The big story before tip-off in San Antonio was the fact that LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Mario Chalmers would all be held out Sunday night against the Spurs due to various injuries.
By the time the game was over, the Heat had come away with an unexpected 88-86 victory, thanks to the last-second heroics of the one Miami All-Star who did play in this game, Chris Bosh.
With the Heat trailing by one and less than 10 seconds remaining, the Heat rebounded a miss from Tim Duncan in the lane, and advanced the ball up the floor for their final offensive possession.
Bosh trailed the play at the top of the three-point arc, and Ray Allen found him there, as Bosh calmly drained the game-winner from three-point distance.
Bosh ranks ninth on the Heat in three-point field goal percentage, yet had no trouble knocking down this one with the game hanging in the balance.
It’s tough to blame San Antonio for the letdown to a certain extent, given the fact that Miami was without three of its five starters. But should the Spurs face the Heat in the NBA Finals, and if the regular season records of the two teams don’t end up finishing that far apart in the overall standings, San Antonio may look back on this game with regret as they’re forced to open the championship round on the road in Miami against the defending champs.