NBA Finals: San Antonio's bench outscores Miami in 98-96 loss

Photo Courtesy of Edward A. Ornelas-San Antonio Express-News

Although the power houses of the Miami Heat dominated game 2, tying up the series 1-1, the San Antonio Spurs' bench mob has really proved its worth in these series thus far. As compared to a combined scoring total of 12 points for Miami, the Spurs' reserve players outscored their opponents by 25 points with 37.

Forward Chris Anderson and shooting specialist Ray Allen were the only members of Miami who actually put up numbers with their roles off the bench. Long forgotten shooting guard James Jones saw to some playing time put nothing but a personal foul. Forward Udonis Haslem played 46 seconds and also managed to pick up a foul with his time on the court.  

San Antonio's bench consisting of Marco Belinelli, Boris Diaw, Manu Ginobili, and Patty Mills all stepped into the game and contributed early on, leaving only Matt Bonner (who played only 1:05 minutes) the odd one out of the scoring group who, like Jones, had only committed a personal foul.

Diaw had another fantastic game and almost had a double-double. His production continued when he came off the bench this evening by grabbing 10 boards, dishing out five assists, and scoring seven points in 32 minutes of action.

Ginobili is considered part of San Antonio's big three which means that his production is never really much of a surprise. He topped all reserve players with 19 points on 7-for-15 shooting. As what the great Charles Barkeley says Ginobili always plays like...GINOBILLIIIII!

Point Guard Patty Mills gave Tony Parker a couple of minutes to recover, picking up the tempo and pace of the game by running the ball to break open the Miami defense with his speed and ability to ignite a quick break off turnovers. Mills scored eight points off 3-for-7 shooting.

However, with a game where LeBron James is able to grab 10 boards along with his 35 points, it is quite difficult to beat the Heat. The Finals will resume on Tuesday, June 10 on ABC

See ya then!