15 Things We Learned from Game 6 of the NBA Finals

The entire series has been educational. We've learned that Mike Miller is occasionally capable of running without wincing in pain, we've learned that Danny Green is the best 3-point shooter in the league, that Tony Parker is very clutch, and that Dwyane Wade truly was faking injuries the entire postseason. Last night was the most educational yet, however, and this is what we all learned:

1. Mike Miller only needs one shoe to score. This was an awesome moment although it really wasn't that big of a deal.
2. Chris Bosh can defend perimeter jumpers. Even if you want to complain that the last one was a foul, the one he had earlier in the overtime period was as athletic a play as I've ever seen.
3. The Spurs need Danny Green. Despite having an off night, they still could have won, but it's clear how important he is.
4. LeBron James plays better with Dwyane Wade out. I think it's probably a combination of him being great off the dribble, having more space to work with, and being less likely to pass with D-Wade out. Most of the 4th quarter comeback happened this way.
5. Tim Duncan is still a god. While he was somewhat quiet in the second half, his first half was the best performance by anyone we've seen all series.
6. Ray Allen still has it. If the Heat go on to win the series, that 3 by Allen to force overtime will go down as one of the greatest shots in NBA history, and rightly so. Allen, at the end of his career and despite being a bench player, had a shot that Robert Horry or Michael Jordan would have been jealous of.
7. The Spurs play so much better when they go big. We saw it at the end of regulation, when Duncan wasn't in and the Heat cleaned up on the offensive boards.
8. LeBron James is clutch. It's been a misnomer for a while to say that he's not clutch; he undoubtedly brings his game up a notch during crunch time and has been outstanding with the Heat when they are facing elimination.
9. The Spurs should attack Mike Miller every possession on offense. I've said this for a while, but Miller's five fouls (admittedly one or two were more than questionable calls) show me that Miller doesn't have the speed or quickness to move his feet and stay with anyone. He relies on his body to slow down the offensive player, and that's where the foul is called.
10. Referees hate Manu Ginobili and I can't blame them. I'm not referring to the no-call at the end of overtime; I cannot possibly complain about that call, considering Ginobili committed one of the worst traveling violations I've ever seen. I'm referring to a few minutes earlier in the game when he was quite literally tackled to the ground after getting a rebound. He threw the ball away to Tony Parker right before he hit the ground but there was no call. Even if that's incidental contact, if the player with the ball hits the ground and either has a traveling violation or has to throw the ball away in desperation, that's gotta be called. Him not getting calls may have something to do with him being the worst flopper in history since either Reggie Miller or Allen Iverson. Good for the refs; that stuff has to stop.
11. Danny Green's transition defense is LeBron James' kryptonite. This is probably going too far, but the play he made on James that was completely CLEAN was incredible.
12. Tony Parker can flop with the best of them. The Ray Allen offensive foul was a good call. Parker clearly flopped but Allen also clearly pushed off. TP3 got another call in similar fashion, exaggerating it with his head going back. Still, though, those were both rightly called fouls. Sometimes you have to exaggerate when you know you should be getting a call, I guess.
13. Tiago Splitter isn't as bad as everyone has said he is. He may not be great, but he had some great buckets in the fourth quarter against tough, aggressive defense.
14. The referee's union should probably try and persuade ABC to not let Van Gundy call games. He's never once been satisfied with a referee's call and he lets everyone watching the game in their living rooms know about it.
15. The word "clutch" is overused by announcers and probably everybody. I don't know how clutch a 3 by LeBron James is after he bricks the first one in a way that it barely hits the rim. He was fed the ball and he made it the second time. I argue the same thing with Kawhi Leonard's free throws. It would have been clutch if he made both, but the announcer still claims it's clutch that he made his second after missing the first. Whatever.