Category: Games

The decision is final: LeBron James made the right call coming to Miami.

Finally an NBA champion, it’s all worth it now.

James had 26 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists, and got the kind of help that was worth leaving home for, leading the Heat in a 121-106 rout of the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night to win the NBA Finals in five games.

Best player in the game, best team in the league.

James has found it all since taking his talents to South Beach.

”It means everything,” James said moments after the win. ”I made a difficult decision to leave Cleveland but I understood what my future was about … I knew we had a bright future (in Miami). This is a dream come true for me. This is definitely when it pays off.”

He left the game along with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh for good with 3:01 remaining for a round of hugs and the start for a celebration he’s been waiting for since arriving in the NBA out of high school as the No. 1 pick of the 2003 draft.

James hopped up and down in the final minutes, shared a long hug with opponent Kevin Durant, and watched the confetti rain down from the rafters.

The Heat took control in the second quarter, briefly lost it and blew it open again in the third behind their role players, James content to pass to wide-open 3-point shooters while the Thunder focused all their attention on him.

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

As the Miami Heat’s lead skyrocketed Thursday night from five just after halftime to an insurmountable 24 by the end of the third quarter, their fans outside the AmericanAirlines Arena decided it was time to celebrate the team’s second NBA championship in six years.

The thousands gathered in bars, restaurants and a park near the arena screamed in joy late Thursday as the Heat dropped one three-point shot after another, using the fourth quarter to get an early start on their party as they watched their team coast to a 121-106 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Heat won the series 4-1.

The promise made to South Florida fans 23 months earlier when LeBron James and Chris Bosh added their talents to Dwyane Wade’s had arrived.

— Reported by David Fischer of the Associated Press

It was Miami’s second NBA title following a 2006 triumph and the first for three-times league Most Valuable Player James, who finally realized his dream of winning a championship ring in his third trip to an NBA Finals.

Three-times NBA scoring champion Kevin Durant led the young Thunder team with 32 points with Russell Westbrook and James Harden adding 19 points for the losers.

— Reported by Larry Fine of Reuters

Favorites coming into the series, the Thunder fell in Game 5 of the finals Thursday night, as Miami finished off its run to a championship by beating the Thunder 121-106. Oklahoma City’s 11-point win in Game 1 is long forgotten and irrelevant now, considering that for the first time in more than three years, the Thunder have lost four straight games.

At the absolute worst time, on the absolute biggest stage, no less.

”When you play against the best, you learn,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said.

Kevin Durant had 32 points and 11 rebounds, and Russell Westbrook finished with 19 points for the Thunder, though Westbrook’s night – one game removed from a 20-for-32 performance from the field – came on a night where he shot 4 for 20. They came out with 4:44 left, the outcome long decided, the Heat fans going delirious.

James Harden scored 19 points and Derek Fisher added 11 for the Thunder.

Down 10 at the half, the Thunder cut the deficit in half by the time the third quarter was a minute old. It was the last gasp of the season – Miami put the game, and the title, away with a 34-13 burst that pushed the lead to 93-67 on a three-point play by Dwyane Wade with 1:23 left in that pivotal quarter.

Mike Miller connected on his sixth 3-pointer of the night, and Miami’s 13th, on the first possession of the fourth quarter. Miller would soon add another, for good measure.

— Reported by Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press 

A limping, grimacing LeBron James shook off left leg cramps to hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 2:51 remaining and the Miami Heat held off the Oklahoma City Thunder for a 104-98 victory Tuesday night and a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals that no team has ever blown.

”I was just trying to make a play,” James said. ”If I was out on the floor, I wanted to try to make a play with the limited mobility I had at that time, and I was happy I was able to come through.”

Game 5 is Thursday night and James will have a chance to finish a nine-year chase that started in Cleveland before he famously — or infamously — left for South Florida before last season.

”Of course it’s there to think about,” said James, making it clear he plans to play. ”I’ll be ready for Game 5.”

With James watching the final moments, Mario Chalmers finished off a stellar 25-point effort that matched Dwyane Wade. James had 26 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds, missing a shot at a triple-double only because he was on the bench at the end after thigh cramps emerged following a fall near the Thunder basket.

The Heat needed all James could give and more to hold off Russell Westbrook. He scored 43 points for the Thunder, who wasted an early 17-point lead but were never out of the game because of their sensational point guard. Kevin Durant had 28 points but James Harden threw in another clunker, finishing with eight points on 2-of-10 shooting. Westbrook and Durant were the only Thunder players to score in the last 16:46.

”Shots were falling,” said Westbrook, who was 20 of 32. ”It really doesn’t mean nothing. We didn’t come out with the win.”

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Westbrook delivered an ill-advised foul to Mario Chalmers with 13.8 seconds remaining, sending the malign but red-hot Miami guard to the foul line where he sealed the Thunder’s fate with swishes that swelled the Heat’s series lead to 3-1.

The foul came after Heat guard Dwyane Wade missed a floater while falling out of bounds with 17.3 seconds remaining. The rebound fell to Miami forward Udonis Haslem, but Thunder guard James Harden got his hands on the basketball to force a jump ball before Haslem could go back up with a shot to beat the expiring 24-second clock.

Under league rules, the 24-second clock remains the same as when play was interrupted or is reset to five seconds, whichever is greater, any time on jump balls retained by the offensive team as the result of a held ball caused by the defense.

When the jump ball got tapped out to Chalmers with just five seconds showing on the shot clock, Westbrook chopped down on Chalmers hands after a dribble in the corner.

Just three seconds were left on the shot clock. The Thunder was down only three.

— Reported by Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman

Playing with constant pain in his legs, James offered a heroic effort in the final period. He scored six points in the fourth quarter despite severe leg cramps and finished with 26 points in the game on 10 of 20 shooting.

“We talked about it before the game that you have to play with an intensity like you have nothing left by the end of the game and he did,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

James entered the fourth quarter two rebounds shy of a triple-double and finished the game with 12 assists and nine boards. In a scary moment, he was carried off the court by team trainer Jay Sabol and reserve Juwan Howard with 5:15 left in the game. James was treated for leg cramps on the sideline and James Jones took James’ place briefly in the lineup.

“I knew I wasn’t injured,” James said. “Your muscles just basically lock up on you. I wanted to walk to the bench but my muscles wouldn’t allow me to.”

— Reported by Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald

Halfway to a title, LeBron James shows no sign of letting this one get away.

James had 29 points and 14 rebounds, and the Miami Heat took a 2-1 lead in the NBA Finals with a 91-85 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday night.

Dwyane Wade had 25 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for the Heat, who were in this same position through three games last year, then didn’t win again against the Dallas Mavericks.

James’ poor performance was part of the problem then, but he seems on top of his game this time. His 3-pointer sent the Heat to the fourth quarter with the lead, and he scored five straight Miami points when the Heat were building just enough cushion to hold off another late flurry by the Thunder.

Game 4 is Tuesday night.

Kevin Durant had 25 points for the Thunder, but picked up his fourth foul in the third quarter and had to go to the bench when they had seemed to have control of the game. Russell Westbrook finished with 19 points.

The Heat survived their own fourth-quarter sloppiness by getting enough big plays from their Big Three…

Chris Bosh had 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Heat, who can win a second title by winning the next two games at home…

Oklahoma City started to take control with a 14-2 run early in the third. Durant had the first four points, Westbrook fooled the Heat with a fake behind the back pass before in for a layup, then Durant leaped over James for a follow dunk before nailing a jumper for a 60-51 lead with 6:55 left in the period.

But it was barely a minute later when he drew his fourth foul, though he appeared to make little or no contract on Wade’s baseline drive, and had to go to the bench.

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Raise your hand if you still believe Kendrick Perkins (10 points, 12 rebounds in Game 3) has no place in this series. Perk was only the Thunder’s most effective player with the ball in his hands. Granted, that says something about what else was going on, but still.

Perk was good in Game 3. He belongs, OK? So does the Thunder.

But can OKC win it all? Its 91-85 loss to the Heat Sunday night stirred some doubt, had to. And they wouldn’t be human if the men in Thunder uniforms didn’t at least wonder themselves.

“We put ourselves in position to win,” Durant said several times in the postgame, without a ton of conviction.

For the first time in this exhilarating four-year run from 23 wins to the NBA Finals, we saw signs that The Moment may actually be bigger than the Thunder. We saw it in its play, and in the players’ eyes.

— Reported by Mike Sherman of the Oklahoman

LeBron James needed some help, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh provided it.

The Miami Heat finally rediscovered the formula to winning in the NBA Finals – barely.

James had another finals career high with scored 32 points, Wade rebounded from a poor opener to add 24 and the Heat built a huge early lead before holding off a furious fourth-quarter rally behind their three All-Stars to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 100-96 on Thursday night, tying the series at one game apiece.

Bosh had 16 points and 15 rebounds in his return to the starting lineup for the Heat, who snapped a four-game finals losing streak with their first victory since Game 3 against Dallas last year…

Kevin Durant scored 32 points for the Thunder, but missed a shot after appearing to be bumped with James that would have tied a game the Thunder trailed the entire way. Russell Westbrook finished with 27 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, but shot 10 of 25 from the field.

James Harden tried to keep the Thunder in it early and finished with 21 points, but this time the Thunder couldn’t come back from a double-digit deficit after spotting Miami a 17-point advantage during their worst first half of the season…

Durant nailed a 3-pointer and drove into the lane to throw down a dunk over Battier that cut it to 82-74 with 8:22 remaining. His 3-pointer from the wing trimmed it to 90-86, and the Thunder got it all the way to 94-91 when Westbrook dunked Durant’s miss with 1:48 to go.

James answered by banking in a jumper for his first basket of the final period, as the Big Three combined for all but one of Miami’s seven field goals in the fourth quarter.

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

The Heat outscored the Thunder 48-32 in the paint and seemingly executed every adjustment it wanted to make after its collapse in Game 1 but still, somehow, Miami watched it nearly all unravel in the final seconds. The Heat led 98-91 with less than 50 seconds to play when Russell Westbrook cut it to a two-possession game with a driving layup. The Heat then fumbled away the ball bringing it up the court, and Kevin Durant scooped it up for an easy three-pointer with 37.5 seconds. It cut the Heat’s lead to 98-96.

Suddenly, after so much had gone right for the Heat, it was dangerously close to going down 2-0 in the series. Durant, who finished with 32 points, had the ball in his hands with less than 10 seconds to play but missed a seven-foot bank shot. James desperately grabbed the defensive rebound and was fouled immediately by Westbrook. James made his final free throws of the night to seal the victory.

“Well, that’s competition, and that’s what it’s about,” Spoelstra said.

Dwyane Wade, critiqued for looking a little past his prime in Game 1, responded with 24 points, including 13 in the first half. Wade was 10 of 20 from the field and 4 of 6 from the free-throw line.

Starting his first game since the Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, Chris Bosh had 16 points and 15 rebounds, including seven offensive boards. He breathed life into the Heat’s half-court offense from the beginning of the game and settled the defense on the other end.

— Reported by Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald

The Oklahoma City Thunder didn’t just get out to a slow start in Game 2. They got punched in the mouth. Then when they didn’t punch back right away, they got punched again.

Ironically it wasn’t until Kevin Durant, the Thunder’s go-to scorer and Russell Westbrook, their other go-to scorer had to sit down with two early fouls each that the Thunder started to cut into the deficit.

Not so ironically, it was the same duo that would bring the Thunder back getting them all the way back to within two, but that was as close as they would get as Miami held on for a 100-96 win and a split of the series.

The Heat, desperate as they might be, are still a team capable of having their way with anyone and even after the Thunder seemed to be on the way to righting the ship, Miami found the strength to hold them off.

Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra set the desperate tone for the night when he put Chris Bosh back in the starting lineup alongside Shane Battier in the frontcourt.

— Reported by Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun

Kevin Durant showed LeBron James how to play the fourth quarter in the NBA Finals.

Durant scored 17 of his 36 points in another nightmarish final period for James and his team, leading a Thunder storm that overwhelmed the Heat and gave Oklahoma City a 105-94 victory over Miami in Game 1 on Tuesday night.

Teaming with Russell Westbrook to outscore the Heat in the second half by themselves, Durant struck first in his head-to-head matchup with James, who had seven points in the final quarter and was helpless to stop the league’s three-time scoring champion.

”They didn’t make many mistakes in the fourth quarter,” James said.

Westbrook turned around a poor shooting start to finish with 27 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds for the Thunder, keying a strong finish to the third period that gave the Thunder the lead for good.

Durant took over from there.

Scoring in nearly every way possible, Durant finished 12 of 20 from the field and added eight rebounds. He and Westbrook outscored the Heat 41-40 over the final two periods, showing that maybe this time it will be offense that wins championships.

”Those guys they came out on fire. They were passing the ball well, knocking down shots,” Durant said. ”We just wanted to keep playing. It’s a long game.”

James finished with 30 points, his most in any of his 11 finals games, but had only one basket over the first 8:15 of the fourth, when the Thunder seized control of a game they trailed for all but the final few seconds of the first three quarters…

Dwyane Wade had 19 points but shot just 7 of 19 for the Heat, while Shane Battier provided some rare offense by scoring 17 points, his high this postseason.

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

The night’s scoring kicked off with a 24-foot, Shane Battier three-point strike 53 seconds into the game and like a boulder pushed down a steep hill, the momentum continued to build. Battier was a man on a mission from tip-off.

The 33-year-old, calm, cool and collected vet continued his long distance assault on the Oklahoma City Thunder for much of the opening quarter.

With 9:27 on the clock, Battier took a feed from Mario Chalmers and zipped a 25 footer in from the left wing.

He’d start 3 of 3 from beyond the arc on the night following a missed strike by OKC’s Kevin Durant. Battier answered the Thunder miss-fire with a decisive 25-foot strike, giving Miami the 17-10 lead early in the game.

Battier finished the first half making 5 of 6 from the field while sinking 3 of 4 three-pointers, scoring 13 points and tallying two rebounds.

— Reported by Chris Wescott, special to the Miami Herald

James and Wade downplayed the loss.

“This was the feel out game,” James said. “We come here with a lot of energy, try to steal Game 1 and now we get an opportunity to go to the chalkboard, go to the film and have a better game plan for Game 2 since we’ve already seen what they’re capable of doing.”

Chris Bosh, who came off the bench, had 10 points and five rebounds in 34 minutes. Shane Battier had 17 points on 6 of 9 shooting. He was 4 of 6 from three-point range. Mario Chalmers had 12 points, including 10 in the first half.

In an eye-opening statistic, the Thunder outscored the Heat 24-4 in fast-break points. Oklahoma City out-rebounded the Heat 43-35 and had 56 points in the paint.

“They’re fast, they’re explosive, so we’ll have to adjust to that,” said Spoelstra, who added the biggest difference between the first and second halves was .

The Heat led the entire first half and the beginning of the third quarter but a driving layup by Thabo Sefolosha tied the score at 60-60 with 6:44 to play. Led by Westbrook, the Thunder outscored the Heat 27-19 in the third quarter. James had nine points in the period and Wade had six but Bosh contributed nothing.

— Reported by Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald