June 4, 2013 – Page 2 – NBA Blog

Dwyane Wade steps up through pain for Heat

LeBron James top-scored with 32 points as the Miami Heat reached their third straight NBA Finals with a 99-76 win over the Indiana Pacers on Monday, but it was Dwyane Wade’s return to form that gave coach Erik Spoelstra the most pleasure.

Wade has been struggling with a painful knee injury throughout the playoffs and it showed in his production, with the guard failing to register 20 points in any of his previous 12 games.

But his 21 points on Monday, combined with nine rebounds, gave Miami the additional boost they needed in the Game Seven decider.

The aggression was back, the confidence to drive to the rim and with it, the Heat looked a more complete unit following their Game Six setback.

“That’s just Dwyane being who he is. He has an uncanny way, when you count him out and you need him most, when the competition is fiercest, he’s going to be there for you,” Spoelstra told reporters.

Reported by Simon Evans of Reuters

Heat to play Spurs for NBA title

No more sitting out stars, and for the San Antonio Spurs, no more sitting around.

Finally, the NBA Finals matchup is set, and the Miami Heat will either win a second straight championship or the Spurs will go a perfect 5 for 5 in the title round while denying LeBron James a ring for the second time.

The Heat earned their third consecutive Eastern Conference title on Monday night, beating the Indiana Pacers 99-76 in Game 7 of their series. So it’s Heat vs. Spurs for the Larry O’Brien Trophy, a series that will begin Thursday in Miami, on the same floor where the Heat and James finished off Oklahoma City to win last season’s title.

Miami is looking for its third championship, San Antonio its fifth. And for James, it’s a chance to erase a memory that has stung him for six years.

His first trip to the finals came when he was with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2007, and it was ugly – the Spurs winning in a four-game sweep for what was their fourth title. San Antonio has not won the West since, so maybe it’s fitting that its return comes against James, albeit with the now four-time MVP in a different uniform.

”Obviously, I needed more,” James said. ”Our team, we were really good, but we weren’t great. And that was a great team. We lost to a better team. So I understand that we needed more. We continued to get better over the years, but we never got to that level.”

Reported by Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press

Heat beat Pacers 99-76 in Game 7, advance to NBA Finals

Their season, their legacy, their reign atop the NBA was all at stake, and the Miami Heat responded in a manner befitting defending champions – with a blowout.

LeBron James scored 32 points and grabbed eight rebounds, ailing Dwyane Wade matched his postseason high with 21 points, and the Heat ran away from the Indiana Pacers 99-76 in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference series on Monday night.

In the NBA Finals for the third straight year, the Heat will play the San Antonio Spurs in Game 1 on Thursday in Miami.

”They’re just an amazing group of guys,” Heat managing general partner Micky Arison said after handing the East trophy to Chris Andersen. ”They’ve given us an incredible season so far, but it’s a long way from over.”

It could have ended on Monday, of course. The Heat had alternated wins and losses with the Pacers in the first six games of the series, and were coming off their worst offensive outing of the year in Game 6.

They responded with a rout, despite shooting just under 40 percent, well below their norm.

”By any means necessary … we took care of business,” James said…

Roy Hibbert scored 18 points for the Pacers, who got 14 from David West, 13 from George Hill and 10 from Lance Stephenson. All-Star Paul George was held to seven points on 2-for-9 shooting and fouled out early in the fourth quarter…

By halftime, it was 52-37, with James scoring 18 points, Bosh and Wade combining for 17 and Allen adding 10 more. And what had to be most troubling to the Pacers at halftime was their 15 turnovers, a number Vogel said earlier Monday would spell trouble if his team committed that many in the entire game…

Miami’s Norris Cole and Indiana’s Jeff Pendergraph were ejected with 2:17 left after exchanging some heated words.

Reported by Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press