Spurs rout Heat in NBA finals rematch

AFP/Miami

Tony Parker finished with 17 points and four assists for the Spurs who snapped their five game regular season losing streak against the Heat.

Miami beat the Spurs 113-101 on January 26 at home in the first meeting between the clubs since the Heat beat San Antonio last season to win their second consecutive league title.

“It’s a very good win for us,” Duncan said. “We’re starting to turn that corner. It helps that we’re starting to get everybody back to full strength and everybody back into a rhythm.”

San Antonio came close to beating the Heat in the finals but Miami prevailed with a dynamic game-seven win.

Boris Diaw tallied 16 points, eight boards and five assists on Thursday for the Spurs, who have won five straight and eight of nine overall.

“We played very well. We moved the ball sharply, we shot 60-per-cent plus in the first half, and that’s a lot,” Argentine spark plug Manu Ginobili said. “So we are satisfied with that.”

Chris Bosh finished with 24 points with seven rebounds and LeBron James contributed 19 points and eight rebounds for Miami at AT&T Center.

The Spurs have now won 13 of their last 15 regular season games against the Heat at home.

San Antonio will host the Orlando Magic today on this homestand, then visit Chicago on Tuesday.  Miami had an eight-game winning streak halted Tuesday with a 106-103 road loss to the Houston Rockets. It doesn’t get any easier for the Heat who visit the Chicago Bulls tomorrow. James, who had a superb month of February, also had seven assists against the Spurs after scoring 22 points against Houston earlier in the week. It was the worst loss of the 2013-14 season for Miami, marking the first time they lost consecutive games since losing three straight in mid-January.

James shot six-of-18 from the field and played a good portion of the second half in foul trouble, while Dwyane Wade finished with 16 points on seven-of-15 shooting.

Miami also shot just 44 percent from the field and committed 20 turnovers, including 10 in the final quarter.

The Lakers were the designated home team this time. That meant the Clippers had to put up with looking at all those championship banners and retired numbers that their co-tenant at the Staples Center has had hanging on the wall since the arena opened 15 seasons ago — and weren’t able to cover them up with banners of their own players.

Perhaps seeing all those reminders of the Lakers’ decades of success will be an inspiration to the Clippers about 6½ weeks from now, when they head into the playoffs without their intracity rivals — who are in danger of finishing with their worst record since moving to L.A. from Minneapolis in 1959.

Blake Griffin had 20 points and 11 rebounds during three thunderous quarters by the Clippers, who routed the Lakers 142-94 Thursday night to extend their winning streak to a season-best six games. It was the most lopsided victory ever for the Clippers’ franchise and the most one-sided loss in Lakers history.

“Since Day 1, there’s always going to be something to talk about since we both play here in this building. During the game, all the fans were yelling: ‘It’s still a Laker town.’ And it is — no secret,” Clippers point guard Chris Paul said.

“But we just have to worry about us and keep playing. It’s going in the right direction. We don’t want to get too high or too low. We just want to try to keep getting better.”

Darren Collison had a team-high 24 points while starting at shooting guard for the injured Jamal Crawford. Paul added 13 points and 11 assists for the Clippers, who have won the teams’ last two meetings by a combined 84 points.

The previous record for worst loss by a Lakers squad was set on Jan. 9, 1995, when they fell 129-83 at Portland. The previous worst home loss was on Feb. 9, 1960, when Boston beat them 129-90.

“We got beat by 48. It’s not fun,” Lakers shooting guard Jodie Meeks said. “Regardless of whether it’s a record-breaking performance or not, it is still frustrating. It’s not fun getting blown out at any level, but especially on national TV and in front of the world. We have to have more pride than that. I do not think the Clippers are 48 points better than us.”

The Clippers’ have won six of the last seven meetings against their longtime tormentors, including a four-game sweep last season.

“It’s another win,” Paul said. “I mean, we don’t get to subtract a loss from our loss column. This game was more about us and what we do. All we stress in the huddles and the locker room is, don’t play the score. We’re trying to build something. And whatever group is on the floor, we have to be us. That way it becomes second nature.”