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| Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/spurs-lead-heat-54-49-023319092--nba.html?lbx=gs50 |
A power outage allegedly killed the air conditioner, bringing the temperature on the court to a balmy 89 degrees. Eventually, it killed LeBron James' night too.
James ended up with 25 points and six rebounds but wasn't a factor anymore on the fourth quarter due to cramps. "They're trying to smoke us out of here," he told teammates during one stoppage in play.
Like the rest of them, James kept asking for more water. But he could go no further with 7:31 left in the fourth, his left leg cramping so badly that he asked coach Erik Spoelstra to take him out of the game.
The Spurs piled on after the most fortunate of circumstances, as James came back briefly thereafter but left with his teammates carrying him to the bench with four minutes left. He could only watch as a key game slipped away. The Spurs piled on from there.
Danny Green came alive on the fourth quarter, hit a three-pointer, then another, followed by a Boris Diaw layup and an 11-3 San Antonio run to finish the game. Manu Ginobili continued to be a reliable sixth man for the San Antonio scoring 16 points and eleven assists. Spurs point guard Tony Parker played just fine despite his sore left ankle, scoring 19 points. Duncan had a team-high 21 points as five Spurs scored at least 13 points and they survived 23 turnovers.
LeBron and the Heat will look to even up the series in Game 2 on Monday (Philippine Time) still in San Antonio's building.