MIAMI – With the final week of the NBA season now here, ticket prices are going into overdrive.
The online ticket resale site StubHub showed just about 3,000 tickets were available for purchase on the secondary markets in Miami for Game 6 of the NBA Finals between the Heat and the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday night.
Standing-room only prices were bottoming out at $185. For an actual seat, the lowest price was $199. The cheapest seat in the lower bowl of the arena was going for $475.
And for courtside seats, the average price for what was available was about $23,000 — apiece. Somehow, they were far below the highest asking price.
There even was a pair of seats, 25 rows from the court, listed for $80,000 apiece. During the season, those same seats might be available for around $100 each.
If Miami wins on Tuesday and forces a winner-take-all Game 7 on Thursday night, supply and demand clearly kick into effect.
There's already much less inventory available for purchase online for Game 7, with the lowest in-the-door price being $385, or more than double what it is for Game 6.
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ALLEN FOR EIGHT: Ray Allen for 3, that happens on a regular basis. After all, the Miami Heat guard is the NBA's all-time leader in shots made from beyond the arc.
Allen — or anyone else, really — for 4, that's still rare.
So then, Allen for 8?
Allen became the 13th player in NBA Finals history to make a four-point play when he connected on a 3-pointer while getting fouled in Game 5 of the series at San Antonio on Sunday night. That came when he got fouled by Tony Parker.
And for good measure, he did it again later in the game, making another 3-pointer while getting fouled by the Spurs' Danny Green, who broke Allen's record for most overall 3-pointers in a Finals.
There have been two four-point plays in the same Finals game before — with the Heat also involved in those — but never two by the same player. Jerry Stackhouse (fouled by Dwyane Wade) and Josh Howard (fouled by Antoine Walker) both had them in Game 2 of the 2006 series for the Dallas Mavericks.
There was just one four-point play in last year's finals, coming when Derek Fisher converted for Oklahoma City while getting fouled by Miami's Mario Chalmers in Game 3.
Besides Allen, Stackhouse, Howard and Fisher, the other NBA players with a four-point play in a Finals game are Andrew Toney, Scott Wedman, Toni Kukoc, Hersey Hawkins, Glen Rice, Reggie Miller, Manu Ginobili, Paul Pierce and Kobe Bryant.
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BEEN DONE BEFORE: Three teams have gone into Game 6 of the NBA Finals on their home court down 3-2 in the series, and wound up winning the championship.
The Los Angeles Lakers (coached then by current Heat President Pat Riley) did it against Detroit in 1988. The Houston Rockets did it in 1994 against the New York Knicks (the Knicks were also coached by Riley). And the Lakers did it again in 2010, toppling the Boston Celtics.
"This is the reason that you play 82 games, to get home-court," Heat forward Chris Bosh said. "And we have to defend home-court."
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COMMISH SOAKS IT UP: Commissioner David Stern opened his last NBA Finals with a press conference before Game 1 in which he expressed hesitancy to do much reflecting on his three decades in charge, or presiding over his last championship series.
As he walked around AT&T Center before Game 5, he couldn't help but smile a little bit as he soaked it all in and considered what it's all meant.
"I have the best job in the world and I have the best colleagues in the world and they're ready to take it to the next level," Stern said. "I'm going to miss a little bit being at the center of it, but I'm going to continue working internationally to grow the game on a global basis and watch the success of my friends and colleagues at the NBA."
Stern will step down next February, handing the reins to Adam Silver. During an appearance on NBA TV before the Spurs beat the Heat, Hall of Famer Charles Barkley reiterated his long-stated belief that Stern is the best commissioner in American pro sports history. Never one to be sheepish, Stern did seem taken aback by the public gesture.
"Honestly I'm a little bit embarrassed by it," Stern said. "We know when I took over the average salary was $250,000. Now it's $5.5 million. It's not because of me. But on my watch that happened. And I think the guys that were there for the whole time appreciate the growth."
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MOVES LIKE BOWEN: After Danny Green hit six more 3-pointers to break Ray Allen's record for 3-pointers in an NBA Finals series, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was asked if he saw any similarities in the paths Green and former defensive stopper Bruce Bowen took to the NBA.
Both took circuitous routes to get to the Spurs, and both would emerge as reliable spot-up shooters and strong defenders. Bowen was considered an elite defender in his day with the Spurs, while Green is shooting the 3 better than anyone has in finals history.
"I guess they both are similar in the fact that neither one of them has any moves," Popovich deadpanned. "They just shoot it. They don't really dribble or do anything else. They just shoot it. So in that sense, they are kind of similar."
To be fair, Green did score on a couple of backdoor cuts near the basket, but there is no doubt that he has done most of his damage by hanging out around the perimeter and waiting for the ball to swing to him.
"I've been getting lucky," Green said. "I was moving around a lot. Our transition helps us, our pace. Tony penetrating and Manu penetrating, making the defense collapse is the reason why I've been getting open. Luckily a couple have dropped for me."
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AP Basketball Writer Jon Krawczynski contributed to this story.
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