San Antonio Spurs moved two wins away from an NBA title with a stunning 113-77 victory over Miami Heat on Tuesday but may have lost leading scorer Tony Parker to a hamstring injury.
Parker will have a scan later after injuring his right hamstring during the victory that gave San Antonio a 2-1 lead over the NBA champion Miami Heat in the best-of-seven finals series.
“I don’t know, I have no idea. We’ll do an MRI later and hopefully it’s nothing big and it’s just a little cramping or it got tight on me,” Parker, who contributed just six points in the win, told reporters.
The 31-year-old guard went to the San Antonio locker room in the third quarter and re-entered the game briefly in the fourth quarter before returning to the bench with the game’s outcome all but decided.
Dampener
The uncertainty about Parker’s status for Thursday’s Game Four in San Antonio dampened the mood on what was an otherwise raucous night inside the AT&T Center.
Danny Green and Gary Neal delivered career-best performances as the Spurs responded nicely from Sunday’s 19-point Game Two loss in Miami.
The pair, each playing in their first NBA Finals, combined for 51 points for the Spurs, who are in the finals for the first time since winning their fourth title in 2007.
Green had a game-high 27 points on 9-of-15 shooting, including seven three pointers, while Neal came off the bench to score 24 points on 9-of-17 shooting.
The Spurs defence limited four-time league Most Valuable Player LeBron James to 15 points shooting.
San Antonio led by 11 in the first quarter but allowed Miami to get within six points by halftime.
The Spurs pulled away in the final two quarters with an array of shots that Miami was unable to answer as Green, Neal and Kawhi Leonard led San Antonio on a 13-0 run to open the fourth quarter.
Fourth match will be at San Antonio on June 14 (6.30 a.m. IST).
The result: San Antonio Spurs 113 (Danny Green 27, Gary Neal 24, Kawhi Leonard 14, Tim Duncan 12) bt Miami Heat 77 (Dwyane Wade 16, LeBron James 15, Mike Miller 15, Chris Bosh 12).
