There are a hundred fascinating storylines coming out of Game 6 of the NBA Finals, one of the greatest games in NBA history. The final sequence of regulation, when the Miami Heat came back from a five-point deficit in the final 22 seconds, will be remembered forever. Just as important, however, was the three-minute stretch at the start of the fourth quarter, when the Heat went on a 12-5 run that set up the the nail-biting finale. In a series this competitive, the game can swing that quickly.

Before that run, things looked pretty bleak for Miami. After getting out to an early lead in the first half, they were pretty convincingly outplayed by the San Antonio Spurs over the next 16 minutes. They were down 75-65 at the end of the third, as LeBron James and Dwyane Wade were completely flustered by the Spurs collapsing defense. With their season on the line, Erik Spoelstra played the last card in his deck, a lineup he had kept in mothballs since Game 2.

He moved Wade and Chris Bosh to the bench, leaving four role players around LeBron. It was the Platonic ideal of a 4-out offense: what the Heat lacked in starpower, they made up in shooting. Their best shooters -- Ray Allen, Mike Miller and Mario Chalmers -- were spread out along the three-point line. Chris “Birdman” Andersen, after not playing in Games 4 or 5, was back to his normal role as the backup center, adding more length, athleticism and finishing ability next to LeBron.

Gregg Popovich, meanwhile, was trying to buy a few minutes with his second unit. In the five minutes Tim Duncan sat in the first half, San Antonio was -6. He was having a throwback game on both sides of the ball, but at the age of 37, there was no way he could go the entire second half without a rest. Joining him on the bench was Tony Parker, who had played the entire third quarter. Without his two best players, Pop was hoping to play Miami to a draw for as long as possible.

The value of spacing for the Heat offense was apparent immediately. On the first play, LeBron drew the switch on Tiago Splitter, drawing the Spurs defense and kicking the ball to Mario Chalmers in the corner. The extreme confidence Chalmers plays with often gets him in trouble, but there’s few players you would rather have taking 3’s in a close game. As he’s done his whole career, he answered the bell when he got an open shot in the fourth quarter.

Without Parker or Duncan on the floor, San Antonio wound up with Boris Diaw isolated on Mike Miller in the high post. Diaw, who didn’t play in Game 4, has been a revelation in the last two games, frustrating LeBron defensively and serving as a secondary playmaker on offense. At 6’8 235, his size and feel for the game allows him to create passing lanes most can’t even see. Isolation offense has never been his strong point, however, as he threw up an awkward hook that didn’t have much of a chance.

On the other end of the floor, Diaw gave LeBron as much a cushion as possible. LeBron backed the ball all the way out to the halfcourt line, giving himself a running start to attack Diaw and Tiago Splitter on the pick-and-roll. Splitter is a solid two-way 7’0 who could start for a lot of NBA teams, but he doesn’t have the footspeed or anticipation to contain LeBron coming off screens. LeBron needed two steps to blow by him and get an easy shot off the glass.

As the only big man on the floor, Splitter began the Spurs' offense by screening for Manu Ginobili. Rather than giving up dribble penetration, Miami has been trapping the pick-and-roll all series, leaving the Spurs big men to make plays behind them. Splitter, who started most of the season, has seen his playing time cut in the Finals, precisely because he struggles to finish over the aggressive Heat defense. He was ready this time, rolling to the rim, corralling a wild Ginobili pass and beating Chalmers with a lefty hook.

The next time down, in another sequence that will be remembered for a long time, Miller found himself open after losing his shoe. At 26, he averaged 18 points, five rebounds and four assists a game. Injuries turned him into a bit player as his career progressed, but the Big Three made him their first big free agent target in 2011. For the second straight year, he’s been resurrected in the Finals, where he’s shot 79 percent from three. Shoeless or not, there was little doubt when LeBron found him for an open look from deep.

The Spurs responded as they always do, running a pick-and-roll at the top of the key. This time it was Danny Green, their unlikely hero through the first five games, with Splitter. Once again, the Heat sold out on the dribbler, leaving Splitter open behind them. Three years ago, he was the MVP of the ACB, the second-best league in the world. In his eight minutes in Game 6, the Spurs were -13. At the highest level of the game, every weakness is exposed. Neither coach went more than eight-deep on Tuesday.

Splitter’s second basket was a minor miracle in itself, a spinning hook shot off the glass. Pop, recognizing found money when he saw it, sent Duncan to the scorer’s table. That left Splitter protecting the rim for one more possession, where he stayed with Birdman while Chalmers and LeBron ran a pick-and-roll. He was two steps late on his rotation, giving LeBron a free run at the rim. That sent the Miami crowd into a frenzy, with a monstrous dunk cutting the lead to four.

Ginobili drew a shooting foul the next time down, allowing Duncan to check back in. He made an immediate impact, choking off a drive from LeBron and forcing Chalmers to take an impossible fadeaway. Unfortunately for San Antonio, no one got a body on LeBron on the airball. He soared for a putback slam, losing his headband in the process. The legend of the headband may grow with time, but the real story was the spacing LeBron had in those 3 minutes, when the Heat whittled a 10-point lead down to one possession.

While there was a lifetime’s worth of dramatic plays from there, that sequence was the turning point that saved the season and possibly the entire grand experiment on South Beach. It was Peak LeBron, as a spread floor and ineffective rim protector allowed him to dominate the action. He got into the lane at will, with the other four players serving as hyper-efficient release valves. In a similar stretch in Game 2, the same lineup blew San Antonio off the floor, going on a 19-2 run in four minutes.

Headed into Game 7, Pop will have to figure out an adjustment for it. Spoelstra, meanwhile, will have to think long and hard about getting LeBron more minutes without Wade on the floor, which creates the space he needs to take over. It may have unimaginably high historical stakes, but Game 7 is still just a basketball game that will be decided one possession at a time. On Thursday, every minute will be precious and every player who steps on the floor will help decide the outcome.