MIAMI, (Reuters) – The Miami Heat banished memories of their worst loss of the season by returning the favour to the San Antonio Spurs in a 110-80 thrashing of the NBA leaders on Monday. After suffering an embarrassing 125-95 defeat to the Spurs on March 4, the Heat turned the tables to notch a third straight win following a five-game losing streak.
Chris Bosh continued his recent strong form with 30 points and 12 rebounds, while Dwyane Wade added 29 points and nine rebounds to help Miami move within two games of top spot in the East, held jointly by the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls.
Less than a week ago, the Heat were down in the doldrums after repeated poor performances but the high-profile team suddenly appear to be finding their rhythm with the playoffs approaching. “In sports when you’re winning everything is good, when you’re losing everything is bad,” Wade told reporters. “We just try to stay even keel and never get too high and never get too low.”
LeBron James finished with 21 points and eight assists for the Heat (46-21), who forged a 10-point lead by the interval before dominating the second half.
Unleashing intense defense and an unstoppable fast break assault, Miami wowed their home crowd and continued their recent resurgence. “In order for us to win games, we know we have to defend every night,” James said. “It’s great to come out against an explosive offensive team and hold them under their averages.” Tony Parker led the Spurs (54-13) with 18 points as San Antonio suffered its second lopsided defeat to a top team in a little more than a week, after falling to the Los Angeles Lakers 99-83 on March 6.
Despite a poor effort, that saw them shoot just 38 percent from the field, the Spurs still lead the West by 6 1/2 games.
