Miami Heat Return Home For Games 3 & 4 Of NBA Finals
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Following their win in Game 2 of the NBA Finals the Miami Heat left San Antonio with exactly what they had been hoping for, a split of the first two games. Now the Heat return to Miami and begin preparing for the Game's 3 and 4 of the Finals to be played at the American Airlines Arena.
The Heat have won all eight home games during the 2014 Playoffs and going back to last season, have won 11 postseason games in a row played in Miami.
"We always have supreme confidence at home," said Chris Bosh on Monday. "Our fans have been outstanding this postseason."
Now the Heat will look to continue their dominance inside the triple-A and take control of the NBA Finals. If Miami can keep their unblemished home record intact over the next few days the Heat will put themselves in prime position to complete their quest for a 3-peat.
With all the home success that Miami has had during the playoffs they have still maintained their ability to get wins while playing on the road. The Heat's Game 2 win in San Antonio meant that Miami has now gotten a road win in 16 consecutive playoff series', a new NBA record.
"When you get to this level it really doesn't matter, you're playing the best home and road team," Bosh added. "There is a homecourt advantage but there is also a neutral kind of feel to it because [the Spurs are] more than capable of winning on our court just like we won on theirs."
As the series now shifts back to Miami the question will be whether the Heat will continue to look as good at home as they have throughout the playoffs. With each passing series the competition level has grown and the Spurs will provide a tougher test then any Miami has faced so far.
While the Heat's home record is something that indicates a true homecourt advantage, nobody on the team would say that the wins have come easily.
"It's not easy to do at all, we just try to protect home," LeBron James explained. "We understand that it's going to be tough. Going against a San Antonio team that's beat us here on our home floor in the Finals before and we know that. We look forward to the challenge."
San Antonio took down the Heat in Game 1 of the 2013 Finals, a game that was played in Miami. That was the last time the Heat lost a playoff game at home.
During this year's playoffs the Spurs haven't had the kind of road success they would like to, winning only three of eight games played away from San Antonio. Even with that being the case, nobody in the Heat locker room will be paying much attention to anything the Spurs have done in the past. Everybody is well aware of what San Antonio is capable of.
"We're thrilled to be at home [but] it doesn't guarantee anything," said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. "We love playing in front of our home fans but we understand when you're playing at an elite level like this, in the Finals against elite competition, it really is more of a mentality first one to four [wins], wherever you have to win them."
If the Heat can preserve its spotless record at home then when the Finals shift back to San Antonio for Game 5, Miami could find itself just one win away from completing the journey for a third consecutive NBA Championship.
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