Provided by Sportsinteraction.com
Victory was in the hands of the San Antonio Spurs this weekend as they defeated Miami Heat in game 5 of the NBA Finals.
In a 104-87 victory, the game was particularly significant for the Spurs, who had bounced back from their heartbreaking defeat in the 2013 finals against ongoing rivals Miami Heat. Having scored just 88 points to Miami’s 95 in 2013, the Spurs upped their game to claim revenge over Miami, earning their first NBA Championship title since 2007.
The victory is the fifth for the Spurs, who won their first NBA final in 1999. With an impressive 22 points and 10 rebounds, Kawhi Leonard was awarded MVP, which he accepted with grace and modesty.
“Right now, it’s just surreal to me. I have a great group of guys behind me,” he said, shortly after accepting his award from 11 time winner Bill Russell. At just 22 years old, Leonard is the youngest finals MVP since former Spurs player Tim Duncan, who was awarded the prize in 1999.
FROM TEXAS TO BERLIN
The Spurs will be celebrating and enjoying some well deserved time off now before they begin their international games in October.
On October 8, the boys will be taking on Alba Berlin at the Berlin O2, while three days later they will be traveling to Turkey to take on Fenerbahçe in Istanbul’s Ulker Sports Arena as part of the NBA Global Games 2014 pre-season.
Spurs fans will pleased with their favorite team in the upcoming fall games, largely thanks to the Spurs’ favorable odds based on their previous performance. While the Spurs have a 100% winning rate, winning nine out of nine of their last games, Fenerbahçe have a 50% winning rate and Berlin have a 0% winning rate.
Berlin could prove a formidable opponent however ““ in the last two decades they have won a number of titles including the Korac Cup in 1995 along with eight domestic titles and seven national cup titles. In 2010, Berlin reached the Eurocup title game.
Meanwhile, Fenerbahçe boast more than 100 years of experience, having won four domestic titles in seven seasons as well as five national cup trophies. The team are also a worthy Euroleague challenger, regularly making it to qualifiers, and proving their worth as an international team.
If the Spurs want to uphold their reputation for the pre-season games, they would do well to take advantage of this well-earned rest and come back pumped for an amazing game of basketball.