:57.040 --> 0:19:59.840 to try something different people on the Brown at that time. 0:20:00.040 --> 0:20:02.800 Then he took a chance with me. Di. 0:20:02.960 --> 0:20:05.840 I was drafted twenty first in the same draft class 0:20:05.840 --> 0:20:09.879 as James Wade and Bosh. Back then, he was effectively 0:20:09.920 --> 0:20:13.960 a big guard without as much bulk. By twenty thirteen, 0:20:14.480 --> 0:20:17.960 DIA's body was more solid and he was able to 0:20:18.000 --> 0:20:22.080 do just what Popovich asked, give Lebron just enough space 0:20:22.119 --> 0:20:25.040 to get off a jumper, but no ability to get 0:20:25.119 --> 0:20:25.800