Flagrant 2: Red-Hot Spurs Handle Miami in Game 3 of NBA Finals
The San Antonio Spurs went supernova last night. Kawhi Leonard was draining shots from Biscayne Bay. Yoenis Cespedes made the throw of the year in Major League Baseball. Plus bat-tossing repercussions, more Clippers lawsuits, and some old-fashioned jingoism. Seriously, all that happened last night!
Flagrant 2: Jonathan Quick Just Saving Everything
Luckily, we’ve got you covered. Here’s Rolling Stone‘s a.m. recap of the night in sports, the Flagrant 2 for Wednesday.
Shootin’ Spurs Blast Miami in Game 3
Kawhi Leonard couldn’t miss, LeBron James couldn’t keep up, and Game 3 of the NBA Finals couldn’t have been more one-sided: The Spurs jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, defeating the Heat 111-92 on Wednesday night to take a 2-1 lead in the series.
San Antonio came out firing, scoring 41 in the first quarter and putting 71 on the board by intermission. They shot an NBA Finals record 75.8 percent in the first half, and their 21-point lead at the break was the largest by a road team in a Finals game since 1996.
Leonard, San Antonio’s Spock, led all scorers with 29 points on 10-of-13 shooting, and did an admirable job of shutting down LeBron James, holding him to 22 points (his lowest output of these Finals) on 9-of-14 shooting. The Spurs also got 15 points apiece from Tony Parker and Danny Green, and Tim Duncan chipped in 14 and 6 rebounds.
Dwyane Wade also had 22 for the Heat, who battled hard in the third quarter, whittling the Spurs lead down to 7, but could not get any closer. Miami’s last lead in the game came at the 10:44 mark of the first, when a Rashard Lewis layup made it 4-2.
Game 4 is Thursday in Miami.
Yoenis Cespedes, Cuban Cannon
The Los Angeles Angels (of Anaheim or whatever) walked-off against the Oakland A’s on Wednesday, winning 2-1 in 14 innings on Colin Cowgill’s home run. The game took 4 hours and 39 minutes to complete and featured 10 different relief pitchers … but all of that could have been avoided if it wasn’t for Yoenis Cespedes.
The A’s outfielder unfurled MLB’s throw of the year, an absolute bullet from the left-field corner that nailed the Angels’ Howie Kendrick at home (by several feet) in the 8th inning, to keep the game tied at 1.
We love the little gun salute too. In the end, the Angels came out on top, thanks to Cowgill’s first career walk-off homer. Los Angeles has won five straight, and have trimmed Oakland’s lead in the American League West to just 2.5 games.
Quickly …
Shelly Sterling is headed to court, seeking to resolve matters with her estranged husband Donald, and expedite the $2 billion sale of the Los Angeles Clippers. Earlier this week, Donald Sterling indicated he planned on moving forward with a lawsuit against the NBA, alleging the league violated his rights. … Baltimore Orioles third baseman Manny Machado has been suspended five games for intentionally tossing a bat over the weekend. … U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!