Heat 103, Spurs 101

[dirt_dobber]

By STEVEN WINE, AP Sports Writer
October 10, 2005

MIAMI (AP) -- The Miami Heat and hurricane relief charities came away winners Monday night.

Miami opened the preseason by beating the NBA champion San Antonio Spurs 103-101 in a game added to the schedule to benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina. A check for $1.1 million was presented at halftime to the American Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, the Salvation Army and Feed the Poor.

``It's great to be able to do something for people,'' Heat coach Stan Van Gundy said.

The game drew a capacity crowd of 19,600, with many tickets donated, and the teams gave fans what they came to see: dunks by Shaquille O'Neal, breakneck drives by Dwyane Wade and plenty of firepower from the Spurs.

Following a timeout with 2.4 seconds left, Heat rookie Kevin Braswell hit a layup for the winning score.

``On the bench Shaq said, `The ball's coming to you,''' Braswell said. ``With all the people in the stands, it felt great.''

As officials reviewed a TV replay to make sure Braswell beat the buzzer, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich urged them to let the basket stand.

``It was a great night,'' Popovich said. ``It was a win-win for everybody. It was really great for the people who were so unfortunate during the hurricane.''

While San Antonio's lineup was unchanged from the end of last season, the game marked the debut of a revamped lineup by the Heat, who acquired three new starters after losing in the Eastern Conference finals last season.

``The champions, and those who would be champions,'' said one spectator, Hall of Famer Julius Erving.

Wade's daredevil acrobatics, Tim Duncan's shooting touch and Alonzo Mourning's scowl were all in midseason form. Perhaps the biggest surprise: O'Neal made his first three free throws, one a bank shot.

Despite only a week of practice and a steady stream of substitutions, both teams showed considerable offensive flair and shot better than 50 percent.

Duncan scored 16 points, all in the first half, and added 10 rebounds in 24 minutes. Manu Ginobili had 13 points in 16 minutes.

``It felt like yesterday we were playing in the Finals,'' Ginobili said. ``I didn't think it was so long ago. We had all the plays fresh in our minds.''

Michael Finley, who spurned the Heat for the Spurs this offseason, made three of four shots.

Wade took several hard spills to earn his 18 points. He sank a 40-foot runner that banked in as the buzzer sounded to end the first half.

O'Neal had 17 points and eight rebounds in 22 minutes. New teammate Antoine Walker drove almost the entire length of the court for one layup and finished with 20 points and five steals.

``It's going to take some time to get used to each other,'' O'Neal said. ``But I liked what I saw out there with the guys' intensity and moving the ball and playing together. That's what it takes to get it done.''

.

[dirt_dobber]

I only posted this because I watched a few min. but I cannot find a box score.
Call me sick or whatever but I watched to see how Finley fit in. and saw him
play only a few min. Walker had a decent game.

Living in Austin we get force fed Spurs games and It will be different to watch
Fin and the Spurs this year.

.

[DelNegro]

Finley's line was 6 points on 3-4 shooting & 3 assists in 16 minutes. Giving my Spurs fan disclosure here, I thought he looked good. He took the shots he was supposed to and passed when he was supposed to. Did okay defensively, which for the first pre-season game I thought was a good sign. Basically I didn't see anything that goes against my belief that he's going to fit right in.

Full box score from the game is below.

.......back to lurking......

San Antonio
Name Min FG 3Pt FT Off Reb Ast TO Stl Blk PF Pts
B. Bowen 18 1-5 1-4 0-0 2 4 2 0 1 0 2 3
T. Duncan 23 6-9 0-0 4-4 1 10 3 4 0 3 3 16
N. Mohammed 11 2-3 0-0 1-2 1 1 1 0 1 0 4 5
T. Parker 21 3-8 0-0 0-0 1 4 3 2 1 0 0 6
M. Ginobili 16 4-8 1-3 4-6 0 1 1 2 2 0 2 13
F. Oberto 12 1-1 0-0 0-0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 2
B. Barry 17 5-9 3-7 0-0 1 3 1 1 0 0 1 13
N. Van Exel 10 1-3 1-1 0-0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 3
M. Finley 16 3-4 0-0 0-0 0 0 3 1 0 0 1 6
R. Nesterovic 14 0-2 0-0 0-0 1 2 0 0 0 0 6 0
R. Horry 8 2-5 2-5 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6
S. Ford 16 4-5 0-0 0-2 1 3 1 0 1 2 0 8
J. Williams 7 0-2 0-0 0-0 1 2 1 0 0 0 1 0
B. Udrih 6 1-4 0-0 4-6 0 1 2 0 3 0 0 6
S. Marks 12 4-5 0-0 1-1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 9
S. Graham 11 2-3 0-0 0-0 0 2 0 3 0 0 3 4
K. Bailey 11 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 3 2 0 0 0 0
M. Sanders 11 0-0 0-0 1-2 0 1 1 2 0 0 1 1

Totals 240 39-77 8-20 15-23 10 37 23 19 10 6 25 101
Percentages: .506 .400 .652 Team Rebounds: 8

Miami
Name Min FG 3Pt FT Off Reb Ast TO Stl Blk PF Pts
U. Haslem 19 2-4 0-0 5-6 2 5 1 2 1 0 1 9
J. Posey 22 0-2 0-2 2-2 1 3 0 0 0 0 1 2
S. O'Neal 21 5-8 0-0 7-11 1 8 0 4 1 1 4 17
J. Williams 24 1-4 0-0 0-0 0 2 4 1 0 1 0 2
D. Wade 25 4-10 1-1 9-12 0 3 4 3 1 0 2 18
A. Mourning 11 4-4 0-0 3-6 0 0 0 2 1 3 2 11
D. Wright 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
G. Payton 18 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 1 5 3 1 1 2 2
J. Kapono 18 2-5 1-2 1-2 1 6 1 0 0 0 2 6
A. Walker 23 9-14 2-5 0-0 1 2 1 4 5 0 3 20
M. Doleac 11 1-3 0-0 0-0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 2
W. Simien 5 1-1 0-0 0-0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 2
D. Rice 8 0-2 0-2 0-0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0
M. Walsh 8 1-2 0-1 0-0 0 3 0 0 0 0 1 2
S. Anderson 5 2-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 4
E. Barron 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0
K. Braswell 6 2-5 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 4
A. Emmett 6 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 2
G. Fitch 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 240 36-69 4-14 27-39 9 38 19 20 13 7 23 103
Percentages: .522 .286 .692 Team Rebounds: 8

[dirt_dobber]

DelNegro
Thanks! for posting the Box Score

Welcome to Mavs land, we will appreciate your insight to the Spurs.

.

[MavsFanFinley]

I was reading through one of the game day threads and they were excited about Fin's performance. With the exception of a few defensive slips, he looked to fit right in with the rest of the team. He took his shots and passed the ball well.

I also read Miami played Walker and Posey a lot but the Spurs only had Udrih, Marks, and the 5 new guys hoping for a roster spot for most the 4th quarter.

Sounds like Ford and Sanders have a good shot at taking the last 2 roster spots to fill out the Spurs team.

[DelNegro]

Originally posted by: dirt_dobber
DelNegro
Thanks! for posting the Box Score

Welcome to Mavs land, we will appreciate your insight to the Spurs.

.

Thanks DD. I've been lurking here off and on since about the time AJ took over. I was certain at the time that we were headed for a playoff series match-up. Hopefully this year.

[DelNegro]

Originally posted by: MavsFanFinley
I was reading through one of the game day threads and they were excited about Fin's performance. With the exception of a few defensive slips, he looked to fit right in with the rest of the team. He took his shots and passed the ball well.

I also read Miami played Walker and Posey a lot but the Spurs only had Udrih, Marks, and the 5 new guys hoping for a roster spot for most the 4th quarter.

Sounds like Ford and Sanders have a good shot at taking the last 2 roster spots to fill out the Spurs team.

The 4th quarter was a write-off by Pop. Miami had Payton, Walker, Posey and Mourning out there against Sean Marks, and 4 un-drafted rookies.

Ford looked alright, and he may stick as one of the token "inactive list" guys. Sanders looked so-so, the other rooks looked clueless. Last night's main attraction though was just being able to see basketball again.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

I hope Miami turns into all offense and no defense.