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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- Antonio Daniels is growing into his role as a
starter for the San Antonio Spurs.
Daniels, starting in place of injured Avery Johnson, scored 19
points Tuesday night as the Spurs beat Miami 80-72 and snapped the
Heat's five-game winning streak.
|  | | Miami's Brian Grant has nowhere to go after running into David Robinson under the basket. |
"Now, they are getting comfortable with him out there, and he
is making big shots and big plays when they need him to," said Tim
Hardaway, who had 15 points for Miami.
"You can't sag off on Tim (Duncan) and David (Robinson)
anymore
because Avery Johnson is not as consistent with his jumpshot.
Antonio is hitting that shot and making things happen."
Daniels, who sat out Saturday's win over Indiana with a sore
right Achilles' tendon, averaged 11.1 points and 4.9 assists in
nine previous starts. He's averaging 9.4 points this season and
scored a career-high 26 points and had a season-high 10 assists in
the Spurs' 103-95 victory over the Rockets on Dec. 26.
On Tuesday night, he hit three 3-pointers, including one from
behind the half-court line at the end of the first half.
After a 20-second timeout with 1.1 seconds left, Sean Elliott
inbounded the ball to Daniels, who hit a shot from 49 feet away at
the buzzer to give San Antonio a 41-38 lead at the break.
The Spurs never let go of the lead after that.
"We went into halftime with a lot of momentum," Daniels said.
"He was huge for us," said Robinson, who had 18 points and 10
rebounds. "He adds great athleticism and plays at a high tempo."
"He has a lot of shots in his bag," said Derek Anderson, who
had 15 points. "I was glad they went down tonight because we
needed them."
Duncan added 15 points and 10 rebounds for San Antonio.
The Spurs held Miami to 36.6 percent shooting from the field.
Eddie Jones led the Heat with 18 points on 8-for-19 shooting.
"We didn't make plays offensively. We didn't make plays
defensively," Jones said. "We missed shots. We didn't do anything
right."
Miami closed within a point several times in the third quarter
but couldn't manage to grab the lead.
The Spurs opened a 10-point lead on Anderson's fast-break layup
with 8:38 left in the fourth. The Heat closed within 67-64 on Eddie
House's 3-pointer.
With five minutes remaining, Jones collided with Robinson and
hobbled off the court. One minute later, House fell while going up
for a layup and walked off the court with blood streaming from his
forehead.
Jones replaced House, but San Antonio went on a 9-4 run, capped
by a 25-footer by Daniels, for a 78-68 lead.
After the game, House got three stitches.
"He (Duncan) just caught me with an elbow," House said. "It
was inadvertent. He went up and tried to block my shot and caught
me with the elbow coming down. He wasn't trying to do it, but I was
like, 'Man, can't we get a foul on that?' "
As for Jones, he said he twisted his left ankle.
"It's looking a little puffy right now," he said. "It wasn't
bad enough to keep me out. I have confidence in my teammates, but I
wanted to be out there with them. I should be OK."
Game notes
Miami dropped to 18-15. ... The Spurs improved to 14-2 at
home and 20-11 overall. ... The Spurs hold a 13-1 advantage over
Miami in San Antonio. ... During the Heat's winning streak, Jones
had scored 31 points in three games and had scored at least 20 in
two others. ... Mason held Duncan to just two points in the second
quarter.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Miami Clubhouse
San Antonio Clubhouse
RECAPS
Washington 115
Minnesota 108
Atlanta 92
Boston 81
Houston 100
Cleveland 95
New Jersey 120
Orlando 110
Milwaukee 104
Chicago 70
San Antonio 80
Miami 72
Indiana 91
Seattle 83
LA Clippers 110
Toronto 97
Sacramento 121
Phoenix 117
AUDIO/VIDEO
 The Spurs' Antonio Daniels goes behind the back for two of his 19 points.
avi: 559 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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