SAN ANTONIO — Heat coach Erik Spoelstra sat down at the podium, looked out at the media and delivered a brief opening statement.
“Well, we got what we deserved,” he said.
That summed up the way Spoelstra’s team played in a resounding 113-77 Spurs victory in Game 3 of the Finals, one that put San Antonio up 2-1 in the series.
After trailing 50-44 at halftime, the Spurs outscored the Heat 63-33 in the second half, including a 29-11 run spanning the third and fourth quarters that clinched the victory.
“We’re kidding ourselves if we’re going to point at the 77 points,” Spoelstra said. “You have to play both ends … but we got what we deserved.
“They got into an incredible rhythm, and we were playing from behind from virtually the start.”
San Antonio’s stellar performance, however, was dampened by a right hamstring injury to star point guard Tony Parker, who finished the game with just six points to go along with eight assists.
“Hopefully it’s not anything big, and it’s just cramping or got tight on me,” said Parker, who is scheduled to have an MRI exam today. “It was just a weird feeling, and I wanted to make sure with the [doctors that] it was OK.”
Though the Heat never got started in this one, the symbol for their ineptitude was LeBron James. Despite finishing with a respectable line of 15 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, a closer look at the numbers left plenty to be desired for the world’s unquestioned best player.
James finished the game just 7-for-21 from the floor, including 1-for-5 from 3-point range, and was a career-worst minus-32 when he was on the floor. In addition, James didn’t take a free throw — something that hadn’t happened in years — as San Antonio’s strategy of playing off of James and forcing him to settle for jump shots proved successful, as the Spurs held him under 20 points for the third straight game in the series.
“Well, honestly, I just have to play better,” James said. “I can’t have a performance like tonight and expect to win.
“I’ve got to shoot the ball better, make better decisions, and I will get into the film and see ways that I can do that.
“I’m not putting blame on anybody. I’m owning everything that I did tonight.”
But for as out of sorts as the Heat were, the Spurs were equally on fire. San Antonio was led by a unlikely combination, as Danny Green and Gary Neal — a pair of journeymen — combined to score 51 points and shoot 13-for-19 from 3-point range. The Spurs finished with an NBA Finals -record 16 3-pointers.
Green, in particular, was scorching, finishing with 27 points on 9-for-15 shooting — including 7-for-9 from 3-point range — while also playing effective defense on James and Dwyane Wade, who finished with 16 points on 7-for-15 shooting to lead the Heat.
“I got comfortable, hit a couple shots and got lucky,” said Green, 16-for-23 from 3-point range in the Finals, with a smile. “My teammates found me. … Hopefully we can continue to shoot the ball as well as we did tonightthe next game … andplay good defense and hopefully they continue to struggle a little bit.”