Seeking peak show, not a creak show

Your guess is as good as anything LeBron James can muster.

Which Miami Heat team will show up Tuesday for Game 3 of the NBA Finals? The one that looked tired, old and somehow boring in a Game 1 loss to San Antonio? Or the one that rode a 33-5 second-half run to an easy 103-84 Game 2 victory Sunday?

“I don’t know,” James said. “[Draw] whatever conclusion you want. It’s a 1-1 series. That’s the only conclusion I know.”

Then he added, “We look forward to Game 3.”

It’s an important one, as the series shifts to San Antonio for three in a row.

History shows that Game 3 has been the tipping point for practically every tied-up Finals. Since the NBA moved to the 2-3-2 format in 1985, a dozen Finals started with a 1-1 split.

The winner of Game 3 won 11 of those series. (The exception was Miami in the 2011 Finals against Dallas. After Miami won Game 3, the Mavericks swept the next three for the title.)

“Hopefully we can look forward to this Game 3 and regain some of our composure,” San Antonio forward Tim Duncan said Sunday night.

The stoic, always-solid Spurs looking to regain composure? Surprisingly so.

Duncan made three of 13 shots in Game 2. Tony Parker was five for 14, Manu Ginobili two for six.

Danny Green had the only good game of note for the Spurs, setting a Finals efficiency record by making all five of his three-point shots.

He also gave the Spurs their last lead, 62-61, with 3 minutes 50 seconds left in the third quarter. The game got out of control quickly from there.

“Being 1-1, it’s not bad,” Ginobili said after scoring only five points in Game 2. “But you don’t want to play like this in an NBA Finals. You don’t want to give them that much confidence, and you’re feeling bad about yourself.”

Probably very bad.

The Spurs’ trademark defense disappeared in a flurry of Miami makes, the Heat connecting on 12 of 13 shots during the run, including all five from three-point range.

Miami’s bench outscored the Spurs’ reserves, 40-32, marking the 17th time in 18 playoff games the Heat’s backups had more points than those of their opponents.

“That’s why they are the defending champs,” Parker said. “They have great role players and they played great [Sunday].”

Ray Allen had 13 points Sunday, Mike Miller and Chris Andersen nine each.

Point guard Mario Chalmers has often struggled to find his way among the Heat’s star-filled starting lineup, but Game 2 was not one of those nights. He blended in seamlessly, scoring a game-high 19 points, including two three-point plays during the run.

“That’s Miami Heat basketball,” Dwyane Wade said. “That’s the way we won all year, getting everyone involved, and that’s what we like to see.”

Wade would presumably also like to see Miami play better on the road after it lost its last two road games in the Eastern Conference finals by an average of 10.5 points to Indiana.

The Spurs are 6-1 at home in the playoffs and were 35-6 there in the regular season.

For what it’s worth, the Heat won its regular-season game in San Antonio, 88-86, on March 31 as James, Wade and Chalmers all sat out, leaving Chris Bosh to drill a three-pointer with 1.9 seconds to play.

Block to remember

Just as Parker’s late off-balance leaner defined Game 1, James’ block of a Tiago Splitter shot was the lasting image of Game 2.

Splitter came at the rim with a full surge of momentum and the ball cupped in his right hand for a dunk. He didn’t know what hit him after James snuffed the shot with his right hand with 8:20 left to play.

“I saw somebody coming,” Splitter told reporters. “I didn’t know who it was. It was so quick.”

James missed 11 of his first 13 shots and said he was trying to do something -- anything -- at that point.

“I just wanted to make an impact some way,” he said. “Offensively, it was a struggle for me. Couldn’t make a shot, missed layups. So I just wanted to make some plays and try to help our team. And I was able to protect the rim on that one.”

James straightened out somewhat on offense, making seven of 17 shots and finishing with 17 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

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mike.bresnahan@latimes.com twitter.com/Mike_Bresnahan