National Basketball Association Playoff Game Capsule

San Antonio, TX (SportsNetwork.com) – With the air conditioning system at AT&T Center malfunctioning, LeBron James struggled to deal with the extreme heat down the stretch of Thursday’s Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Danny Green, on the other hand, only got hotter. The San Antonio sharp-shooter drilled three 3- pointers in the final 6:07 as part of a 31-9 game-closing run that propelled the San Antonio Spurs to a 110-95 victory over the two-time defending champion Miami Heat. In a rematch of the 2013 Finals, Miami seemed well on its way to stealing Game 1 after Chris Bosh converted a four-point play to give the Heat an 86-79 advantage with just over 9 1/2 minutes remaining. Tim Duncan capped a 5-0 San Antonio spurt with a layup just over two minutes later and James hobbled toward the Miami bench, prompting the Heat to use a timeout. With James sidelined, Dwyane Wade drilled a jumper to slow the surge, but Green, who had gone 0-for-5 from the floor over the first three frames, knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Spurs a 90-88 edge. James returned to the contest and blew by his defender on the right wing before getting a layup to fall, but the two-time Finals MVP remained on the baseline clutching at his left thigh in obvious pain. Ray Allen then took a foul to stop the clock, and James staggered to the scorer’s table before being carried to the bench by an assistant coach and a teammate. When play resumed, Green continued his torrid shooting display, pouring in another triple before Boris Diaw followed a Wade miss with a layup to push San Antonio’s lead to 99-92 with 3:24 to play.

Categorized in: NBA