NBA: Spurs destroy Heat, set shooting record

The San Antonio Spurs welcomed the Miami Heat and the NBA Finals to town on Tuesday for Game 4 of their best-of-seven series. After their 19-point loss over the weekend in Miami, the Spurs were looking to get things back on track and in the process ran over the Heat in a 113:77 contest that included an NBA Finals record 16 three-pointers. Danny Green and Gary Neal combined for 51 points off 13 of 19 from behind the arc, to lead the Spurs to a 2-1 series lead. They’ll get together again for Game 4 on Thursday in San Antonio, with Game 5 to be held in San Antonio on Sunday.

The victory puts the Spurs’ Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker at 100 post-season wins (three NBA championships) second only to the Los Angeles Lakers’ Michael Cooper, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson, who combined for 110 wins and five NBA titles. Third on the list is Byron Scott, Johnson and Abdul-Jabbar with 93 wins, fourth is the Celtics’ Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parrish with 92.

The 36-point margin of victory was the third highest in NBA post-season history. In 1998 the Chicago Bulls beat the Utah Jazz 96:54 in Game 3 in Chicago and in 2008 the Boston Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 6 131:92 to win the title.

We got what we deserved. They got into an incredible rhythm, even in the first quarter. Every shot they wanted, they got. We did not disrupt them.
— Heat coach Erik Spoelstra

Not only did San Antonio set the NBA postseason record for the most three-points in a game, the did it in style, shooting 16 for 32 (50.0%). Green was game-high with 27 points, shooting 9 of 15 from the floor, including 7 of 9 from behind the arc. Neal was 6 of 10 from long range and ended with 24 points. Not to be outdone, Miami’s Mike Miller connected on 5 of 5 from the same distance, tallying 15 points.

Miami never led during the contest, even though the game was close for the first half. San Antonio got the first two points of the game, the Heat countered to tie things up at 2 and from there it was all San Antonio.

At the end of the first frame the hosts held a 24:20 advantage.

The Heat pulled to within a point early in the second frame, 27:26, but then five straight from the Spurs opened up a six-point margin. Shortly after the gap had grown to 10, 40:30. With a minute to play in the half, Miami once again pulled to within a point when Miller dropped his third triple of the contest, bringing the score to 43:42. Tony Parker split a pair of free throws and Dwayne Wade knotted the score at 44. Parker and Neal drained long-balls in the last 27 seconds to send the clubs to the locker rom for the break with the Spurs up 50:44.

To open the second 24 the Spurs went on a 9:2 scoring run to get up 13, 59:46. Not long after Miller hit his fourth three-ball and then the Spurs tallied 11 unanswered to get up 21, 73:52. LeBron James took over for Miami late in the frame knocked down a triple, two jumpers and a lay-up to cut the margin to 15 with 12 minutes left to play. As the set for the fourth quarter, the home club held a 78:63 advantage.

Any hopes of Miami making a comeback were erased early when Neal canned two long-balls in the first minute, then Green scored five and Leonard added a dunk for effect, putting the Spurs up 28, 91:63 with nine and a half minutes to play. As the fourth progressed and the lead grew, the San Antonio crowd of 18,581 were treated to a shooting exhibition of historical proportions. By the time the final buzzer sounded, not only had the Spurs set the NBA record for makes behind the arc at 16, the did it shooting just under 50% (43 of 88 – 48.9%) from the floor overall. San Antonio also outrebounded Miami 52-36.

Green’s 27 gives him a series-leading 56 points overall. In the first three games Green has dropped 16 of 23 (69.6%) from behind the arc Neal added 24 and now is tied for second on the Spurs with 41, along with Duncan. Only James has more points in the series (50) than Neal and Duncan. Kawhi Leonard added a 14P/12R double-double and Duncan had a 12P/14R double-double of his own, giving him 146 career double-doubles, second in NBA history only to Magic Johnson’s 157.

Wade led the Heat with 16 points, Miller added 15, James contributed a 15P/11R double-double. and Chris Bosh tallied a 12P/10R double-double of his own.

Game 4 will be held Thursday in San Antonio.