Heat rout Spurs, tie NBA Finals

33-5 run in 2nd half pushes Miami past San Antonio

6/10/2013
ASSOCIATED PRESS
San Antonio's Kawhi Leonard is stopped by Miami's LeBron James, who had 17 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists in Sunday night's Game 2 of the NBA Finals.
San Antonio's Kawhi Leonard is stopped by Miami's LeBron James, who had 17 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists in Sunday night's Game 2 of the NBA Finals.

MIAMI — Back with a blowout, and no, the Miami Heat didn't need LeBron James to do more.

Not when Mario Chalmers and everyone else did everything right.

Chalmers led the charge, James broke out to finish it with a flurry and the Heat used a 33-5 run to blow away the San Antonio Spurs 103-84 on Sunday night to even the NBA Finals at one game apiece.

James missed 10 of his first 13 shots and the Heat trailed by a point late in the third quarter before unleashing the lethal brand of basketball that led them to a franchise-record 66 wins this season.

Chalmers finished with 19 points, and James had 17 points, eight rebounds and seven assists while shooting only 7 of 17 from the field.

"I know my shooters only need a little bit of room to get the shot off," James said. "For me, I struggled offensively, but the shooters made some good shots."

The Heat made 10 of 19 3-pointers and got 13 points from Ray Allen, and 12 points and 10 rebounds from the previously slumping Chris Bosh.

Danny Green made all six shots, including five 3-pointers, and scored 17 points for the Spurs.

Tony Parker had 13 points on 5-of-14 shooting for the Spurs, who were so precise in their 92-88 victory in Game 1 but committed 17 turnovers in Game 2 that led to 19 Miami points.

Tim Duncan shot 3 of 13 and finished with nine points and 11 rebounds.

James insisted he wouldn't force himself to do more after he had a triple-double in Game 1 but never seized the opportunity to take control of the scoring as the game was slipping away from the Heat.

He didn't need to. Not with Chalmers making big shots, the Heat's defense forcing the Spurs to look shaky all over the floor, and a barrage of second-half 3-pointers.

"LeBron couldn't get into a rhythm early on and other guys stepped up," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "He showed great poise and trust in not getting caught up in feeling like he had to make the play or score, but rather he would facilitate or let other guys make plays. And that's what they did."

Chalmers sparked the Heat late in the third, after San Antonio had taken a 62-61 lead. The point guard converted two three-point plays, Allen and Mike Miller nailed 3-pointers, and James made only his third field goal of the game during a 14-3 finishing spurt that sent Miami to the fourth with a 75-65 advantage.

They opened the fourth with nine straight points to make it 84-65, and capped the run at 94-67 when James made a 3-pointer.

NOTES: The Spurs remained at 131 playoff wins, two back of the Lakers for most in the NBA since 1997, when Duncan was drafted. ... Clippers veteran Chauncey Billups, a former NBA Finals MVP, was chosen Sunday as the first winner of the NBA's Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year Award. It was named for Maurice Stokes, who was paralyzed in an on-court accident in 1958, and teammate Jack Twyman, who became Stokes' legal guardian and watched over him for 12 years until Stokes died in 1970.