Heat struggled at quarters’ end

SAN ANTONIO – Until Tuesday night, the Miami Heat will be lamenting 8 bad minutes.

Eight very bad minutes, actually.

So bad that they took away any realistic chance of winning Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night. So bad that they put the reigning champions on the brink of elimination. So bad that they ensured the Heat season can only be saved by winning two games in Miami, or else they will face the indignity of watching an opponent celebrate a title on their floor for the second time in three years.

San Antonio closed the first quarter on a 15-2 run, then wrapped up the third with a 12-1 burst. And those flurries generated more than enough cushion than the Spurs would need on the way to a 114-104 win that put them one win away from their fifth championship since 1999.

“We haven’t really gotten beaten like that in a long time,” Heat guard Mario Chalmers said. “It just happened tonight, so something’s got to change.”

In those two bursts, the Spurs shot a combined 10 for 12. The Heat, 1 for 11.

More than anything else, those two stretches will be the ones that cause the Heat to cringe when they watch the tape today.

“We’re going to have to look at it and we’re going to have to answer that question,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Can we put together our best game on both sides of the floor in Game 6? We do feel good that we’re going home, but we’ve got to earn back that home court.”