Danny Green, Gary Neal lead Spurs, who break NBA Finals record with 16 3-pointers, in rout of Heat

LeBron failed to score 20 for the third straight and spent much of the night trying to facilitate the offense as opposed to imposing his will on the game. He finished with 15 points on 7-for-21 shooting and didn’t get much help from his teammates.

BY FRANK ISOLA / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

LUCY NICHOLSON/REUTERS

Danny Green is almost unstoppable from beyond the arc, going 7-for-9.

SPURS 113, HEAT 77
SAN ANTONIO – LeBron James isn’t supposed to be upstaged by a guy who bounced around Europe and another who spent time in the D-League. Maybe that happens once during a regular season but not at this time of year.
But that’s exactly what Danny Green and Gary Neal did in Game 3 of the NBA Finals as the two role players embarrassed the Miami Heat, outplayed LeBron and now have the San Antonio Spurs two wins from another title.

Both Green and Neal outscored LeBron as the Spurs, who never trailed, crushed the Miami Heat 113-77 to take a 2-1 series lead. Game 4 is Thursday. Green, born and raised in North Babylon, N.Y., scored 22 of his 27 points in the second half as the Spurs broke the game open. Green, LeBron’s former teammate in Cleveland who landed in the D-League before finding a home in San Antonio, made 9 of 15 shots including 7 of 9 3-pointers.
Neal’s basketball odyssey began in Turkey and including stops in Spain and Italy before he joined the Spurs. His career night also came on the biggest stage as the back-up guard scored 14 of his 24 points in the first half and made 6 of 10 3-pointers overall.

Meanwhile, LeBron failed to score 20 for the third straight and spent much of the night trying to facilitate the offense as opposed to imposing his will on the game. He finished with 15 points on 7-for-21 shooting and didn’t get much help from his teammates as Udonis Haslem and Mario Chalmers both went scoreless while Dwyane Wade scored 16 and Chris Bosh added 12 on 4-for-10 shooting. Mike Miller scored 15 off the bench, making all five 3-pointers he attempted.
Just as Miami crushed San Antonio with an emphatic 33-5 run in the second half of Game 2, the Spurs outscored the Heat 69-33 after Miami tied the game late in the first half. Tim Duncan had 12 points and 14 rebounds in 29 minutes and Kawhi Leonard, the first-round pick who has been outstanding in the Spurs' two wins, added 14 points and 12 rebounds.
PHOTOS: SPURS SHOOT WAY PAST HEAT IN GAME 3 ROUT
The Spurs won despite Tony Parker scoring just six points with eight assists in 27 minutes. Manu Ginobili scored seven off the bench. Both teams cleared their benches with 5:43 remaining and the Spurs leading 102-71.
LeBron and the Heat imploded in the third quarter as San Antonio, with Green and Neal knocking down long jumpers, extended its lead to 21. James missed his first five shots of the second half and didn’t score until there was 1:37 left in the third. However, James’ first 3-pointer got him into a rhythm and he responded with nine quick points before Tiago Splitter’s dunk at the end of the period gave the Spurs a 78-63 lead.

LUCY NICHOLSON/REUTERS

The Heat look stunned, with LeBron James only scoring 15 points in the game and only 4 in the first half.

ERIC GAY/AP

Danny Green (l.) and Gary Neal combine for 51 points to lead the Spurs over Heat.

LeBron scored just four first-half points and yet Miami, despite falling behind by 11 with three minutes left in the second quarter, made its run when Mike Miller’s 3-pointer ignited a 12-1 Miami run. Miller contributed a pair of three’s while it was Wade’s reverse lay-up that tied it at 44.
But after Parker hit a corner three, Danny Green blocked LeBron’s driving lay-up which with five seconds left. Parker took two dribbles before finding Neal, who’s pull-up 3-pointer beat the buzzer and gave the Spurs a 50-44 lead. Neal led all scorers with 14 points after converting 4 of 6 3-pointers. Neal had scored a total of 17 points in the first two games.
Neal opened up the fourth quarter with a long 3-pointer over Chris Andersen and then after Wade missed on a pull-up, Neal drained yet another three. Green, who scored eight in the third period, then rebounded his own miss to make it 86-63 with 10:33 remaining.
“It's just about trying to have an incredible sense of urgency now as we change venues here in their comfort zone, can we exceed that level of urgency that they'll have tonight,” Erik Spoelstra had said before tip-off.
The answer was painful obvious. Duncan and Ginobili began the fourth quarter on the bench while the Spurs, with Green hitting back-to-back 3-pointers, stretched its lead to 29.



source: nydailynews.com
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