The San Antonio Spurs came out with a fire lit beneath them, racing out to a 21-point halftime lead en route to a 111-92 victory in Game 3 of the 2014 NBA Finals.
The Spurs regained home-court advantage, and it wasn’t because of their big three. Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard and Boris Diaw borrowed the reigns from Tony Parker, Manu Ginobli and Tim Duncan to play a critical role in taking a 2-1 lead in the series.
San Antonio shot a record 86.7 percent from the floor in the first quarter, then finished the half with a 75.8-percent mark in the half.
You know your team is on the brink of history when even the toughest shots are being made. Here’s Ginobli’s 3-point buzzer-beater bouncing in as the first half came to a close.
After foul trouble kept him out of the action in the first two games of the Finals, Leonard scored a career-high 29 points, including a 10-of-13 mark from the field and three 3-pointers.
Leonard was feeling it last night, finally flexing his offensive muscle.
“I just was in attack mode,” Leonard said, via ESPN. “Trying to be aggressive early. Just knocking down a couple of shots got me going. My teammates found me. They did a good job of getting me involved.”
And then there was Green. Not only did Green make the Heat pay from the perimeter, but he showed off his defensive prowess as well.
Green finished with 15 points and tied LeBron James for a game-high five steals. He specifically took advantage of Dwyane Wade in the first half, turning defense into Spurs baskets.
