Reuters
MIAMI, April 1
The San Antonio Spurs are completely healthy at the moment, and it shows.
The reigning NBA champions disposed of the Miami Heat 95-81 on Tuesday night at AmericanAirlines Arena, cutting their magic number to clinch a playoff berth to one.
San Antonio (48-26) won its fourth straight game, getting a game-high 22 points and nine rebounds from small forward Kawhi Leonard, 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds from power forward Tim Duncan and 16 points and five assists from point guard Tony Parker.Meanwhile, the Heat - the team the Spurs defeated to win the 2014 title - used their 30th different starting lineup of the season, which tied a franchise record first set in 2007-2008.
The Heat finished that season 15-67.
Given that, Miami (34-40) is not doing too badly this season, even though its five-game home winning streak was snapped by the Spurs.
The Heat were led by point guard Goran Dragic, who had a team-high 19 points.
With five players out due to injuries, Miami had just 10 men available - and a few of those were banged up, too.
The good news for Miami was that centers Hassan Whiteside (right-hand laceration) and Chris “Birdman” Andersen (left-calf contusion) returned after each had missed three straight games due to injuries.
Whiteside, playing with a bandage on his right hand, had 10 points, six rebounds and two blocks off the bench.
In addition to those injury issues, small forward Michael Beasley played hurt with a right-elbow contusion. Had the Heat not been so banged up, Beasley likely would have sat out the game.
Miami missed its first 10 shots from the floor and trailed by six points before closing the first quarter with a 16-9 run, taking a 20-19 lead.
San Antonio led 47-42 at halftime. But the lead could have been bigger if not for a 60-foot, buzzer-beating shot by Heat guard Mario Chalmers, who closed the half with his straight-away swish.
Miami cut its deficit to one point early in the third period, but the Spurs closed out the quarter on a 20-10 run to take a 71-60 lead into the fourth.
San Antonio stretched its lead to 19 points in the fourth quarter before Miami closed to within 10 points at 85-75 with 3:32 left. But Parker’s baseline runner with the shot clock nearly expired squashed Miami’s momentum, and the Spurs cruised from there. Parker also hit a milestone, playing in his 1,000th NBA game. He joins Duncan as the only Spurs to reach that number,
However, among the NBA players who have competed in at least 1,000 games, Parker’s win percentage of .718 is the best, slightly ahead of Duncan’s .714 mark.
Parker said he had no clue he had reached that milestone until he started getting numerous texts from friends in his native France on Tuesday morning.
“I don’t follow my games played,” Parker said. “When they explained that I was No. 1 in win percentage and you see all the names and all the history of the NBA, it’s pretty cool. I feel blessed to have played with the Spurs.”
