San Antonio Spurs power forward Tim Duncan reverted back to the form that won him three Finals MVP Awards during game six of the 2013 NBA Finals against the Miami Heat. As he scored 25 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Tony Parker did a great job finding open teammates with six assists and Kawhi Leonard added 10.
Their excellent play helped give the Spurs a six point lead at half time and eventually pushed to 13 late in the third quarter though the Heat brought it back to 10 to start the fourth. LeBron James then took over scoring 16 points, Mike Miller and Chris Bosh came up with two big offensive rebounds leading to threes including the one that tied the game in regulation by Ray Allen.
In overtime the Spurs scored first on a nice feed from Parker to Leonard. After the teams traded empty possessions, Bosh got fouled by Manu Ginobili while making a layup and missed the ensuing free throw. The Spurs again went up by two on a nice feed by Boris Diaw and poor defense by James, a turnover by Dwyane Wade forced Allen to foul Parker who split the free throws.
Miami on their next possessions got great looks and took a one point lead. Turnovers by both team down the stretch didn’t help including one in transition by James who got stripped of the ball by Danny Green and fittingly Ginobili attacked the defense of Allen in hopes of drawing foul, yet no whistle came. It forced San Antonio to foul Allen who made both free throws.
Green had one last chance with 1.8 seconds left to put the game in double overtime and Bosh made sure that it didn’t happen by blocking the shot.
The lost squandered a great first half performance by Duncan who was quiet in the second half finishing the game with 30 points, 17 rebounds and a steal. Leonard contributed 22 points, 11 rebounds and three steals and Parker ended up with 19 points, 8 assists and two steals. Leading the way for Miami, James with 32 points, 11 assists, 10 rebounds, 3 steals and a blocked shot, Mario Chalmers scored 20 and Wade scored 14 points while grabbing 4 rebounds, dishing out 4 assists and blocking 2 shots.
Game 7 will be on Thursday on ABC.
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