2013 NBA Finals

• 1. Introduction

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  The 2013 NBA Finals came down to a single moment on the night of the 18th of June, 2013. Ray Allen stood in the right corner with 5.2 seconds on the clock, the Miami Heat trailing the San Antonio Spurs by three points, a season and a dynasty hanging in the balance. League officials had already begun rolling out the yellow tape to cordon off the court for the trophy presentation. Then Allen stepped back, caught a pass off an offensive rebound, and launched a three-pointer that tied the game and sent it to overtime.

  What made that shot possible was a cascade of improbable events: a missed free throw by Manu Ginobili, a turnover by LeBron James, a rebound by Chris Bosh, a shoe tossed off the court by Mike Miller ten minutes earlier, James losing his headband on a dunk. This was a series that already featured four former Finals MVPs, a record ten international players on the two rosters, and the last appearance in a Finals series by a future Hall of Famer who scored zero points the entire time. How all of that came together over seven games in June 2013 is a story about two of the best basketball teams of their era, a format about to be retired forever, and a game that Magic Johnson would call one of the best two or three he had ever seen.

• 2. Two Dynasties Collide

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  Tim Duncan sought out LeBron James in the locker room after the 2007 NBA Finals and told James that the league would be his someday. Duncan's Spurs had just swept James's Cleveland Cavaliers in four games to win San Antonio's fourth championship. Six years later, those same two men stood on opposite sides of the court in Miami and San Antonio, with Duncan now 37 and James the reigning Finals MVP.

  The two franchises arrived at the 2013 Finals through different roads. Miami finished the regular season at 66-16, the best record in the league, and held home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. They swept the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round, dispatched the Chicago Bulls in five games in the second round, then survived a grueling seven-game series against the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference finals. San Antonio posted 58 wins, enough for first place in the Southwest Division but only the second-best record in the Western Conference. The Spurs were even more dominant in the playoffs: they swept the Los Angeles Lakers in four games, beat the Golden State Warriors in six, and swept the Memphis Grizzlies in four. They arrived at the Finals having lost only two playoff games.

  Gregg Popovich, San Antonio's head coach and president of basketball operations, had called Heat president Pat Riley back in 2010 to congratulate him for assembling James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh on the same roster. Now Popovich was trying to dismantle what he had admired. Four former Finals MVPs were on the floor: Duncan and Tony Parker for San Antonio, Wade and James for Miami. The last time that many former Finals MVPs faced each other in a series was 1987.

• 3. The Fine Before the Finals

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  Before a single Finals game was played, commissioner David Stern was already furious with San Antonio. During the regular season, Popovich sat out starters Duncan, Parker, Manu Ginobili, and Danny Green for a nationally televised November game in Miami, choosing rest over a road game at the end of a long trip. Stern fined the Spurs $250,000 for failing to inform the Heat, the league, or the media in a suitable timeframe that the four players would not be making the trip.

  The Heat won that game 105-100, coming back in the final minute despite trailing even without San Antonio's four best players. The regular season head-to-head went entirely Miami's way: the Heat also won the March rematch 88-86, with James, Wade, and Mario Chalmers sitting out with minor injuries of their own. Chris Bosh hit a last-second three-pointer to seal that one. Miami's 66-win season included a 27-game winning streak, which had ended by the time of that San Antonio trip.

  The fine and the resting of stars pointed to something real about San Antonio's roster: the Spurs fielded some of the oldest players in the league, and Popovich was managing their bodies all season for exactly the moment that arrived in June.

• 4. From Blowout to Comeback

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  Game 1 ended on a Tony Parker bank shot with 5.2 seconds left. Parker had led the Spurs with 21 points and 6 assists, and San Antonio limited Miami to just 16 points in the fourth quarter. James had recorded a triple-double, but Wade went scoreless in the final period and the Heat fell 92-88.

  Game 2 swung the other way in a rush. The teams were close late in the third quarter, then Miami went on a 33-5 run to close out the game. Ten of nineteen three-point attempts went in for the Heat. James made a highlight block on a dunk attempt by Tiago Splitter, and five Heat players reached double figures.

  Game 3 in San Antonio was an embarrassment for Miami. The Spurs set a Finals record with 16 three-pointers. Danny Green scored 27 points, hitting 7 of 9 from behind the arc. Gary Neal made 6 of 10 three-point attempts for 24 points. The Spurs outscored the Heat 35-14 in the fourth quarter. James shot 7 of 21 from the field and did not attempt a free throw, the first time in his Miami playoff career that had happened. The final margin gave Miami their worst playoff loss in franchise history.

  Games 4 and 5 split again. James scored 33 points in Game 4 and Wade added 32 as the Heat's top three players finally performed together. Then in Game 5, San Antonio became the first team to shoot at least 60 percent in an NBA Finals game since the Orlando Magic in Game 3 of the 2009 Finals. Green broke the all-time record for three-pointers in a Finals series, a record set by Allen himself in 2008. Ginobili, making his first start of the entire season, scored 24 points with 10 assists. The Spurs went on a 19-1 run at one point. San Antonio held a 3-2 series lead heading into Miami for Game 6.

• 5. The Headband Game

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  James lost his headband on a dunk with about nine minutes left in the fourth quarter of Game 6 and did not put it back on. Fans and media began calling it "The Headband Game." Heat fans have another name: "The Shot."

  The Spurs led 75-65 after three quarters. James then scored 11 of Miami's next 20 points as the Heat opened the fourth with a 20-7 run. With 10 minutes and 30 seconds left, Miller's shoe came loose. He had no time to put it back on, so he tossed it off the court. Playing with one shoe and one sock, Miller received a pass from James and hit a three-pointer to cut the deficit to four.

  With 2 minutes and 9 seconds remaining, Miami pulled ahead 89-86. Then Parker hit a stepback three and a reverse layup in consecutive possessions to put San Antonio back in front 91-89. Allen fouled Ginobili intentionally, and Ginobili made one of two free throws to push the lead to 93-89. With 28.2 seconds left and the Spurs up 94-89, the yellow tape was coming out. James missed a three. Wade and Allen tipped the ball around until Miller got a rebound and passed to James, who made a three to cut it to two with 20 seconds left. The Heat fouled Kawhi Leonard, who also missed one of two free throws. James then missed a 26-foot jumper.

  Bosh grabbed the offensive rebound and passed to Allen, who stepped backward to the right corner and released the tying three-pointer with 5.2 seconds left. Popovich had opted for a small lineup to defend the perimeter; Duncan was on the bench as both Heat three-pointers came off of rebounds. Parker received a de facto extra timeout while officials reviewed whether Allen's feet were behind the line, then drove the length of the court and airballed an off-balance jumper over James at the buzzer.

  In overtime, James hit a floater with 1 minute and 43 seconds left to give Miami a 101-100 lead. Allen stripped the ball from Ginobili on a drive, forcing a foul, and made both free throws to put Miami up 103-100. Bosh blocked Green's potential game-tying three in the final seconds to force a Game 7. James had 32 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds for his second triple-double of the series, matching what Magic Johnson had done in 1991 as the only player to record two triple-doubles in the same Finals. On the 17th of July, 2013, Game 6 received the ESPY award for Best Game.

• 6. Game 7 and What Followed

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  James scored 37 points with five three-pointers and 12 rebounds in Game 7. With 50 seconds left and San Antonio trailing by two after a Leonard three-pointer, Duncan missed a shot under the basket while guarded by Shane Battier, then missed the follow-up tip. James sealed it with a 17-foot jumper. The final score was 95-88.

  Wade scored 23 points and Battier contributed 18 on six three-pointers, offsetting scoreless nights from Bosh and Allen. James tied Tommy Heinsohn's record, set in 1957, for most points in an NBA Finals Game 7 win. He also joined Michael Jordan and Bill Russell as the only players to win consecutive regular-season and Finals MVPs. Miami became the fourth team to win the final two games at home under the 2-3-2 format since it was introduced in 1985; the others were the 1988 Lakers, the 1994 Rockets, and the 2010 Lakers. They were also the first repeat champions since those 2010 Lakers.

  For San Antonio, it was the first Finals loss in franchise history. For the NBA itself, it was the last Finals series under commissioner David Stern before his retirement in February 2014. Game 7 was also the last appearance in the Finals for future Hall of Fame swingman Tracy McGrady, who played a total of 14 minutes in two games and scored zero points. McGrady retired in August 2013. The series used the 2-3-2 home-court format for the last time; starting in 2014, the league returned to the 2-2-1-1-1 arrangement that had preceded it since 1985 was the last year under the old system.

  Game 6 drew a television audience of more than 20 million American households, and Game 7 peaked above 26 million. For the first time, ESPN Deportes provided exclusive Spanish-language coverage of the Finals, with Alvaro Martin, Carlos Morales, and Alejandro Montecchia calling the games. Miami would not see another major professional sports championship until the Florida Panthers defeated the Edmonton Oilers in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final.