With the series shifting to San Antonio, the Spurs laid down one of the biggest beatings in NBA Finals history over the Heat behind a Finals record 16 three-pointers. Even without contributions from their veterans, San Antonio had little trouble defending their home court on Tuesday night.
San Antonio routs Miami at home in 113-77 win
Teams have been soundly beaten plenty of times in the NBA Finals, but absolutely manhandled? Very rarely. That’s what happened on Tuesday, though, as the San Antonio Spurs dominated the Miami Heat, 113-77.
When you consider the final score, it’s actually a bit of a surprise that the Heat were ever in the game. But Miami played San Antonio closely in the first half, trailing by only six at halftime. They never led, but the score was tied with only 37 seconds left in the half before two late San Antonio three-pointers.
The second half was a different story, though. The Spurs opened the third quarter with a 9-2 run and later used an 11-0 run to blow things wide open in the same quarter. They weren’t done there, and won the fourth quarter 35-14.
For Miami, it was another subpar night for several players. As I’ve mentioned before, ringleader LeBron James hasn’t scored much in the series, but has averaged 13 rebounds and 8.5 assists per night. He led the team in rebounding with 11, but had only 15 points on a weak 7-21 shooting night. James has been off his game and is a big reason why Miami finds themselves trailing 2-1 in the series. Chris Bosh had a solid game with a double double (12 points and ten rebounds), but shot only 4-10 from the field.
James also failed to get to the free throw line in the entire game. He appeared passive much of the time and there’s no way that a player expected to do so much can go an entire night without getting to the line. One point that shouldn’t be forgotten is that it wasn’t just on Tuesday – James has struggled to get to the free throw line all series and has only six attempts. He has to be far more aggressive in driving to the basket instead of settling for jump shots.
It wasn’t just the stars that had bad nights for Miami. Udonis Haslem and Mario Chalmers threw up a ginormous goose egg, shooting a combined 0-7 from the field and scoring no points. They also combined for only five rebounds and a single assist. The game was particularly disappointing for Chalmers, who led the Heat in scoring in Game 2.
Dwyane Wade led the Heat with 16 points.
Like Miami, San Antonio didn’t get much from their star veterans. Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili combined for only 25 points on the night. But the Spurs had big nights from behind the arc from a couple of role players in Danny Green and Gary Neal. Green had a second straight quality game, leading the team in scoring with 27 points, including an incredible 7-9 performance from three-point range. And the backup Neal added 24 points and also hit 6-10 of his three-pointers. Altogether, the team hit 16 three-pointers, setting an NBA Finals record. The Spurs are tough to defeat as it is, but when they get two nights like that from role players, they’re going to nearly unbeatable.
Another big advantage for the Spurs came on the glass. San Antonio outrebounded Miami 52-36 on the night.
Things weren’t all rosy for the home team, though. Tony Parker, who had a rough night shooting the ball, also went out in the third quarter with an apparent hamstring injury. He returned only briefly in the fourth and his status for Game 4 is unknown. Head coach Gregg Popovich had no information on the injury … or wasn’t willing to divulge any. Parker said afterwards he would have an MRI on Wednesday. Even if he suits up in the next game, he may not be 100%.
One thing that’s not gotten enough attention? Miami has been horrible playing in San Antonio. The Heat are a dismal 3-22 on the Spurs’ home court and have never won a postseason game there.
Game 4 will be on Thursday in San Antonio.
