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MIAMI – Erik Spoelstra got a milestone win, and it didn’t come easily.
Jimmy Butler scored 29 points, Bam Adebayo scored 21 and the Miami Heat went on a 17-0 run in the second half before hanging on late to beat the San Antonio Spurs 116-111 on Wednesday night.
It was the 600th regular-season win for Spoelstra, making him the 27th coach in NBA history to win that many and just the sixth coach to do so with one franchise. He thanked Heat President Pat Riley and managing general partner Micky Arison for the opportunity.
“It is humbling,” Spoelstra said. “Obviously, I always think about Pat and Micky for having this incredible opportunity to be able to coach with this franchise. I feel a great responsibility to do it the right way for something they started and created.”
The Heat (33-30) remained No. 7 in the Eastern Conference, tied with No. 6 Boston (33-30) and now one game behind No. 5 Atlanta (34-29).
“I know if we win, that takes care of everything,” Butler said.
Adebayo added 11 rebounds for Miami, which got 18 points from three players — Kendrick Nunn, plus reserves Goran Dragic and Dewayne Dedmon. Dragic had seven assists, giving him 2,004 in his Miami career and tying him with two-time NBA champion Mario Chalmers for third-most in team history.
Dejounte Murray had 22 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists for the Spurs, who were without starting guard Derrick White, who is expected to miss the rest of the season with a sprained ankle. DeMar DeRozan scored 20 for the Spurs, who got 18 from Lonnie Walker IV, 14 from Keldon Johnson, 13 from Rudy Gay and 11 from Devin Vassell.
