SAN ANTONIO: Some torrid fourth-quarter shooting led by Danny Green lifted the San Antonio Spurs to a come-from-behind 110-95 victory over the Miami Heat in the opening game of the NBA Finals yesterday.
Green scored 11 of his 13 points in the final period as the Spurs hit 14-of-16 shots, including all six from beyond the arc, turning a seven-point deficit into a runaway victory.
In the final quarter, Green made all three of three-point attempts to key a 31-9 run to end of the game.
Tim Duncan, who led the Spurs with 21 points, said taking care of the ball made the difference down the stretch. San Antonio had 22 turnovers but was dazzling when it counted.
“We took care of the ball finally,” he told reporters. “We had 20-some odd turnovers for 28 points. The last seven or eight minutes we only turned the ball over once or twice.
“Getting them out of the passing lanes, keeping them in front of us, making them score over us, and we found something that worked on the offensive end. “We started moving the ball and Danny Green got hot and hit a couple of shots and really opened it up for us.”
LeBron James paced the Heat with 25 points but played only five minutes in the final quarter due to leg cramps.
An electrical outage caused the air conditioning to fail at the AT&T Center, creating steamy conditions for both players and fans. James hit a lay-up with four minutes left to pull Miami within 94-92 but was forced to the bench with his leg issues.
“It sucks at this point in time in the season,” said James. “After I made that layup we was down two and, you know, as well as they played we still had a chance.
“After I came out of the game, they kinda took off. And it was frustrating sitting out and not be able to help our team.” REUTERS
