NBA

LeBron melts down in 4th after AC goes out in San Antonio

SAN ANTONIO — The Heat faced all their expected adversaries Thursday in Game 1 of their long-awaited NBA Finals rematch with the Spurs: Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, coach Gregg Popovich.

And there were some other opponents, too, though these were unexpected: cramping, dehydration and a malfunctioning air conditioning unit.

Yes, the Spurs had to battle the same elements inside humid, torrid AT&T Center, where temperatures hovered above 90 degrees after a first-quarter malfunction. But it affected the Heat more as LeBron James missed all but 5:03 of the fourth quarter because of cramps.

“It’s frustration and anger, but at the same time, it’s something you try to prevent, you try to control,” James said. “I got all the fluids I need to get. I do my normal routine … I lost all the fluids I just put in the last couple days.”

And so “heat” took on a completely different meaning as the Spurs took advantage of James’ fourth-quarter absence and overcame their own ghastly array of 23 turnovers to claim a 110-95 victory, their first Finals step in their mission to avenge their collapse and loss in last year’s title round.

“I thought we played through it well,” said Duncan, who led five Spurs in double figures with 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. “It definitely affected both teams. It got to a couple different guys and cramps started setting in.”

And cramps drove James out for the final 3:59.

“It was the whole left leg, damn near the whole left side,” James said.

Duncan said, “Obviously, he’s one of the best players in the league. He’s going to make a difference. But we played through all that.”

“It was probably tough on both teams. Players were pretty dead,” Popovich said. “Everybody got a little tired or dehydrated for sure.”

But it hit James, who finished with 25 points, hardest. He first exited in the fourth quarter at 7:31 with the Heat up two. When he returned at 4:33, Miami trailed by four. James drove and made it a 94-92 game at 4:09 but never made it back down court, and he cramped badly. He limped to the bench with 3:59 to go and never returned, requiring an IV treatment after the game.

“LJ, at one point he was getting up with three and a half minutes to go and I looked at him and said, ‘Don’t even think about it,’ ” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said.

“I was going to try to give it a go and Spo said no,” James said. “After I came out of the game, they kind of took off and it was frustrating sitting out and not being able to help.”

With James sidelined, the Spurs outscored the Heat 16-3 over the final 3:50 to secure the win. The Spurs bagged 14 of 16 shots in the fourth quarter.

And there was one other point.

“We started taking care of the ball,” Duncan said.

Tony Parker, who had sat the second half of the sixth and last game of the Western Finals with a sore left ankle, started and scored 19 points for the Spurs. Manu Ginobili was big off the bench with 16 and Tiaga Splitter, the starting four, had 14 points. Wade had 19 points and Chris Bosh 18 for the Heat.

James had welcomed the challenge of opening on the road. But assume he figured he would be playing somewhere other than the Seventh Circle of Hell.

“It’s another opportunity for our team to be able to make a statement in a hostile building,” he said before the game. “We have an opportunity to play for the Finals, man, and this is everything we all dreamed of growing up and we’re blessed.”

Well, the building was hostile. And hot. The Spurs Sports and Entertainment group issued a statement about the situation.

“An electrical failure for the power that runs the AC system in the AT&T Center has occurred. We are continuing to work on resolving the problem. We apologize for any inconvenience.”

Hey, the least they could have done was hand out slushees.

The Heat had carved some separation in the back-and-forth affair early in the fourth quarter. Bosh scored a layup for an 82-79 lead at 10:10 and then, after a Spurs turnover, managed a four-point play, Duncan fouling, at 9:38. That put Miami up 86-79. But the Spurs bounced right back and were within two when Duncan scored inside at 7:37. James went to the bench and Miami was in deep trouble.

Duncan gave the Spurs a 92-90 lead with a layup. And Danny Green, who was huge in the fourth quarter, scoring 11 of his 13 points, followed with a fastbreak dunk. James scored for the final time and then Green drilled a 3-pointer (one of his three in the fourth quarter) for a 97-92 lead. Another 3-pointer, by Kawhi Leonard, proved to be the dagger when the score upped to 102-95 with 1:43 left.