Miami Heat made rough weather of beating the San Antonio Spurs, who were without four of their top players, after controversially deciding to fly them back home.
Despite missing Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Danny Green, the Spurs almost won the game, with the scores reading 98-93 in Spurs' favor with 2:14 remaining, before the Heat stepped up their game in the final moments to pull off a 105-100 victory.
San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said he rested his top four players in team's best interest. But NBA Commissioner David Stern termed it as "unacceptable."
"I apologize to all NBA fans," Stern said in a statement. "This was an unacceptable decision by the San Antonio Spurs and substantial sanctions will be forthcoming."
Spurs played with only nine active players, but they still outscored the Heat in the first quarter 27-22 and in the third quarter 32-26. They were leading the game, before Miami bounced back in the fourth quarter to clinch victory.
"Oh, it would have been great if we won," Spurs forward Matt Bonner said after hearing about Stern's statement. "It goes back to what I was saying, I'm sure everybody else was saying before the game.
"We have faith in everybody on our roster. We think we have one of the deepest teams in the league."
The Miami players also accepted Spurs had extremely competitive players on the field.
"We survived," the Associated Press quoted Chris Bosh as saying. "And we won. They have a bunch of talented guys over there. I know that nobody's going to really give them credit, but they are a tough bunch."
The Heat were trailing by seven points with 4:48 remaining. Miami were still trailing by five points with 2:14 left. Defeat looked a distinct possibility when Gary Neal hit a 3-pointer to reduce the gap to two points, as they went on a 12-2 run to eke out a win.
For the Heat, who are 7-0 at home, Ray Allen had 20 points, Dwyane Wade added 19 and five assists and Chris Bosh finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds.
For the Spurs, Neal scored 20 points, Tiago Splitter added 18 points, Nando De Colo had 15, Boris Diaw scored 12 and Bonner contributed with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
The Spurs road-trip ended with a 5-1 record, with Neal defending his coach's decision. "Pop is the coach of the San Antonio Spurs," he said. "He did what's best for us."
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