After two hard fought games by both teams in the first two games of an already interesting NBA Finals, Miami now has homecourt advantage going to American Airlines Arena to defend their title, but San Antonio is still not going to give in.

After sustaining cramps at the end of a Game 1, loss Lebron James responded the way great players do, by scoring 35 points and collecting 10 rebounds counteracting Tim Duncan’s second consecutive double-double.

In the series, it has been a rollercoaster ride with every NBA fan wishing to see another Game 7 matchup between these two rivals. It is not etched in stone for either team as the series is obviously still in the balance and the games have been relatively close with rugged play as the refs are allowing players to more physical than normal.

With games on the line, the Big 3 has seemingly carried this Heat team through thick and thin with Lebron anchoring the team, while San Antonio’s Big 3 has been helped by a great bench and solid supporting cast.

The biggest question so far this series…. What happened to Kawhi Leonard? The breakout star of the NBA Finals last year, Kawhi made his presence known in the first games last year by posting an 18 point 16 rebound performance. This year, he has only 18 points in the first two games and fouled out in Game 2 with the game on the line late. Needless to say, San Antonio needs him to play better than his miserable performances already this time.

A major turning point other than the series shifting over to Miami is the flagarent one call on Mario Chalmers. With the Heat trailing by one, Chalmers drove to the basket against San Antonio’s interior defense and threw an elbow right to the rib cage of star Spurs point guard, Tony Parker.

Parker laid on the court in pain for a few minutes while the refs reviewed whether it was a flagarent one or a common foul. The refs kept it a flagarent one which means that San Antonio is allowed to shoot two free throws and maintain possession. Parker went to the line to shoot his two free throws and missed horribly on both.

Looking like he was bothered by the injury, San Antonio head coach Gregg Popovich put in backup point guard Patty Mills. San Antonio kept the possession and Tim Duncan was fouled in the act of shooting. Duncan who has shot the ball well from the charity strip this postseason had a chance to expand the lead.

Duncan ended up missing both free throws as well as the Spurs dropped four consecutive free throws at the line. The final score was 98-96. If they made all four consecutive free throws like they should have, the score would have been 100-98. Sort of reminiscent of last year’s Game 6 when the Spurs failed to convert free throws and ended up losing the lead in the game and eventually losing in Game 7.

If the Spurs do end up faltering this series, they will look back at the flagarent 1 call, and say that was the turning point of the series. Game 3 is at Miami Tuesday, June 10 at 9 PM on ABC.

Worth Noting:

San Antonio’s bench has outscored Miami’s bench in both games

The AC was repaired and did not malfunction in Game 2

San Antonio was 1-3 in last year’s NBA Finals at American Airlines Arena. The only win was Game 1 off a circus shot by Tony Parker