Dwyane Wade Thinks the Miami Heat Were ‘Fatigued’ in Game 1 Loss


Coming off a grueling 7-game series against the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Miami Heat ran up against a fresh and well-rested San Antonio Spurs team in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. The resulting loss for the Heat, according to Dwyane Wade, was in part due to fatigue. Per the Miami Herald: “After leading for most of the game, the Heat’s shimmering offense collapsed in crunch time and Miami lost to the Spurs 92-88 to go down 1-0 in the best-of-7 championship on Thursday at AmericanAirlines. LeBron James finished with 18 points, 18 rebounds and 10 assists but it wasn’t enough to overcome key turnovers, a pitch-perfect defensive effort down the stretch by the Spurs and ridiculous trick shot by San Antonio dynamo Tony Parker with 5.2 seconds to play. ‘We had some mental mistakes,’ James said. ‘We played some really good basketball but in the fourth quarter we made some mistakes and this is one of the only teams you can’t have mistakes against.’ […] San Antonio took a three-point lead following a turnover by James with 6:06 to play. Ray Allen then missed a free-throw attempt and a layup by Tim Duncan gave the Spurs an 83-79 lead. Mario Chalmers then committed a key turnover and, after a stop by the Heat on the defensive end, the Spurs forced a 24-second violation. Moments later, Parker made a baseline jumper to put San Antonio ahead 85-79. ‘You can’t make no mistakes against them,’ Wade said. ‘I thought we were a little fatigued in the fourth quarter, honestly. We looked like a team that just came off a long seven-game series.’ The Heat went nearly 3 ½ minutes without a field goal and seemed doomed after Danny Green nailed a three-pointer with 2:11 to play to put San Antonio ahead by seven points. Green then made a fabulous error, fouling Allen on a three-point attempt, but the Heat could get no closer than two points. ‘We just didn’t get organized into what we wanted to do and we paid the price for that big time,’ head coach Erik Spoelstra said. ‘There’s a small margin of error on every possession and when you don’t make plays you pay the price … most of the fourth quarter probably hurt us more than anything.’ The Heat was outscored 23-16 in the final period with the Spurs’ starters outscoring the Heat’s first unit 23-8. Parker finished with 21 points and six assists. Duncan had 20 points and 14 rebounds. Wade scored 17 points, but just five of those points came in the second half.”