Inland Waterways » the first inning on a sacrifice

SAN ANTONIO -- The Spurs beat the Heat. Miami couldnt beat the heat. And there was the story of Game 1 of the NBA Finals. With LeBron James unable to play in the final 3:59 because of cramps throughout the left side of his body, and on a night where an air conditioning failure inside San Antonios arena had temperatures hovering near 90 degrees, the Heat simply withered in the final minutes. As their four-time MVP could only watch, Miami watched as San Antonio pulled away in the final minutes for a 110-95 win on Thursday night in the opener of the title series. "Its frustration and theres anger," James said as he lay on a training table long after the game. "But at the same time, its something you try to prevent, you try to control. I got all the fluids I needed to get. I did my normal routine Ive done. Its something that was inevitable for me tonight. "It just sucks not being out there for your team, especially at this point of the season." James scored the last of his 25 points on a layup that got Miami within two. That was the end of his night; he stood still on the baseline afterward, unable to move his left leg because of cramping. His night was over, and soon, so was the game. The Spurs outscored the Heat by 13 the rest of the way, and took the series-opener for the second straight finals. The Heat were outscored 36-17 in the fourth quarter. Dwyane Wade scored 19 points, Chris Bosh added 18 and Ray Allen scored 16 for Miami. Rashard Lewis added 10 for the Heat. "I think it felt like a punch in the gut when you see your leader limping like that back to the bench," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "But at the same time we still had an opportunity." James has dealt with cramping issues several times in the past, including during the 2012 NBA Finals against Oklahoma City -- in a game in Miami. "Were used to having the hotter arena," Spoelstra said. Spoelstra insisted that the Heat would not use the temperature as an excuse, and said James tried to return to the game shortly after the cramp knocked him out. "I just looked at him and said, Dont even think about it. You cant even move," Spoelstra said. James didnt need much convincing. He knew. Cramps, he said, were affecting nearly the whole left side of his body. "Any little step or nudge, it would get worse," James said. "It would lock up even worse. My muscles would just spasm at a 10 out of 10." Tim Duncan led the Spurs with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Tony Parker added 19 points and Manu Ginobili finished with 16 points and 11 assists for San Antonio, which improved to 10-1 at home in the playoffs. James was affected throughout the second half, asking for breaks more than once, and some players placed ice bags on the backs of their necks in an effort to combat the temperature. Duncan said the heat was a significant factor in the game. "I dont know what happened to LeBron, but I think all of us were feeling the heat," Duncan said. "We were all dehydrated." If there is a bright side for James -- who used cold towels, drank what he could and even changed uniforms at halftime -- its that Game 2 isnt until Sunday. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich acknowledged afterward that James departure obviously played a role in the finish, though lauded the way his team executed in the deciding minutes. "Certainly could have been a different story. Theres no doubt about that," Popovich said. Its not the first time electricity has had a significant impact on a championship event in recent years. The Super Bowl in 2013 between Baltimore and San Francisco was marred by a power outage at the Superdome in New Orleans, interrupting play for 34 minutes. Power was the culprit in Game 1 of the finals as well, arena officials said. "An electrical failure for the power that runs the AC system in the AT&T Center has occurred," Spurs Sports and Entertainment said in a statement distributed in the second half. "We are continuing to work on resolving the problem. We apologize for any inconvenience." Many fans removed the giveaway black T-shirts handed out before the game, obviously wanting to wear as few layers inside the steamy building as possible. "Not NBA Finals worthy," Wade said of the conditions in the locker room afterward. "Ill tell you that. This is crazy." New York Mets Jerseys . HEROES Alex Ovechkin – Scored a pair of goals in Washington’s 4-0 win over Pittsburgh. With 13 goals in the past 13 games, Ovechkin now has 29 goals on the season to lead the league. 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He may have ended his career on a losing note, but the 70-year-old Johnson was perfectly at ease after a big-league career that spanned six decades. A.J. Pollock beat out a run-scoring infield single in the eighth inning and the Arizona Diamondbacks sent the Washington manager into retirement with a loss by beating the Nationals 3-2 on Sunday. "Time to go home," Johnson said. "Put me out to pasture." Johnson already had his career commemorated during a ceremony in Washington and was recognized by the Diamondbacks before Sundays game, doffing his cap as he stepped out of the dugout. After taking the lineup card to home plate for the final time, he spent the next nine innings as he always does, offering positive reinforcement to his players while pulling the strings to get one last win. He ended up just short in the finale. After losing the series first two games, the Diamondbacks scratched out a pair of runs off Ryan Mattheus (0-2) in the eighth inning to finish the season at .500 (81-81). Martin Prado had a run-scoring single in the inning and Pollock dove into first safely after hitting a comebacker that bounced off Mattheus. David Hernandez (5-6) pitched a perfect eighth and Brad Ziegler closed out the ninth for his 13th save for the Diamondbacks, who played 1,538 innings this season to break the major league record set by the 1964 Yankees. It was a disappointing end to Johnsons career, but the Nationals still finished 11 games above.500 at 86-76 and are set up for success long after hes gone. "A good manager builds confidence in his players and we benefited from that because he never wavered, no matter how good or bad you were doing," Nationals right-hander Tyler Clippard said. "He always put you out there and expected you to succeed and, for the most part, I think we did." Johnson leaves with quite a legacy built over 17 years as a manager and 13 as a player. He won a World Series with the Mets in 1986 and joined Billy Martin as the only managers to take four teams to the post-season when he led the Nationals to the playoffs last season while earning his second manager of the year award at 69. He also went to the post-seaason with Cincinnati and Baltimore.dddddddddddd Johnson was a four-time All-Star as a player, earned three Gold Gloves and won a pair of World Series rings with the Orioles in 1966 and 1970. He goes out on a losing note, capping a season of unfulfilled expectations for Washington. The Nationals won the NL East and had the best record in baseball last season, so the bar was set high, particularly with a loaded lineup like theirs. Washington dropped below .500 after a rough stretch around the All-Star break before making a September run, but couldnt catch the surging Atlanta Braves. Johnson finishes his career 1,372-1,071. "Im not dropping off the face of the earth," said Johnson, who will serve as an adviser for the Nationals. "Ill still be around. I might even see you guys." The Diamondbacks won the NL West in 2011 and were expected to make another run after boosting payroll following a post-season-less 2012. Arizona looked like a playoff team the first half of the season, leading the division most of the way, but faded down the stretch, drifting well behind the Los Angeles Dodgers after the All-Star break and never able to make up the ground. The Diamondbacks at least ended on a good note. Arizona scored in the first inning on a sacrifice fly by Paul Goldschmidt after pitcher Tanner Roark had a throwing error on a sacrifice bunt. Zach Walters hit an RBI triple after Arizona third baseman Martin Prados throwing error in the sixth inning and Steve Lombardozzi put Washington up 2-1 with a run-scoring single. Roark allowed a run on three hits in seven innings. The Diamondbacks, like they have all season, never gave up, though, putting together a late rally that prevented their first losing season since 2010. "We as a team expected to be still paying right now," Diamondbacks shortstop Willie Bloomquist said. "I think that is where expectations need to stay. As a whole this year it has been disappointing even though we ended on a high note." Notes: Washington had won its previous four season finales. ... Johnson was 224-183 in three seasons with the Nationals. ... Goldschmidt had a single in the eighth inning to extend his hitting streak to 19 games. He also joined Mel Ott as the only NL players 25 under to hit .300 with 35 homers, 100 RBIs and 100 runs in a season. ... Members of the Phoenix Coyotes watched the game from the pool deck in right field. ' ' '