Comeback falls short for Miami Heat vs. Spurs
Even with Michael Beasley's return from a two-game injury absence and Dorell Wright back from a two-game suspension, Miami couldn't get enough support to keep up early.
BY MICHAEL WALLACE
MIAMI -- In celebration of Hispanic heritage, the Miami Heat and San Antonio wore jerseys with their nicknames in Spanish.
Perhaps one word best describes what Los Spurs handed El Heat early at AmericanAirlines Arena: a paliza.
As far as severe spankings go, the Spurs built a 26-point lead in the first half with suffocating defense and squandered most of it before they recovered for an 88-76 victory.
Manu Ginobili had 22 points and Tim Duncan pushed through a poor night from the field to get 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Spurs, who have four in a row and eight of nine.
``We got beat in two departments,'' Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. ``One, any kind of effort, energy, toughness. And we did not execute defensively. They were sharp. You could tell. They jumped us.''
Even with Michael Beasley's return from a two-game injury absence and Dorell Wright back from a two-game suspension, Miami couldn't get enough support to keep up early.
Dwyane Wade rallied from a slow start to finish with 28 points, making 11 of 26 shots, but the Heat had only two other players score in double figures. Jermaine O'Neal had 13 points and Udonis Haslem got 10 points and 12 rebounds off the bench for the Heat (35-33), which had won six consecutive home games.
Miami shot just 38.5 percent from the field and missed 13 of 16 attempts from three-point range. The Spurs built their lead by dominating the Heat in the paint. San Antonio outrebounded Miami 17-9 in the first quarter and led 29-14 going into the second quarter. The Spurs got 20 of their first 29 points from the paint or at the free-throw line.
The Heat missed 16 of its first 21 shots and was a step slow on defensive rotations against Ginobili, Richardson Jefferson and George Hill, who drove on Miami at will.
The Heat didn't get going until it was too late to overcome the slow start. But it tried. Wade found his rhythm for a stretch, and the Heat used a 21-2 run to close to 71-65 midway through the fourth. But the Heat got cold again, and the Spurs got baskets from Ginobili, Jefferson and Duncan to pull away.
``That was a professional win for them,'' Beasley said. ``Against a team like that, you can't start off flat. You just can't expect to jump back in it.''
The Heat had carried its longest home-court winning streak of the season into Tuesday's game, and beat the Clippers, Bulls and 76ers to open a crucial six-game homestand. But the Heat ran into a different level of compe ion in the Spurs (40-25), who are fighting for playoff position in the Western Conference just as fiercely as Miami is in the East.
But despite having won eight of their previous 10 games, the Spurs arrived in Miami sitting seventh in the West.
Before the game, Spoelstra cautioned that the Spurs are hitting their stride after a sluggish start to the season. He even ran down a list of accolades.
``It's a winning program,'' Spoelstra said. ``They win with their defense, they win with efficient offense, they don't turn it over, they are a good-shooting team, and they don't make a lot of mistakes.''
The Spurs proved to be as good as advertised. San Antonio held the Heat to just 37 points in the first half, and had taken a 46-20 lead by the midway point of the second quarter.
The Spurs' offense was efficient enough to overcome 22 turnovers the Heat converted into 23 points. Hill had 16 points and Jefferson had 15.
Meanwhile, Wade's supporting staff struggled. Beasley, Wright, Quentin Richardson and Mario Chalmers combined to make 4 of 21 shots.
``The rhythm was off,'' Wade said. ``This game is better forgotten.''
Before the game, Spoelstra cautioned that the Spurs are hitting their stride after a sluggish start to the season. He even ran down a list of accolades.
``It's a winning program,'' Spoelstra said. ``They win with their defense, they win with efficient offense, they don't turn it over, they are a good-shooting team, and they don't make a lot of mistakes.''
We had 21 turnovers on this game, but we still managed to win because of good shooting. Good job spurs!
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