Miami ground down Brooklyn, while San Antonio were in control throughout to beat Portland as the two experienced outfits won on Thursday to take 2-0 leads in their NBA second-round playoff series.
Miami’s LeBron James scored 22 points and Chris Bosh added 18 as the Heat beat Brooklyn 94-82, while San Antonio’s players shared the scoring load in a 114-97 win over Portland.
Miami tied a franchise record by notching an eighth straight playoff win, with Dwyane Wade contributing 14 points and Ray Allen 13.
Photo: AFP
Mirza Teletovic set a Nets playoff record with six three-pointers, on his way to a 20-point night off the bench. Shaun Livingston scored 15, Paul Pierce had 13 and Joe Johnson added 13 more for the Nets.
Game 3 is scheduled for tomorrow in Brooklyn.
Miami led by only two points midway through the fourth quarter, but back-to-back threes opened some breathing space. And then a marathon possession for an NBA team — 100 seconds — sealed the deal for Miami.
Photo: AFP
The Nets did not get the ball back until 1 minute, 59 seconds remained, after the Heat got three offensive rebounds to extend the possession and build their lead to 10 points to effectively seal the game.
Miami were scoreless for the game’s first 3 minutes, 32 seconds, the longest Heat drought to open a home game since 2005. That set the tone for some serious offensive struggles in the early going, with the Nets scoring only 21 points in the first quarter, yet still leading by six.
San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard scored 20 points, while Tony Parker had 16 points and 10 assists as the Spurs won with some comfort against the Trail Blazers.
Manu Ginobili added 16 points, Marco Belinelli scored 13, and Tiago Splitter had 10 points and 10 rebounds in the Spurs’ second convincing victory to open the best-of-seven series.
Nicolas Batum scored 21 points for Portland. Damian Lillard had 19 points, and LaMarcus Aldridge added 16 points and 10 rebounds, but the Blazers again struggled to score against San Antonio’s suffocating defense.
Portland are to host Game 3 today.
The Blazers seemed rattled in the first half before finding their footing in the fourth quarter, and they closed within eight points with 5m, 37s remaining.
Lillard, Leonard and Ginobili hit back-to-back threes to put San Antonio up 110-93, and send the game out of reach.
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