Spurs can’t cool off Heat in the final quarter.
With teammates floundering, Derozan and Mills outscore rest of roster in loss
MIAMI — Demar Derozan made history Wednesday night with another outstanding performance, but it wasn’t enough to push the Spurs to a victory.
With 30 points on a highly efficient 12-of-14 shooting and seven assists in a 106-100 loss to the Heat, Derozan joined Michael Jordan as the only players in the past 35 years to record 12 straight games with 20-plus points and three-plus assists while shooting more than 52 percent.
“It’s an honor to have your name being in something like that,” Derozan said. “Fairy-tale dream. Whatever category you are in with any of the greats, it’s an honor.”
But the achievement couldn’t take away the pain the four-time All-star experienced after losing a game the Spurs had a great chance to pull out.
In falling to 17-22 and ending their tough four-game trip a respectable 2-2 after beating Eastern Conference powers Boston and Toronto but losing to surging Memphis and the surprising Heat, the Spurs were outscored 31-23 in the fourth quarter after leading by two after three periods.
Still, the Spurs pulled within five points with 2:06 left after trailing by 11 with 3:32 to go.
“It just got away from us,” Derozan said.“the game was right there. We were two or three possessions away from having a great chance of winning.”
Rookie Kendrick Nunn pumped in 33 points — three shy of matching his season high — on 13-of-18 shooting.
Goran Dragic added 17 points off the bench and the Heat shot 42.5 percent (17 of 40) from 3-point range to improve
to a 28-12 and an Nba-best 18-1 at home after winning just 19 games at Americanairlines Arena last season.
While the Heat sizzled beyond the arc, the Spurs struggled, hitting just 10 of 33 (30.3 percent).
In the fourth, they missed 9 of 11 shots from downtown.
“We missed a lot of wide-open shots and they came down and converted,” Derozan said of the Heat, who shot 12 of 20 (60 percent) from the floor in the fourth. “Nunn (eight points in the final
frame) came through big for them. He hit some clutch shots, and the game just got away from us.”
Said Lamarcus Aldridge: “They made tough shots. We pushed them into certain shots we wanted at times, and they made them.”
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich credited Heat counterpart Erik Spoelstra for Miami’s surprising record. The Heat are second in the Eastern Conference in what was supposed to be a rebuilding year.
“Erik is a fundamentalist,” Popovich said. “He’s a task master. He has high standards, and he makes people accountable. They execute on both ends of the floor, and they play hard. That’s something that’s in the water here. That’s what they do.”
The Spurs, who are 6-13 on the road, are a game behind the No. 8 Grizzlies in the West standings.
“Everyone is sick about it,” Aldridge said when asked if it was a moral victory to battle another top Eastern team to the finish. “We need every game right now. A moral victory doesn’t do anything for us.”
Outside Patty Mills contributing 21 points, Derozan didn’t get much help. Aldridge scored just 12 points, and Rudy Gay struggled off the bench, missing 7 of 8 to finish with just three points after
scoring in double digits in three of his past four games.
Asked if it was frustrating to expend so much energy and put up such big numbers only to lose, Derozan said, “It’s frustrating to lose, period. You have to stick with it. The Heat are a great team. It has been a tough road trip we’ve been on. We fought hard, and the ball didn’t go our way the way we needed it to.”
The Spurs got a break before the game when the Heat announced that Tyler Herro (13.4 points per game) was a surprise scratch with a bruised knee. But Nunn stepped up big time, and Miami also got double-digit scoring from Bam Adebayo (14), Jimmy Butler (12) and Duncan Robinson (11).
“Every time he shot it tonight, it looked like it was going down,” Spoelstra said of Nunn, who hit 5 of 7 from distance. “A few of the coaches said this was about to happen. We have seen these kind of shooting performances behind the scenes. With Tyler out, we needed more offensive punch, and Nunn was able to get into a great rhythm.”
Derrick White, who finished with 11 points for the Spurs, said the Heat played in sync all night.
“They’re good,” White said. “Their record shows it. They play hard, execute their stuff really well. Everyone knows their role. There’s five guys out there, and you have to guard each one of them.”
The Spurs return to the court Friday at the AT&T Center to finish their season series with the Atlanta
Hawks, who beat them in November. The Spurs then will complete their season series against
Miami on Sunday at home.
“We are going to be fine,” Derozan said. “It sucks right now, but there is a lot of basketball to be played. We are trending in the right direction. Playing well against great teams, been beating some great teams, which has done a lot for our confidence. Knowing how much time is left, I am pretty happy with our odds.”