NBA Finals: Spurs score style points, three at a time, rout Heat

SAN ANTONIO — Who said the San Antonio Spurs couldn’t have a good time? And show a little flash?

They ran up, down and over the Miami Heat, 113-77, in Game 3 of the NBA Finals Tuesday night, discarding their bland, vanilla reputation for something a lot more peppery.

They never trailed, completely quashed LeBron James and kept their fans roaring the entire time while taking a 2-1 series lead at AT&T; Center.

Here’s all that needed to be known: Danny Green and Gary Neal outscored James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, 51-43, as the Spurs took a step closer to their fifth championship since 1999.

It’s true. James was held to 15 points and made only seven of 21 shots, continuing his strange string of inaccuracy so far during a Finals in which he has shot only 38.9% while averaging 16.7 points. Not exactly the stuff of defending champions.

The loss was the most one-sided in Heat playoff history, something nobody ever expected to be fact-checking afterward. It was also the third-worst wipeout for any team in Finals history.

“Honestly, I just have to play better,” James said. “I can’t have a performance like [Game 3] and expect to win. I’m not putting blame on anybody. I’m owning everything that I did tonight.”

Another happy stat for Spurs fans: Game 3 often determines the Finals winner when the series is tied after two games. Since the league went to the 2-3-2 format in 1985, a dozen previous Finals had started with a 1-1 split. The winner of Game 3 took 11 of those series.

Game 4 is Thursday, the second chapter of three in a row at AT&T; Center.

Miami’s first priority will be to get more scoring out of James, who had four points until the final two minutes of the third quarter, finally finding a little something after the Heat trailed, 75-54.

Wade scored 16 points and Bosh had 12 for the Heat, which never found much of anything in general, unlike Green and Neal.

Green had 27 points and made seven of nine three-point shots two days after setting a Finals record for three-point efficiency (five for five in Game 2). He had been cut twice by the Spurs but finally caught on for good in training camp last October.

Neal (24 points) was right next to Green in efficiency, making six of 10 three-point attempts and adding to the Spurs’ stellar shooting night behind the arc. San Antonio made 16 three-pointers, a Finals record, in 32 attempts.

“We moved the ball and guys were taking advantage of the situation,” Tim Duncan said. “Miami was running all over the place, and those guys were getting some open looks.”

Wade started off strongly (12 points, five assists by halftime) but had four points and no assists after that. Mario Chalmers, the Game 2 darling (19 points), was held scoreless Tuesday.

James left for good with 5:43 left and the Spurs ahead, 102-71.

Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili weren’t spectacular Tuesday, making 10 of 23 shots, but they didn’t need to be on a night when Green and Neal hammered the Heat.

Parker, who had six points and eight assists, left with a hamstring injury early in the fourth quarter and did not return. He will have an MRI exam Wednesday after saying he experienced a “weird feeling” in his leg.

“Hopefully it’s nothing big and it’s just a cramping, or got tight on me,” Parker said.

There weren’t any iconic plays to remember such as Parker’s late off-balance bank shot in Game 1 or James’ fourth-quarter block of Tiago Splitter’s dunk attempt in Game 2.

There was just a lot of San Antonio defense. And rebounding. And, sure, scoring.

On one third-quarter possession, the Spurs missed a three-point attempt, got the rebound, missed another long shot and grabbed another rebound before Green drilled a three-pointer from the left side.

The Spurs pummeled the Heat on the boards, 52-36.

Scratch that: San Antonio pummeled Miami pretty much everywhere Tuesday night. James knew it better than anyone.

mike.bresnahan@latimes.com

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