The Miami Heat were already getting their asses whupped. The San Antonio Spurs were passing the ball like the Harlem Globetrotters and shooting the ball like they knew all the hot spots on Double Dribble. I'll admit it, at some point this started to get partly sad and partly hilarious as Erik Spoelstra's boys had no answer, and what's worse is that it looked like they had no desire to try and find said answer.
Then Kawhi Leonard happened.
I'm sorry if you couldn't witness this play live and in living color, because it was such a flash and random occurrence that it was quite startling.
You know what was more startling? After this hellacious put-back dunk, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade both went to the rim and subsequently missed layups. They weren't really even close. I'm not sure if this is the beginning of the end of the 2014 Miami Heat, but if there was ever a substantial moment to mark when we knew it was the end then it'd be this moment.
Eddie Maisonet is the founder and editor emeritus of The Sports Fan Journal. Currently, he serves as an associate editor for ESPN.com. He is an unabashed Russell Westbrook and Barry Switzer apologist, owns over 100 fitteds and snapbacks, and lives by Reggie Jackson’s famous quote, “I am the straw that stirs the drink.”
