Heat Pummel Spurs to Tie Series

MIAMI — There are countless ways to dominate a game, myriad methods and attack points and angles, and LeBron James has mastered them all. The scheme and scoring totals may vary, but it is the results that matter, a fact that James emphatically reminded anyone who had doubts Sunday night. Related For Spurs, Every Game Is a Global Summit (June 10, 2013) On Pro Basketball: Again Playing the Leading Man, but Only for His Teammates (June 10, 2013) Off the Dribble Keep up with the latest news, on the court and off, with The Times's basketball blog. Go to Off the Dribble N.B.A. Live Scoreboard Teams | Player Stats Knicks Schedule/Results Roster | Player Stats Nets Schedule/Results Roster | Player Stats W.N.B.A. Live Scoreboard Teams | Player Stats Liberty Schedule/Results Roster | Player Stats James dominated the game without dominating the shooting charts, and the Miami Heat revived their offense in spectacular fashion, routing the San Antonio Spurs, 103-84, to tie the N.B.A. finals at one game apiece. James was splendid, finishing with 17 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists in 40 minutes, before Coach Erik Spoelstra pulled him and the rest of the Heat starters midway through the fourth quarter, with the game well in hand. “LeBron couldn’t get into a rhythm early on,” Spoelstra said. “Other guys stepped up. He showed great poise and trust in not getting caught up and feeling like he had to make the play or score, but either facilitate or let other guys make plays. And that’s what they did.” Mario Chalmers led the Heat with 19 points, offsetting another quiet scoring night from Dwyane Wade (10 points) and Chris Bosh (12 points, 10 rebounds). Ray Allen and Mike Miller combined for another 22 points off the bench, going 6 for 8 from 3-point range. The Spurs, who were so steady and precise in winning Game 1, had a tough time holding their offense together on Sunday, committing 17 turnovers (four times their Game 1 total), leading to 19 points for the Heat. Tim Duncan made only 3 of 13 shots, finishing with 9 points and 11 rebounds. “I look at my shots, and they’re shots I want,” he said. Tony Parker, the Spurs’ fourth-quarter hero on Thursday, scored 13 points, going 5 for 14 from the field. Danny Green, the Spurs’ least decorated starter, was their best scorer, with 17 points and a perfect 6-for-6 shooting line. The series now moves to San Antonio for the next three games. For the Heat, this game stood as a nice retort to the critics who had insisted that James needed to shoot more and score more, despite his triple-double in Game 1. As it turned out, James finished with 1 point fewer and just 1 shot more in Game 2 than in the series opener. The Game 1 defeat not only cost the Heat the home-court advantage in the series, but revived all the lingering concerns about their perceived frailties, and by implication their ability to repeat as champions. Suddenly, Wade’s health and effectiveness became worrisome again. Bosh’s assertiveness was called into question again. And the debate over James’s best role — facilitator or dominant scorer? — was sparked anew. James had a triple-double in Game 1, but he took only 16 shots (four in the fourth quarter) and scored only 18 points. “I want to win just as bad as anyone,” James said Saturday. “I’m going to put myself and my team in a position to win. I have to try to make the plays. I can’t worry about if people are saying, `You should have done more, you should have been more aggressive, because you got a loss.’ Winning and losing is part of the game.” Whether he was responding to the loss or the criticism, James did attack more often Sunday night, with shaky results. He missed 10 of his first 12 attempts from the field. The Heat built an 8-point lead early in the third quarter anyway, with Wade and Chalmers providing the scoring thrust, and the Spurs aiding Miami with a steady stream of turnovers. The Spurs recovered, getting a 3-pointer from Green and 7 points from Kawhi Leonard in a 12-2 third-quarter run that wiped out the deficit. Then came another wave of miscues — including turnovers by Ginobili, Gary Neal and Duncan — as the Heat closed the third quarter on a 14-3 run, taking a 75-65 lead into the fourth. San Antonio won the series opener by keeping their mistakes to a minimum. On Sunday, they had more turnovers in the first quarter (five) than they had in all of Game 1. They had 13 in the first three quarters, leading to 15 points for the Heat. Referring to the series’s 1-1 score, Ginobili said: “If you would have asked me before heading to Miami, I would have said O.K., I’ll take it.” But, he added, “you don’t want to play like this in an N.B.A. finals.” The victory extended the Heat’s remarkable streak of games without consecutive losses to 66. They have not lost two straight since Jan. 8 and 10. “Our guys take a lot of pride in what we’re trying to do, and winning, and what it takes to win,” Spoelstra said before tip-off. “When we lose, we all get together and we all own it together, whatever it may be, and we just try to collectively figure it out and come back better. “A lot of times, those sessions, we don’t like each other, but the honesty is what gets to the truth pretty quick.” After Miami’s victory, Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich said the Heat’s broad contributions were the key to the game. “That’s when they’re at their best,” Popovich said. “That’s when every team is at their best.” REBOUNDS The Heat presented Game 2 with a bit more subtlety and much less bellowing, in deference to a stern request from N.B.A. officials. The volume on the arena’s public-address system was turned down a few notches from its usual earsplitting levels. And the arena’s announcer, Michael Baiamonte, known for his screaming introductions (which he sometimes repeats a half-dozen times a game) and his nonstop histrionics, was also a bit more restrained Sunday night.
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