NBA: Spurs build big first half lead, take game three on Heat’s home court

The San Antonio Spurs stole back homecourt advantage, winning at the American Airlines Arena in game three, 111-92, Tuesday (Wednesday, PHL time), as the Miami Heat couldn’t rally all the way back against their foes’ scintillating first-half shooting.

The Spurs' 75.8 FG percentage is HIGHEST by a team in any half of an NBA Finals game in shot-clock era.

— Numbers Never Lie (@ESPN_Numbers) June 11, 2014
 
 
 
 

Spurs are 1st team to score at least 70 points in 1st half of a playoff game since 1987 Lakers did it in this game http://t.co/pQXdqIeKCg

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) June 11, 2014
 
 
 
 

The Spurs shot an NBA-record 75.8 percent in the first half, and became the first to score at least 70 in the first half since 1987. That gave them a 71-50 lead at the break, and the road team held on to the end for a 2-1 series lead.

The Heat made it a 10-point affair anew after opening the fourth with five points, 90-80, but the Spurs answered with a 12-4 run for a 102-84 buffer. Rashard Lewis and Dwyane Wade tried to make things interesting, but by the time Tim Duncan and Tony Parker checked back in, the result was already in the books, and Miami fans were hitting the exits.

A 25-15 third period by the Heat kept the home team alive, as 10 unanswered made it 81-74, 1:59 remaining in the quarter. However, a Marco Belinelli trey ended San Antonio’s silence, then after a split at the line by Chris Andersen, Diaw added a 12-footer to get their advantage back up to double-digits.





Aided by a blistering run where they went without a miss from 5:05 left in the first quarter to the 6:23 mark in the second, the visiting side completed 25-of-33 from the field, 7-of-10 from downtown in the first half, highlighted by Danny Green and Leonard hitting 12-of-13 shots for a combined 31 markers.

The lead was as high as 25 points, 55-30, but a brace of triples from Rashard Lewis and Ray Allen got it to as low as 14, 62-48, 2:41 remaining in the second period.

In response, Tony Parker took over, scoring six and finding Boris Diaw for a triple, to get their lead over 20 points anew by the half, 71-50.

 Kawhi Leonard stole the spotlight with 29 points on 10-of-13 shooting, adding four rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks. Tony Parker and Danny Green added 15 points each, plus a combined seven assists and seven steals. Tim Duncan scored 14.

"An unbelievable game by Kawhi," Spurs guard Manu Ginobli told reporters. "He was sharp. He was attentive and he had a great game on both ends of the floor."

The Heat were led by the 22 points of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. Rashard Lewis scattered 14, 12 coming from three-pointers, while Chris Bosh was held to nine points though he made all four of his attempts.

Both teams finished shooting above 50 percent, with the Spurs just a shade under 60 percent, while the Heat made 51.6 percent. The road team also won the turnovers battle, making just 12, versus 20 by the defending champions.

"They came out in a different gear than we were playing at," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters.

"It just seemed that we were on our heels the most part of the first half. And then when we started to get to a different gear in the third quarter, it was just hard to change the energy of the game." - with a report from Reuters / AMD, GMA News


The scores:

SPURS 111 - Leonard 29, Parker 15, Green 15, Duncan 14, Ginobili 11, Diaw 9, Splitter 6, Mills 5, Belinelli 3, Baynes 2, Bonner 2, Ayres 0, Joseph 0

HEAT 92 - James 22, Wade 22, Lewis 14, Allen 11, Bosh 9, Cole 8, Andersen 3, Chalmers 2, Douglas 1, Oden 0, Jones 0, Battier 0, Haslem 0

San Antonio    41-30-15-25
Miami              25-25-25-17