Spurs gets REVENGE on the Warriors & the Heat def. the Cavs in Miami....again 3/19/16

[simmytbone]

Hey guys,

The Cavs may have clinched the Central Division once again with Monday Night's Victory over the Denver Nuggets, but this past Saturday Night, the Cleveland Cavaliers lost to the Miami Heat while the San Antonio Spurs finally got revenge on the Golden State Warriors and they still remain PERFECT @ home

Here are the stories:

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/gametra...160319_CLE@MIA

Wade reaches milestone, Heat roll past Cavaliers 122-101
By TIM REYNOLDS
AP Basketball Writer
March 19, 2016

MIAMI (AP) Dwyane Wade got a hug from his close friend LeBron James before the game, a milestone in the third quarter, a rest for the entire fourth quarter and an easy win to enjoy when it was over.

That's a night to savor.

Wade scored 24 points and became the 41st player in NBA history to reach 20,000, rookie Josh Richardson added 19 and the Miami Heat led wire-to-wire on their way to beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 122-101 on Saturday.

''I've been through a lot of adversity,'' Wade said. ''I've had a lot of injuries in my career that a lot of people would never have come back from - and I have, and I continue to keep going, 13 years later. And I thank my teammates, the ones that are here and the ones that aren't here, because to get 20,000-plus points you've got to shoot a lot of shots.''

Goran Dragic had 18 points and 11 assists for Miami, Joe Johnson also scored 18 and Hassan Whiteside finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Miami led outrebounded Cleveland 42-26 and led by a season-high 33 at one point.

James had 26 points for Cleveland and sat out the final 15 minutes, the outcome already decided when his night came to an early end. Richard Jefferson scored 20 and Kyrie Irving had 14 for the Cavaliers.

''I think the pace, we couldn't keep up with it tonight,'' James said. ''Whether it was our fifth game in seven nights, we couldn't keep up with their pace.''

Cleveland had one real burst during the game, an 11-0 run in the second quarter that cut a 15-point Heat lead down to 40-36. Other than that, it was all Miami.

Richardson continued his brilliant play of late, the rookie making all three of his 3-point tries in the second quarter to help Miami take control for good. Wade went into the locker room at halftime with 19,997 career points, and the only drama at that point was when he would get the milestone basket.

The answer came quickly.

Wade, who came into the game 13 shy of the milestone, scored a minute into the third to get to 19,999, then got a short floater in the lane to drop moments later. He got a standing ovation at the next dead ball, and a video tribute later in the quarter.

''It was great to see,'' Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. ''You don't want to be so jaded in this business that you don't take time to recognize the special moments. Dwyane's the face of the franchise. He's done what he's been able to do at a high level, for a long time, consistently.''

The Cavs were befuddled all night. About 90 minutes before the game, Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue said center Timofey Mozgov would be in the Cavs' starting lineup. Sometime in the next 45 minutes Lue apparently changed his mind, starting Kevin Love at center instead and not playing Mozgov at all until benches were cleared early in the fourth quarter.

Love was on the bench with two fouls before the game was 3 1/2 minutes old, the Cavaliers surrounded James with four guards during one stretch of the half and nothing really worked. Miami's lead was 31-19 after a quarter, 65-44 at the half, and Love finished with just seven points in 16 minutes.

''They play well at home,'' Lue said. ''With LeBron coming back here they get up for this game and we've got to start getting up for these games also.''

TIP-INS

Cavaliers: In Cleveland's two trips to Miami this season, the Cavaliers have led for a total of 21 seconds. ... Cleveland has lost 11 straight in Miami.... Including playoff games, it was the sixth time in James' career when he took 20 or more field-goal attempts and shot no free throws.

Heat: Miami has scored at least 100 points in 10 consecutive games, its longest such streak since 1994. ... Johnson is 23 for 39 from 3-point range since joining the Heat. ... Chris Bosh and James had a brief on-court talk after the game, and James then huddled with Wade as about a dozen photographers surrounded them.

RARE TYPE OF LOSS

Saturday marked only the third time in 69 games this season in which Cleveland never had the lead. The only other games were Dec. 1 against Washington and Jan. 18 against Golden State.

HEAT SINCE LEBRON

Miami is now 4-0 at home against Cleveland since James returned to the Cavaliers, all four wins by double-digits.

Meanwhile....

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/gametra...20160319_GS@SA

Spurs beat Warriors in showdown, stay perfect at home
By RAUL DOMINGUEZ
Associated Press
March 19, 2016

SAN ANTONIO (AP) The San Antonio Spurs continued their dominance at home, even against the NBA's most dominant team.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 26 points and 13 rebounds, and the Spurs beat the Golden State Warriors 87-79 on Saturday night to remain perfect at the AT&T Center this season and extend their home winning streak over the defending champions to 33 straight regular-season games.

The Spurs held the Warriors to a season-low point total, using a bruising defense to slow Stephen Curry in a tense showdown between the league's top two teams.

''They're a great team, they're the bar in the NBA and it just felt good to win tonight,'' Aldridge said.

San Antonio (59-10) moved within three games of Golden State (62-7) for the league's top seed with two meetings remaining in April.

Kawhi Leonard added 18 points and 14 rebounds for the Spurs, who have won 44 straight at home in the regular season, tied for the second-longest streak in NBA history with the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls.

San Antonio did it by having Tim Duncan come off the bench for only the third time in his career to counter Golden State's smaller lineup.

The Spurs normally make opposing teams react to what they are doing, but they have never faced a team like the Warriors. Golden State can still set the single-season record with 73 victories if it closes the season 11-2.

''No, they're just a different type of team,'' San Antonio guard Danny Green said. ''There's a reason they were champions last year and the No. 1 team right now. They're an anomaly. They have everybody that can shoot big baskets for them.''

That made Golden State's futility Saturday that much more surprising. The Spurs held Curry to 14 points while limiting him to 1-for-12 shooting on 3-pointers.

''Tonight we executed well on the defensive end, but offensively I didn't allow us to get comfortable offensively,'' Curry said. ''I've got to play a lot better, manage the game a lot better, especially if certain shots that I normally make aren't falling. You've got to be able to adjust and find different ways to impact the way.''

Curry was continually harassed by Green, who blocked two shots while holding the MVP front-runner to 4-for-18 shooting.

''I thought Steph missed a few early that he normally makes and he never really got in a rhythm and that happens,'' Golden State coach Steve Kerr said.

Curry missed his first seven 3-point attempts and was blocked for the first time this season from long range when Green rose to stuff the mercurial guard 2 minutes into the second quarter.

Golden State had seven turnovers in the first half and finished with 11 in remaining winless in San Antonio during the regular season since 1997, the season before Duncan was drafted.

Klay Thompson added 15 points for Golden State and Draymond Green had 11.

The Warriors were without starting center Andrew Bogut, forcing Kerr to start Draymond Green at center alongside Harrison Barnes and Brandon Rush.

San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich opted to start Boris Diaw at center in place of Duncan and the change in starting lineup was beneficial immediately, as the 6-foot-8 Frenchman made his first three attempts as San Antonio took an 8-5 lead.

The Spurs were then able to slow down the Warriors, limiting the NBA's highest-scoring team to 37 points in the first half.

TIP-INS

Warriors: Kerr drew a technical foul with 4 minutes left in the first quarter and nearly drew a second. Kerr grew enraged when officials failed to call what he saw as a push defensively, leading to a technical from Danny Crawford. Kerr continued to flail his arms and scream at the officials as Luke Walton unsuccessfully attempted to restrain him, but Kerr erupted in laughter when he saw Duncan giggling at him.

Spurs: San Antonio has trailed for only 9 minutes, 37 seconds in 408 fourth-quarter minutes at home. ... The Spurs' Big Three of Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili won its 570th game together, extending its NBA record among the league's top trios.

HISTORIC GAME

The Spurs avenged a 120-90 loss in Golden State on Jan. 25 in the teams' only previous meeting this season.

Both teams have kept rolling since, and their combined .882 winning percentage coming into the game was the highest ever for a game this late in the season.

VETERAN LEADER

Duncan played just eight minutes, scoring just one point while coming off the bench for the third time in 1,383 regular-season games. His sacrifice did not go unnoticed or unappreciated.

He did not start March 18, 2004, against Minnesota after returning from an injury and came off the bench again on Jan. 3, 2010, against Toronto as Popovich attempted a lineup change.

''He's such a great person,'' Aldridge said. ''He didn't pout; he was very positive. He was talking to me. I don't know if many guys in that position would have handled it as well as he did.''

credit: cbssports.com

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