NBA Finals: Review and Grades For Game 4

Dwyane Wade and LeBron James were brilliant in Game 4. (Photo Credit: Keith Allison, Flickr.com)

The Miami Heat evened up the series against the San Antonio Spurs in Game 4 of the 2013 NBA Finals, as the Heat’s Big Three led Miami to a 109-93 win.

The victory for the Heat guarantees that the series will return to Miami for at least one game, potentially giving the defending champs the momentum to win back-to-back titles.

Bleacher Report provides this graphic following Game 4.

Despite the lopsided 16-point difference, this game was close throughout until the Heat began to pull away midway through the fourth quarter.

The Heat shot better than 50 percent from the floor and out-rebounded San Antonio—two factors that were difference makers in Game 4.

That said, here are the grades for some of the biggest names from each team.

Spurs

Tony Parker: C+

Tony Parker’s health played a factor in his poor Game 4 outing. (Photo Credit: Keith Allison, Flickr.com)

If I were grading Parker’s first half performance, it’d be an A+.

Parker shot 7-of-12 from the field on his way to 15 points and six assists in the first half of Game 4, but it was a different story for the Spurs’ point guard after halftime.

Parker was 0-for-4 in the second half, recording three assists and failing to score a single point for San Antonio when it needed him the most. According to USA Today’s Alex Kennedy,  Parker wasn’t 100-percent healthy last night, which undoubtedly factored into his disappearing in the second half.

Tim Duncan: B-

Thursday night wasn’t Timmy’s best performance of his career.

Despite netting 20 points and shooting 6-of-10 from the field, Duncan recorded a mere five rebounds and turned the ball over three times while dishing just one assist.

And then there was that block by LeBron James on Duncan, courtesy of Sports Vines.

Duncan may have been the leading scorer for San Antonio but he needs to be better down the stretch for the Spurs to regain control of the series.

Manu Ginobili: F

Terrible is the first adjective that comes to mind when reviewing Manu Ginobili’s play from Thursday night.

Ginobili’s buddy and teammate Tim Duncan feels Manu needs to be more aggressive and selfish, according to Alex Kennedy.

Ginobili contributed just five points to the Spurs’ offense, shooting 1-for-5 from the field, including 0-for-3 from three-point range.

He’s been one of the best performers in the NBA Finals throughout his career, but Ginobili looks like a shell of himself right now.

Heat

Dwyane Wade: A+

Dwyane Wade silenced any critics last night who thought the former Finals MVP should be benched or see a lesser role for Miami. NBA.com tells the tale of Wade’s night.

Wade took the game over late down the stretch, hitting mid-range jumpers and even finishing at the rim with that patented Euro step (h/t Sports Vines).

If Wade can continuously play at this level, mark my words, Miami is winning back-to-back titles.

LeBron James: B+

LeBron James had to come out aggressive in Game 4 to prove his doubters wrong and that’s exactly what happened on Thursday night. James was 5-for-6 in the first quarter, as ESPN Stats & Info shows us his shot chart in Game 4.

James went on to finish Game 4 with a game-high 33 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks, submitting a performance that should at least silence the doubters until Game 5.

He came out aggressive and ready to attack, which was the ultimate key for Miami, which set the tone early.

Chris Bosh: B 

Chris Bosh played both ends of the floor well for the Heat in Game 4, netting 20 points and grabbing 13 rebounds while also collecting two steals and two blocks. ESPN Stats & Info tells us that Bosh has quietly had a nice Finals thus far.

We know Bosh isn’t the greatest post player, but if he’s not hitting the elbow jumper, he’s not effective.

The key is for Bosh to get his inside game going early, which opens up the outside jumper as the game progresses—if Bosh’s jumper is on.

Regardless, the Heat proved on Thursday night that it’s called the Big Three for a reason, and Bosh was a solid part of that effort.

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