The Miami Heat's 92-88 Game 1 NBA Finals loss to the San Antonio Spurs has been reviewed with a fine-toothed comb, but the focus seems set on postgame comments made by both LeBron James and Dwyane Wade that indicated they were tired.
James told head coach Erik Spoelstra that he needed a rest at the start of the fourth quarter. It's something that hasn't happened much throughout the playoffs, which he addressed following the game, per Brian Windhorst of ESPN:
I had been accustomed to being able to start the fourth but the third quarter was so—I was in the paint, defensive rebounding, I was closing out Kawhi Leonard on shooters. It took all in the tank from me in the third quarter. So I needed a little breather.
Wade, who also started the fourth quarter on the bench, had some more directed comments, looking back at the Eastern Conference Finals for an explanation, per Steve DelVecchio of Larry Brown Sports (via ASAP Sports):
Obviously I thought that we were a little fatigued, honestly, in the fourth quarter, looking around. We looked like a team that came off a seven‑game series. I th ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
Article written by Jesse Dorsey
Are Wade and LeBron’s ‘Exhaustion’ Complaints an Excuse, Smokescreen or Both?
June 8th, 2013 by Jesse Dorsey Leave a reply »
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