Miami Heat edge past San Antonio Spurs sans Parker, Duncan and Ginobili – NBA Recap
The Miami Heat won their fifth straight game here on Thursday night when they defeated the visiting San Antonio Spurs 105-100 in an exciting game at the American Airlines Arena. The Spurs played the game without their big three in Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili as they were not with the team for reasons yet to be released by the team. In their absence, the young guns of the team took the fight to the defending champions and played well beyond the expectations to put up a great fight. LeBron James led the Heat from the front yet again, finishing with 23 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists. Chris Bosh added 18 points and 12 rebounds for the team where as Ray Allen came off the bench to score 20 points. Gary Neal came off the bench to lead the Spurs in scoring, finishing with a team high 20 points and 7 assists. Tiago Splitter scored 18 points and 9 rebounds where as Matt Bonner finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Miami came out firing on all cylinders as usual, and back to back three pointers by James and Rashard Lewis had them leading 16-6 at the 6:29 mark. However, the Spurs young guns, eager to make a mark in the game and impress their demanding coach, replied in amazing fashion by opening a barrage of three pointers to go on a 13-2 run to end the period and lead the Heat 27-22.
Miami quickly overcame the deficit early in the second period, and a layup by Ray Allen had them trailing 30-32. The Spurs however, managed to remain on top and a layup by Splitter later in the period had them leading 42-38. Miami finally regained the lead through a layup by James, and Bosh scored back to back field goals to end the period and put Miami up 47-44 at the halftime break.
A three pointer by Mario Chalmers followed by a put back dunk by Bosh had the Heat leading 54-50 early in the third period, but Nando De Colo scored a three pointer and had the Spurs down by 1. De Colo then scored a layup to give the Spurs the lead, and Boris Diaw followed with a three pointer to have the Spurs leading 62-60. The Spurs then closed the period on a 6-0 run and led 76-73 entering the final quarter.
The game was tied at 83 through a free throw by Splitter with 7 minutes left in regulation, as both teams braced for an exciting finish. The Spurs then went on a 9-2 run and extended their lead to 92-85, but back to back free throws by James and Allen had the Heat back within 2. Wade then made a driving layup and Allen followed with a clutch three pointer as the Heat took a 100-98 lead with 22 seconds left. The Spurs then committed a crucial turnover on the next possession after which they were forced to commit fouls on the Heat team. Miami scored their final free throws and eventually won 105-100.
San Antonio shot 45 percent from the field but were only 32.3 percent from three point range. Miami shot better than the Spurs had only 10 turnovers in the game against the Spurs 19.
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