Spurs didn’t do much missing in the opening half at the AA Arena.
The San Antonio Spurs took a 2-1 series lead in the NBA Finals 2014, and they secured it with a spectacular first-half performance in Miami on Tuesday night.
While the Heat did make a comeback of sort in the second half to close the gap between the two teams, it was the shooting display in the opening two quarters from the visitors which ultimately did the damage for the hosts as they were unable to recover.
Kawhi Leonard scored a career-high 29 points while the Spurs made a Finals-record 75.8 percent of their shots in the first half in a 111-92 victory over the Heat at the AA Arena.
San Antonio made 19 of their first 21 shots and finished 25-for-33 in the first half as they led by as many as 25 as LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, both scoring 22 point apiece, threatened to at least make the game competitive.
“I just found a rhythm, and my teammates found me the ball. I made shots,” Leonard said.
Meanwhile, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich insisted that he isn’t expecting his team to shoot 76 percent in a half ever again, but they undoubtedly saved it for a key game having dropped Game 2 at home on Sunday night.
Popovich’s opposite number, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, conceded that their rivals came out at a different gear to them and that their run in the third quarter was too late in coming in order to make the match-up more interesting.
Miami have made a habit of bouncing back from losses in the post-season, and they will have to do so again ahead of Game 4 on Thursday night, but with Leonard being more aggressive on the offensive end, they will need to make adjustments to better cope with another scoring threat.
NBA results:
San Antonio Spurs 111-92 Miami Heat
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