Record Setting First Half Powers Spurs To Game Three Win

For the San Antonio Spurs, game three was a night to remember. For the Miami Heat, it was a night they might want to try and forget. The Spurs had one of the single greatest shooting nights in the history of the finals. San Antonio made a Finals-record 75.8 percent of their shots in the first half in a 111-92 victory over the Miami Heat on Tuesday night that gave them a 2-1 lead. The previous record had been 75 percent, which the Orlando Magic posted in game three of the 2009 finals against the Los Angeles Lakers.

To start game three, San Antonio came out red hot, hitting 19 of their first 21 shots, and by the time the first half ended, the Spurs were 25-for-33. San Antonio led 71-50 at halftime, making this game the 70-point first half in the finals since the Lakers scored 75 against Boston in Game 2 in 1987. Yeah the Spurs had a big night in the shooting game.

Powering the Spurs high powered offense was Kawhi Leonard, who dropped down a career-high 29 points. In game three alone, Leonard scored more points than he had in the first two games of the series combined. In games One and Two, Leonard dropped 18 points total, while going 6 for 14 from the floor. In Game Three, he dropped the 29 points on 10 of 13 shooting. So yeah Leonard had hit a groove in game three. It wasn't just in the scoring department that Leonard produced, as he also did a fine job keeping the leagues best player in Lebron James in check.

Sure Lebron had a good game, he finished with 22 points on the night, same as Dwyane Wade, but Lebron had a rough night. King James turned the ball over seven times and looked about average, if that, on defense. The Heat, as a whole were kept in check the whole night. James and Wade were the only Heat players to score more than 20 points on the night, and along with Rashard Lewis (14 points) and Ray Allen off the bench (11 points) were the only ones on the Heat who had double digit performances in game three. After the Spurs totally dominated in the 1st half, Miami finally showed some signs of life in the 3rd quarter, running off 10 straight points to cut a 17-point deficit to 81-74. That was as close as Miami would get, as the Spurs pulled away in the fourth.

There were a couple things that really stood out to me on this night. Form a Spurs perspective, the move to put Boris Diaw into the lineup, countering Miami's small lineup, worked out great. He had a solid night,  creating more ball movement that clearly helped Leonard. And Leonard wasn't the only Spur to hit double digits in scoring, as Tim Duncan dropped 14 points, Danny green and Tony Parker had 15 points each and Manu Ginobili had 11 coming off the bench. The Spurs got their role players involved in the game, forcing the Heat into making mental mistakes.

Miami looked out of sync the entire night. You knew something had to be off if Lebron James turned the basketball over seven times in one game. That is so un-Lebron-like in a big game. I know he had the 22 points but still the number of turnovers has to be a little concerning. A lot of that had to do with how ell Kawhi Leonard defended the King, not giving James very many good looks at the rim, just making it a tough night for Lebron, which caused the turnovers.

Facts are the spurs were in a big shooting groove and the Heat didn't have an answer for it. Now the Heat find themselves down 2-1 in the series, looking for answers. They better have things worked out by game four, otherwise this could be a quick series. Game Four is set for Thursday night June 12th from American Airlines Arena in Miami, with tipoff scheduled for 9PM!