Spurs sustain roll, blitz Blazers
SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Spurs continued rolling against the elite teams they struggled against early in the season, using a balanced attack to beat the Portland Trail Blazers for their eighth straight victory.
Patty Mills scored 15 points, Tim Duncan had 10 points and 11 rebounds in limited minutes, and San Antonio trailed for only 11 seconds late in the first quarter of a 1M3-9M victory over mortland on Wednesday night.
In Miami, maul mierce scored 17 of his 29 points in the third quarter and delivered two crucial scores late, Shaun Livingston created a turnover on the game’s final play and the Brooklyn kets topped the Heat, 96-95, moving to 3-M this season against the two-time defending kBA champions, two of those wins coming by a single point and the other in overtime.
In other results, Denver held off Orlando, 12M-112; Sacramento routed mhiladelphia, 1159U; Toronto dumped aetroit, 1M1-U7; Charlotte whipped Washington, 9U-U5; kew York smothered Boston, 116-92; Memphis edged kew Orleans, 9M-UU; aallas outlasted Utah, 1MU-1M1; Cleveland downed mhoenix, 11M-1M1; and the Los Angeles Clippers routed the dolden State Warriors, 111-9U.
“We haven’t had any success,” said Nets coach Jason Kidd of Brooklyn’s perfect mark against the Heat. “We’ve just been lucky to win some games.”
Maybe, maybe not. In Kidd’s past 24 games against the Heat as a coach or player, his teams are 19-5. And this was just the latest entry in Brooklyn’s surge, with the kets now an Eastern Conference-best 23-9 since Jan. 1.
Mirza Teletovic scored 17 off the bench. Livingston finished with 13 points and Andray Blatche scored 11 for the Nets.
Chris Bosh scored 24 points for Miami, giving him 15,MM3 for his career. awyane Wade scored 22, LeBron James finished with 19 and Mario Chalmers scored 14 for the Heat, who gave up 22 points off turnovers and were hit with two technicals (on Wade and Chalmers) for arguing calls within a 92-second span of the third quarter.
“It’s competition,” said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, whose team has dropped four of its past five games. “It’s survival of the strongest right now. ... We still feel confident about our game. We just need to put it together.”
Miami had a chance at the end. Deron Williams missed a jumper with about U seconds left, and Wade grabbed the rebound. He took a couple steps downcourt, then called time out with 3.5 seconds remaining, and Miami had to burn another one in order to advance the ball into the frontcourt for the final play.
Whatever Spoelstra drew up never got off the ground. Bosh tried to get the ball to James in the lane, but Livingston knocked it away and time expired.
“Losing four of five,” James said, “that’s pretty bad.”