After almost losing the ball “three, four times” and falling to his knee while maintaining his dribble (inset), Tony Parker managed to hit the game winning shot around LeBron James to give the Spurs a 92-88 win in Game 1. (NBAE/Getty Images; Reuters (inset))
MIAMI — LeBron James still can’t beat these Spurs — even with a triple-double.
King James said on the eve of the NBA Finals the Spurs had “championship DNA’’ and those genetics spilled all over the AmericanAirlines Arena floor last night.
San Antonio went fundamental on Miami last night. The Spurs committed a ridiculously low four turnovers, point guard Tony Parker hit a spectacular circus shot in the dying seconds and San Antonio stole Game 1 of the Finals in a 92-88 thriller by outclassing the Heat in the fourth quarter.
With the Spurs up two, Parker hit the shot of the playoffs, dribbling down the shotclock, fumbling the ball, falling to the court, getting back up and banking in a 16-footer. Parker just barely beat the 24-second shotclock. The shot silenced the arena and put the Spurs up by four with 5.2 seconds left after the play was reviewed to see if he got it off in time.
Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said it “seemed like a 26-second possession’’ and James, dogging Parker on the possession, was still shaking his head one hour after the final buzzer.
“[Bleep], man, you’re making me go back to that play,’’ James said. “Tony did everything wrong and did everything right on the same possession. He stumbled, fell over. I had a great contest and he had to double-pump. The longest 24 seconds I’ve been a part of.’’
“It felt forever,’’ Parker said. “It was a crazy play. I thought I lost the ball three, four times. I was just trying to get a shot up. It felt good when it left my hand.’’
Parker, with James marking him in the final minutes, finished with 21 points, six assists and two steals. Tim Duncan, after an 0-for-5 start, came on strong and finished with 20 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots.
“Unbelievable shot,’’ Duncan said of the Parker play.
James put up sizzling numbers — an efficient 18 points on 16 shots, 10 assists and 18 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough. He shot 7 of 16 from the field, but scored just six points in the fourth as San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard made it difficult. James was swept by the Spurs in the 2007 Finals when he was with Cleveland.
“Kahwi made him work,’’ Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.
“We had our chances to win,’’ James said. “It’s the first team to four. We’re going to have to a better game plan than we had in Game 1.’’
Miami shot just 5 of 18 in the final period. Dwyane Wade had a great start, but disappeared and finished with 17 points.
“We didn’t have it in the fourth,’’ Wade said. “They got a hard win, a tough win. Did we make it hard on us by losing the first one? Yeah, but our job is to come out strong Sunday.’’
Homecourt has been lost. Game 2 is Sunday before the series shifts to San Antonio for the next three games. The Spurs are three wins from their fifth NBA title.
The Spurs’ defense forced four Miami turnovers in the first eight minutes of the final period after the Heat had just four in the first three quarters. San Antonio trailed by 3 after three quarters before starting the fourth on a 16-7 run.
Long Island’s Danny Green hit a mammoth 3-pointer with 2:04 left to pump up the Spurs lead to 88-81. It was Green’s fourth 3-pointer of the night. The North Babylon product finished with 12 points in his Finals debut.
But he could have been the goat, too, after his foul on Ray Allen at the 3-point line. Allen made three free throws to cut the Spurs’ lead to two points, but Duncan got fouled on a hard drive and he answered with two free throws with 1:08 left for a 90-86 lead.
Even for a sound team like the Spurs, four turnovers was sensational. They committed one on the game’s first possession and it didn’t set the tone.
“It was a key coming in here, taking care of the ball,’’ Duncan said. “Their pressure defense is what they do.’’
Instead the pressure is all on the Heat.