During the NBA’s indefinite hiatus, I will be rewatching every game of LeBron’s NBA Finals career. Every Finals game from the last 20 years is available to NBA League Pass subscribers on the NBA app or through apps like YouTube TV. We will be going chronologically through LeBron’s Finals career. 

Previous Finals Game Diaries

Game 1, 2007 NBA Finals: LeBron’s first Finals game.

Game 2, 2007 NBA Finals: LeBron bounces back but falls down 0-2.

Game 3, 2007 NBA Finals: LeBron gets the last shot but it doesn’t go.

Game 4, 2007 NBA Finals: Staying home.

Game 1, 2011 NBA Finals: LeBron’s first Finals victory.

Game 2, 2011 NBA Finals: Heat blow 15-point 4th quarter lead.

Game 3, 2011 NBA Finals: Bosh game-winner helps put Heat up 2-1.

Game 4, 2011 NBA Finals: LeBron has 8 points in Finals loss.

Game 5, 2011 NBA Finals: LeBron bounces back, but Mavs shoot the lights out.

Game 6, 2011 NBA Finals: Jason Terry and the Mavs burn down the Heat in Miami.

Game 1, 2012 NBA Finals: Westbrook and Durant lead comeback to take 1-0 lead over Heat.

Game 2, 2012 NBA Finals: LeBron applies lessons he learned from the Spurs in 2007 in a road win against the Thunder.

Game 3, 2012 NBA Finals: Miami escapes a late Durant rally to go up 2-1.

Game 4, 2012 NBA Finals: LeBron fights through cramps and an epic Westbrook performance to take 3-1 lead.

Game 5, 2012 NBA Finals:’ It’s about damn time’

To say that this series means a lot to me would be an understatement. It is probably the best game-for-game series in the last, oh I don’t know, forever of the NBA Finals. With all due respect to the 2016 Finals, most of the games in that series were blowouts. The 2012-13 season was also the first year that I was paid to cover the NBA, working as a media intern for the Portland Trail Blazers. It was Damian Lillard and Anthony Davis’ rookie season. And most importantly for the context of the league as a whole, LeBron had finally gotten over the hump and was a champion.

The Heat coming to town took on less of a villainous tone and more that of a traveling show that you couldn’t miss, a show that I was lucky to witness at least once during that season. The hatred of season’s past towards LeBron had generally worn off. While his brooding look before Game 6 in 2012 against the Celtics lives on as arguably LeBron’s most iconic moment, 2013 LeBron may have given us the best two-way basketball he’s played in his entire life. He carried it through the postseason, fending off a surprising challenger in the Indiana Pacers, who forced the Heat to a Game 7 in the Eastern Finals.

But what awaited LeBron on the other side of the Pacers was an old foe, one he has yet to score a win against in an NBA Finals, the San Antonio Spurs, this time with a twist: an athletic forward who was at least LeBron’s athletic equal, second-year forward Kawhi Leonard and another athletic wing with 3-point range by the name of Danny Green. 

The 2007 Spurs destroyed LeBron’s Cleveland Cavaliers due to their incredible advantage at guard play with Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, as well as a collection of big men that were more skilled than what Cleveland had, alongside Tim Duncan. Thiago Splitter may not have been as skilled as Fabricio Oberto, but his rolling presence, rim-running, and rim-protection were the tenants that a modern center next to Tim Duncan needed to have. And while Bruce Bowen is no longer on the Spurs, they have modernized to join the times like the Heat. 

And so begins the Heat’s title defense, at home, after racking up an NBA-best 66-16 record, which included an iconic 27-game win-streak that still stands for many as the peak of the LeBron-era Heat. But long win-streaks are but answers to trivia questions when teams don’t bring home the title, as LeBron has had two 60-win seasons to this point in his career come up short of a championship. For the first basket, LeBron gets in transition and feeds a trailing Wade for a dunk, something that happened pretty much never in the 2007 Finals when LeBron passed to a teammate. 1 minute in, he’s already got a trailing cutter who can get a dunk. He’s a come a long way from watching Larry Hughes brick from the top of the key. The Spurs are up 9-2 early, however, as they’ve been a buzzsaw through the West playoffs.

The emergence of Leonard has been a huge factor for the Spurs in these playoffs, as he steps to the free-throw line in the first few minutes of the game. He’s averaging nearly 37 minutes per game and he will be the first choice for the Spurs to guard LeBron. The addition of Leonard helped the Spurs add athleticism and an upset by the Memphis Grizzlies over the Oklahoma City Thunder, who were without Russell Westbrook (or James Harden, who had been traded to Houston in October of 2012), moved the team that knocked them out the previous year out of the playoffs. In 2012, it looked like the Heat and Spurs were on a collision course until the Thunder reeled off four straight wins, and now we finally have it.

As for the Spurs who have been to the Finals before, Parker is still the catalyst for the Spurs offense with Duncan adding the glue, and Ginobili added much-needed sauce. Almost on cue, Ginobili is about to check in after Duncan connects with Parker for a layup. But the Heat are having no trouble keeping pace and actually have a 15-13 lead midway through the first quarter, as Wade and Bosh, in particular, are being active in the scoring, while Chalmers hit an early 3-pointer. LeBron is more of a facilitator for most of this game, only turning on the scoring punch until he had to in the 4th quarter.

Also, Boris Diaw is in the game and he immediately assists on a corner 3-pointer for Danny Green to give the Spurs the lead back. This is a Boris Diaw fan blog. I just wanted to let you all know here and now. Diaw ballooned in weight with the Charlotte Bobcats because he didn’t want to be there, got waived because Michael Jordan got fed up with him, and eventually became a part of two Finals teams with the Spurs while enjoying pregame cappuccinos. We have no choice but to Stan.

However, the Heat have made a few changes this season as well to boost their bench. Chris “The Birdman” Anderson, is prominently filling the role of back-up center and has been a great release valve for LeBron James, while the Heat also managed to steal away Ray Allen from the rival Boston Celtics, something that is still a sensitive subject for Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo to this day. Allen hits a pair of 3-pointers and the Heat are up 27-23 early in the 2nd quarter. The Heat end up pushing the lead to 38-31, but the Spurs are trying to change the game a little bit. Duncan goes to work in the post and quickly, Birdman picks up two fouls and has to go to the bench.

To add some 3-point shooting to the floor, the Spurs have added Matt Bonner and Gary Neal into the fray. But the Heat still lead, even as LeBron watches from the bench, with Wade and *checks notes* Norris Cole making incredible drives to the rim. After the Cole layup, Pop has seen enough and calls for a timeout. By halftime, the Spurs cut the lead to 54-49 and are still firmly in this game.

The game would assume a nip-and-tuck rhythm for the next quarter. With just under 40 seconds left in the third quarter, Ray Allen hits a wide-open 3-point from the right corner on the hoop by the Heat bench. That spot would prove to be even more important later on in the series. However, Miami has been unable to extend their lead at all during the quarter as the Spurs have had an answer for most of their questions, with the Spurs scoring to make it 75-72 after 3. And both teams are playing small ball in the fourth quarter, with Bosh and Duncan as the only two big men. Then an offensive rebound by Leonard gives the Spurs their first lead of the second half at 79-78.

Meanwhile, LeBron is working on a 12 point, 13 rebounds and 10 assist triple-double, but he’s not delivering the scoring they need from him so far in this game. And then he gets lazy with an entry pass, which is snatched by Leonard’s baseball mitt hands, leading to a Parker basket and a timeout at 81-78 San Antonio. LeBron started the last Finals series with back-to-back 30-point outings, but in this game, he’s been probing and settling more than usual in terms of his own shot. His defense has been excellent and he’s created a ton of high-quality looks, but the Heat have built the lead because LeBron is creating quality looks for others, not necessarily many for himself. Also, the Heat have struggled at the foul-line all game long, leaving several points on the floor. The Spurs have also been smart about not fouling LeBron, limiting him to just two free-throw attempts until the final minutes of the game.

A Duncan basket gets it to 83-79 Spurs and then the Heat turns it over again, looking awful like one of their 2011 droughts rather than the well-oiled machine we saw in 2012. They’re falling apart. Another turnover by the Heat. They had led most of the game, but turnovers are giving the game to San Antonio. After having four turnovers in the first three quarters, Miami racked up four in the 4th quarter alone. 

Luckily for the Heat, LeBron has a great defensive rotation to get a piece of Duncan’s hook shot to keep the Spurs lead at 4. However, the possession comes up empty again as the Spurs defense has been impeccable in the fourth quarter.  Then Parker hits a midrange step-back to make it 85-79 and Tracy McGrady, who is just here for the laughs, comes over to hype Parker up. After controlling the whole game, the Heat are back on their heels.

A LeBron offensive rebound lead to a bucket out of the timeout and the Heat have now put LeBron on Parker and have taken Chalmers out of the game, who has been a disaster in this 4th quarter with a couple of loose balls and a 3-pointer that hit the side of the backboard. However, the Heat’s best laid plans are once again spoiled by San Antonio’s shot-making, as the Spurs get a triple from Danny Green, pushing the lead to 88-81 with under DOS MINUTOS.

Now, LeBron punches the gas a little bit more. LeBron gets a driving layup in transition and then finds Ray Allen above the 3-point line, who is fouled by Danny Green. Allen, arguably the best shooter ever, then makes all three of the free-throws. A 5-0 run makes it a 2-point game again, but Tim Duncan then makes two free throws, setting up another must-score possession for Miami, something they haven’t done well in the 4th quarter. Bosh misses a 3-pointer above the break that he was wide-open for and the Spurs now have the ball and a four-point lead with a minute to go.

Mike Miller gets the duty of guarding Parker on a switch, the smart play by San Antonio, but Miller does a great job for a guy with a bad back and gets a hand right in his face. Then LeBron gets to the free-throw line, just his third and fourth attempts of the game, and makes both in a clutch moment to make it a 2-point game.

But then just as he did in 2007, Tony Parker steals the spotlight from LeBron’s team. Parker in scramble, gets on his knee, does a little Curly Neal spin move, and somehow gets the shot to go under LeBron who jumps too early on the shot attempt to put the Spurs up 4 again with 5.2 seconds left. The Heat will get the ball back, but that’s game. They review the play that was as close as could be to a shot-clock violation, but Parker got the ball JUST off his fingertips to make the momentous shot. LeBron, five years after Parker terrorized his Cavs team, will have to wait for a few more nights to get his first Finals W against the Spurs.

[lawrence-related id=29959,29914]