SAN ANTONIO — In their first home game against Miami since losing a heart-wrenching, seven-game NBA Finals, the Spurs handed the Heat their worst loss of the season.
Tim Duncan had 23 points and 11 rebounds, and the Spurs never trailed against the Heat in an intense 111-87 victory Thursday.
The rematch brought out a raucous sold-out crowd and sparked high emotions from both teams. Players dived recklessly for loose balls and yelled at officials, while Spurs coach Gregg Popovich often screamed at his own players.
“I’m sure this has some special meaning, to say something different would be silly,” Popovich said.
LeBron James, who ditched the protective mask he was wearing over his broken nose early in the first half, was hounded by Kawhi Leonard into shooting 6 for 18 and finished with 19 points.
The Spurs didn’t do anything different defensively than they had in the past, James said, but the NBA did. The four-time MVP said the short-sleeved, tight-fitting “El Heat” jerseys Miami had to wear are not conducive for shooting.
“I’m not making any excuses, but I’m not a big fan of the jerseys,” James said. “So I have to figure something out next time I have to wear the short-sleeve jerseys. Every time I shoot, it feels like it’s just pulling right up underneath my arm. I already don’t have much room for error on my jump shot anyways, so it’s definitely not a good thing.”
James got rid of the mask that protected his broken nose with four minutes left in the first quarter.
“I don’t like it,” James said. “It’s that simple; just got frustrated with it early on so I took it off. It didn’t help me, taking it off. It’s probably a game-to-game thing.”
He missed his first two attempts sans mask, tossing up a wild 14-footer that banged off the front of the rim and backboard, then botching a reverse layup. His first mask-free basket was a 5-foot running floater over Leonard with 6:26 left in the half.
“(Leonard) was a pest,” Duncan said. “That’s what we need him to be. He stuck his hand in there, knocked some balls away, got some steals, he contested shots. I think he did a great job overall in every aspect.”