Spurs Beat The Heat

With no marquee matchup between Tim Duncan and Alonzo Mourning, the San Antonio Spurs showcased their superior depth in disposing of the Miami Heat.

David Robinson scored 19 points as the Spurs took control early and cruised to a 93-69 victory Tuesday night over Miami, holding the Heat to a season-low point total.

"Our defense is key for us," Robinson said. "They were missing Alonzo (Mourning). That made it tough for them. We knew Tim Hardaway and (Jamal) Mashburn could be threats, but we rotated good. Everything starts from our defense."

"I'm pleased, you have to give the guys a lot of credit," said San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich after watching his bench players combine for 46 points and 23 rebounds. "We did what we needed to win. The bench played great. It was a great team effort."

Miami, which had a four-game winning streak snapped, was led by P.J. Brown's 16 points. The Heat played without Mourning, who was out with a sore left ankle.

"We really couldn't do anything effectively for any sustained period of time tonight," Miami coach Pat Riley said. "It was one of those nights where our shooters are just not making their shots. Our offense was abysmal tonight which left u with no answer to their big offensive runs."

The Spurs received more bad news in the first quarter when Duncan's replacement in the starting lineup, Malik Rose, went down with a sprained right ankle. He missed the remainder of the game.

"Malik is not in good shape," Popovich said. "We'll have to get it looked at, but he'll probably be out a while."

San Antonio, which never trailed, jumped out to a 24-12 lead after the first quarter as Miami managed to shoot only 6-of-23.

Porter came off of the bench to score 10 first-half points as San Antonio led 45-32 at halftime.

The Spurs continued to pour it on in the second half as Miami could get no closer than 13 points. San Antonio took a 74-52 lead into the fourth quarter as Antonio Daniels connected on a running jumper at the third-quarter buzzer.

"We ran great, we were aggressive," said Johnson, who had five assists for San Antonio. "We seemed to have more energy tonight. We want to try and get as many wins as we can with this energy, because wins are hard to come by."

The Spurs' largest lead was 78-53 on Jaren Jackson's 3-point field goal with 10:32 remaining.

"I really don't know what happened tonight," Miami forward Dan Majerle said. "Every team has nights like this one and unfortunately it happened to us tonight."

Notes