The Miami Heat dropped game one of the NBA Finals to the San Antonio Spurs by a final score of 110-95 on Thursday.
The air conditioning at AT&T Center in San Antonio malfunctioned which led to players needing breaks in shorter spurts. Mishandling of the ball and slips became the norm in this game as well. Of note, was LeBron James asking for a timeout and then resting only midway into the third quarter.
The Heat star normally plays the entire third quarter. James also needed a break a few minutes into the fourth quarter with cramping. He would attempt to return but would need to be helped to the bench again with severe cramping. James would not return.
The first half of this one was a story of runs and turnovers. Both teams had leads and combined for 19 turnovers in the half. James put up 13 points to go along with one rebound and one assist in the half. Dwayne Wade chimed in with 12 points of his own. Chris Bosh and Ray Allen each had ten with Allen’s coming off the bench.
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Allen hit his first three-point attempts of the half but then missed three in a row towards the close of the half. The veteran ended up playing over 14 minutes in the first half which was due mostly to foul trouble for Mario Chalmers. Allen’s early hot hand also likely played a role in his time on the court.
Chalmers was tagged with three personal fouls in only slightly over 8 minutes of play in the half. Due to being on the court inconsistently, he finished the half with no points and one assist. The Spurs held a 54-49 lead at the half.
James had a good start to the second half despite needing the aforementioned rare break adding ten points to tally in the third quarter alone. The Heat outscored the Spurs by nine in the third as well to take a four-point lead into the final quarter.
Chalmers continued to have foul trouble picking up his fifth foul early into the fourth quarter while he still had zero points on the board. With James unable to play due to the cramping and Chalmers in foul trouble, the Heat played a good portion of the second quarter short-handed.
After James exited with the cramping, the Heat saw their slim lead disappear in a hurry. The Spurs would continue to add to their own lead from that point on with James unable to do anything but look on from the bench.
Game Two will take place on Sunday at 8:00 p.m. in San Antonio.
