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This was one of those games where you knew the Heat was going to come out hustling, and they did just that. Early on the shots weren't falling for Miami though, and that allowed the Spurs to grab an early 5-point lead. Soon after that, the Heat did begin to score more easily, and at the same time they were forcing some tough looks for San Antonio.
Over the last 4½ minutes of the quarter, Miami scored 11 straight points and went on a 13-2 run that put them up by six. Richard Jefferson hit a late triple that broke the Spurs 0-for-5 start from downtown, cutting the Heat lead to 22-19 at the end of the opening 12 minutes. Erik Spoelstra was certainly playing a matchup game, using 8 different players, including rarely used Jamaal Magloire in the absence of Zydrunas Ilgauskas.
Getting Miami going in the 2nd quarter was Chris Bosh, who scored 10 of their first 14 points. As a team the Heat started the quarter outscoring San Antonio 14-6, stretching their lead to 11. Over the rest of the half the Spurs never got closer then 9 points, and went into the break trailing the Heat by 10. Quite the difference from the first half of the last meeting between these teams, that's for sure.
Miami kept the petal to the medal as the 2nd half began, continuing to pound on San Antonio by playing physical defense and drawing fouls on offense. A team that averages committing about 18 fouls per game reached that total around the halfway point of the 3rd quarter. The Heat took a 14-point lead into the final quarter after surviving a late push by the Spurs.
The game wouldn't get closer, but instead Miami went on a 14-4 run that was punctuated by a pair of back-to-back dunks by LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. That sent the packed house inside the AAA into frenzy, as the Heat went up by 20 against the best team in the NBA. San Antonio made their final run when down by 22, scoring 7 straight to cut the lead to 15. The Heat followed it up by going on a 19-1 run that ended all thoughts about a Spurs comeback.
GAME NOTES
- The 80 points scored by the Spurs was their 3rd lowest point total of the season.
- After scorching the Heat from downtown in their last meeting, San Antonio hit just 6-of-22 from downtown last night.
- Mario Chalmers was a perfect 4-of-4 from the field, with a pair of triples, finishing with 11 points, 2 boards, 5 assists and 3 steals. It was his 10th straight game with a 3-pointer.
- The Heat won all 4 quarters of the game and has now won 9 consecutive quarters.
- Chris Bosh finished with his 2nd highest scoring total of the season, 30 points, adding 12 rebounds and shooting a perfect 10-for-10 from the charity stripe.
- As a team the Heat went 23-of-24 from the foul line.
- This was the 2nd straight game that Miami won by at least 30-points.
- Jamaal Magloire played a season-high 20 minutes, contributing 4 points, 7 rebounds and his first assist of the year. As usual, he provided a physical presence on both ends of the floor.
Before the game, Dwyane Wade was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week. He averaged 28.7 points on 50.8% shooting, 5.3 rebounds and 6.3 assists while leading the Heat to a 2-1 record. He responded against the Spurs by picking up 29 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks.