San Antonio Spurs vs. Miami Heat: Postgame Grades and Analysis
The San Antonio Spurs can sense when the postseason nears, like a shark with blood in the water, and they pulled away from the Miami Heat with a clinical second-half performance in the 95-81 victory on Tuesday.
Kawhi Leonard, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker provided the visiting Spurs with all they needed, though 11 different players recorded a field goal. A 20-6 run late in the third quarter provided all the cushion they needed. And even though the Spurs committed 19 turnovers to 18 for the Heat, they still enjoyed a five-point advantage in points off those turnovers.
The Brooklyn Nets' 111-106 win over the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday puts even greater pressure on the Heat, who are scrapping for a spot at the bottom of the Eastern Conference playoff picture. Out West, the Spurs have a little breathing room on either side of sixth place. South Florida Sun Sentinel's Ira Winderman noted the Nets' ranking progression:
| Kawhi Leonard | A |
| Tim Duncan | B+ |
| Tony Parker | B |
| Boris Diaw | B |
| Tiago Splitter | B- |
| Rest of Team | C+ |
| Hassan Whiteside | B+ |
| Goran Dragic | B |
| Chris Andersen | B- |
| Mario Chalmers | B- |
| Dwyane Wade | C+ |
| Rest of Team | D+ |
San Antonio Spurs
Kawhi Leonard, Small Forward
As usual, budding superstar Kawhi Leonard did everything, everywhere, all the time—or so it seemed.
Leonard scored a game-high 22 points on just 13 shots, and he missed a double-double by one rebound. His three assists were more than all but two of his teammates, but his defense was arguably the most impactful aspect of his effort. The two blocks and four steals he recorded don't adequately quantify how incessantly he pestered the Heat. The Associated Press' Tim Reynolds passed along Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra's comments regarding Leonard's performance:
The torch is getting passed to Leonard right before our eyes.
Grade: A
Tim Duncan, Power Forward
Tim Duncan recorded another double-double to toss upon the pile he's already accrued in his best-power-forward-in-history career. He scored a dozen and snagged a game-high 11 rebounds, but his presence in the middle made for a very unpleasant start for Chris Andersen opposite him.
Duncan blocked three shots, and we can only hope that Hassan Whiteside is taking detailed notes on the future Hall of Famer's game.
Grade: B+
Tony Parker, Point Guard
If you pretend that he didn't commit any turnovers, Tony Parker had a tidy little stat line. Parker recorded 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting and handed out five dimes. But he also lost four of the team's 19 turnovers. Even in a victory, that's the sort of thing that irks coach Gregg Popovich—he's a hard guy to please.
Overall, Parker compiled a very impressive month of March in which he averaged 18.4 points on 55 percent shooting and 5.3 assists per game. That came as a sea change after his struggles in January and February.
Grade: B
Tiago Splitter, Center
Tiago Splitter turned in a solid effort, though he seemed to get a little lax later in the victory.
He flubbed an easy, uncontested layup in the fourth quarter—around when the Heat produced a small surge and cut the deficit to 10—and Cory Joseph swooped in to save his bacon. Joseph got a hustle tap to disturb the defensive rebound and then got the ball to Splitter, who made amends by sticking the second layup.
The Brazilian big man totaled seven points, six boards, a block and a steal.
Grade: B-
Boris Diaw, Power Forward
Boris Diaw had a range of moves on display, posting and toasting poor Henry Walker on one particular possession. And Walker wasn't the only one to feel Diaw's wrath, as The Palm Beach Post's Jason Lieser pointed out:
Diaw led the Spurs bench with 11 points on 5-of-12 shooting, and he even managed to get a couple of assists in there too. Behind Diaw, the second unit held its own and wore down the short-handed Heat.
Grade: B
Rest of Team
Cory Joseph had seven points, which is pretty good, along with four steals, which is amazing in 22 minutes off the bench. Exhibiting the properties of a bundled coil of energy, Joseph provided a potent spark and even handed out four assists.
Manu Ginobili played very poorly, missing three of his four shots and managing to record a game-high five turnovers in 18 minutes. It was the sort of performance that has had observers predicting his career's demise for the last couple of seasons, but then Manu busts out with an incredible fourth-quarter performance to silence his doubters. Such heroics were not needed for this win.
Danny Green started at shooting guard, but he failed to do anything of note aside from making one of his three tries from three-point range.
Marco Belinelli scored six points on six shots in his 23 minutes and ended with a team-low court rating of minus-13.
Grade: C+
Miami Heat
Dwyane Wade, Shooting Guard
Dwayne Wade has been dealing with soreness in his knee, and TNT cameras showed him wincing during the first few minutes of the game. He did his best to carry the Heat, but with Luol Deng (knee) sitting out and Chris Bosh done for the season, the Heat reached halftime with Wade and Goran Dragic on 18 points, while the rest of the starters scored only two points.
Prior to the game, Wade spoke about "banging his knee," per Lieser:
While trying to drag his teammates behind him and finding little help with the burden, he ended on an inefficient shooting line. Wade ended with an inefficient 6-of-20 shooting for 15 points. It sounds worse than it actually was, but this game simply got away from the Heat just when they needed a win to keep distance on the Nets.
Grade: C+
Goran Dragic, Point Guard
The Spurs hounded the ball all night, and they invaded Dragic's passing lanes as well. While the point guard scored a team-high 19 points on 6-of-14 shooting, he also committed four turnovers to just three assists. In fact, the Heat had only 11 assists on 32 field goals, and they never did establish a rhythm on offense. Bleacher Report's Ethan J. Skolnick noted that despite Wade and Dragic experiencing knee concerns, their combined time on the court was above-average:
Dragic logged a team-high 39 minutes, and the Heat ran out of steam approximately midway through the third quarter.
Grade: B
Hassan Whiteside, Center
Hassan Whiteside played with a bulky bandage on his right hand after getting 10 stitches to close a gash that held him out for three games. He didn't seem to mind it too much, as his comments illustrated, courtesy of Lieser:
Whiteside made an impact in the first quarter, coming off the bench to score a couple of field goals, block a couple of shots and grab a steal. That helped the Heat grab their first lead of the game.
Whiteside also put together a beautiful play during the third quarter, snatching a steal, making the break and busting out a spin move, but then he missed the layup.
He ended with 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting in 23 minutes. He also recorded six boards, but most importantly, he looked like his usual self following the hand injury.
Grade: B+
Coach Spoelstra was "encouraged" by Whiteside's performance, per Lieser:
Mario Chalmers, Point Guard
Mario Chalmers played efficiently off the bench, but that couldn't sufficiently help the ragged rotation. He notched 10 points and three assists, though he also fumbled away three turnovers.
His most memorable bucket came on a bomb from beyond half court to end the first half, swishing at the buzzer and rousing the home fans. It also left Spurs coach Gregg Popovich wordlessly exasperated, as shown by TNT cameras, with C.J. Zero sharing one of those moments:
It seemed then that the Heat could mount a strong second half and come away with a much-needed win, but instead the Spurs coasted to the final horn.
Grade: B-
Chris Andersen, Center
Though Chris Andersen started at center, Whiteside's hand injury shouldn't keep him away from starter's minutes for long. Birdman was ice-cold from the floor and missed his first six shots, but he compensated with solid defense and rebounding.
Andersen ended with four points, 10 boards, two blocks and two steals. He also saw even playing time with Whiteside but expect that to change.
Grade: B-
Rest of Team
James Ennis and Henry Walker started the game, but they probably wish they hadn't. Walker ended with a game-low minus-19 court rating, which seems justified. Ennis recorded seven points on seven shots, though that included a meaningless layup with 19 seconds remaining.
Tyler Johnson had eight points on seven shots, and he also came up with three steals.
Michael Beasley scored six points, but he also turned it over twice and looked a little indecisive at times. And one of Whiteside's blocks bailed Beasley out after he completely lost track of his man.
Grade: D+
Coming Up Next
Both teams face a tough finish to the regular season with major playoff implications for each win and loss.
The Spurs stay in Florida to play the Orlando Magic on Wednesday, and then they return home for the Denver Nuggets on Friday and Golden State Warriors on Sunday. Their next three games are at the Oklahoma City Thunder and a home-and-home against the Houston Rockets with playoff seeding on the line.
The Heat begin a three-game road swing on Thursday against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. They visit the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers before returning home to face the Charlotte Hornets and Chicago Bulls. Their margin of error is just about down to zero.
