The San Antonio Spurs were on fire in a first half when they set numerous NBA Finals records while jumping out to a 71-50 lead. They connected on 25 of their 33 attempts from the field for an NBA-record 75.8 field goal percentage including a ridiculous 13-for-15 (86.7 percent) performance in the first period for the most gruesome throttling by a road team since the 1996 Bulls took a 21-point first-half lead in Seattle.
The Orlando Magic held the previous high mark for an efficient half of shooting, when they hit 75 percent of their attempts in the 2009 Finals, but the Spurs — with Manu Ginobili banking in a bomb right before the first-half buzzer sounded bested them on Tuesday night. Here’s their shot chart, which is, um, very (Danny) green.
In the first quarter alone the Spurs dropped 41 and went 13-for-15 from the field which set a number of statistical milestones, including the highest field goal percentage in a quarter in NBA Finals history (it was — surprise – the 1991 Bulls who had the previous mark when they shot 17-for-20 in 1991):
From the @NBA – Spurs set FINALS record for FG% in a quarter — 86.7%; previous mark– 1991 Finals — Bulls (17 for 20 85%) Game 2)
— Steve Popper (@StevePopper) June 11, 2014
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41 points on 23 possessions (178 per 100) for the Spurs. Scored on 19 of the 23. Didn't go scoreless on 2 straight at all.
— John Schuhmann (@johnschuhmann) June 11, 2014
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Spurs' "miss-less" run went from 5:05 in 1Q to 6:23 in 2Q
— J.A. Adande (@jadande) June 11, 2014
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RT @NBAPR: Spurs 41 1st Qtr Pts is first 40+ FIRST quarter since Game 6 of '67 Finals; both Phil and SF scored 40+ (Phil led 43-41)
— Dan Devine (@YourManDevine) June 11, 2014
The last team to score 70 points in an #NBAFinals half was the @Lakers — 75 — at @Celtics in Game 2, 1987 #NBA Finals (June 4, 1987)
— NBA History (@NBAHistory) June 11, 2014
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In the first quarter, Kawhi Leonard was 5-for-5 for 14 points. He also tied his combined number of points in the first two games of the series, with 18 first-half points on 6-of-7 shooting.
Danny Green was 6-for-6 with three steals in the first half; Boris Diaw was 2-for-2; Tiago Splitter was 2-for-2; Tim Duncan was 3-for-4; Tony Parker and Manu were the least efficient players on the team in that mad first half by going a ho-hum 3-for-6 and 2-for-4, respectively. It was just some historic accuracy from the field by the Spurs.
Here are all of the San Antonio’s 25 first-half field goals. Welcome to history San Antonio.
In the second half the Heat made the run most expected, cutting the lead to seven with two minutes left in the third quarter, but Kawhi Leonard’s game-high 29 points (he finished 10-for-13 on the night) helped lead the Spurs to a walkaway 111-92 road win to take a 2-1 series lead. Game 4 is on Thursday in Miami.
Even Gregg Popovich was happy with Kawhi’s much-improved performance in Game 3:
(video via OutsidetheNBA; GIF via @_MarcusD_; H/T Dan Devine at BDL for the tweets)
Who will win Game 4 in Miami?
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