Miami Heat Blog – Page 96 – NBA Blog

Mike Miller goes 3-point crazy in NBA championship win

Mike Miller wrote himself into NBA Finals lore with 23 points on 7 of 8 from three-point range. It was a career postseason high in scoring for Miller in what might have been his last game. Miller hinted towards retirement in his postgame news conference.

“I’ve got to make the best decision, not only for the organization, for the players that work every night, for the Arisons who believed in me, for Coach Riley for bringing me here, and then for my family,” Miller said. “Just got to make sure it’s the best one.”

Miller has three years left on his contract. He’ll meet with doctors in the next week to determine the extent of his injuries. If he needs surgery (or surgeries), Miller might call it quits and retire. It’s a tricky situation. Miller would rather have the Heat use its amnesty clause on him. It would allow him to be paid the full amount of his contract.

Miller’s seven three-pointers was one shy of the Finals record, set by Ray Allen in 2010.

— Reported by Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald (Blog)

Miami Heat win 2012 NBA championship

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

Charles Barkley says Miami Heat fans are fake

Here’s what Charles Barkley said on 106.7 The Fan in Washington D.C.

“If you’re successful, a lot of people aren’t going to like you. That’s just the way it is. I always used to use this analogy: Everybody hates the homecoming queen because she’s pretty. All the ugly girls hate the homecoming queen. And all the dumb kids hate the smart kids. That’s just the way it is. LeBron James, first of all he has to take some responsibility [for] the way he did the stuff last year leaving Cleveland, the decision, coming on stage talking about not five, not six, seven championships. So he deserves some blame, but like I say, he’s a great kid, he’s a great, great player. … If you look at his résumé right now, the only thing he’s missing is a championship, and he’s gonna get that done [Thursday]. And no telling how many championships they’re going to win. … I wish he had stayed in Cleveland, because those fans in Cleveland, man, they’re fantastic. They don’t even have real fans here in Miami, they’re front-runners.“

— Reported by Glenn Moore of Cleveland.com

Heat trying to keep LeBron James from cramping

Pat Riley has held the title of team president and head coach with the Miami Heatorganization.

But air-conditioning repair guy? That’s a new one.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra joked Riley was tinkering with the air conditioning at AmericanAirlines Arena to prevent LeBron James from experiencing leg cramps in Thursday’s Game 5 of the NBA Finals. The Heat have a chance to close out the Oklahoma City Thunder, holding a 3-1 lead in the series.

Spoelstra said the arena being abnormally warm Tuesday for Game 4 may have caused James to cramp during the fourth quarter. They sidelined James for the final 55 seconds of the Heat’s 104-98 victory.

“Pat is Mr. Trap Door,” Spoelstra said. “We’ve been addressing a few things [in the arena] the last 24 hours.”

— Reported by Shandel Richardson of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Heat take 3-1 NBA Finals lead over Thunder

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

Ex-wife of Dwyane Wade charged with attempted child abduction

Dwyane Wade has asked a Chicago judge to suspend his ex-wife’s right to visitation with their two children after a weekend incident that delayed the boys’ return to his custody and led to her arrest.

Wade’s attorney, James Pritikin, filed an emergency motion and appeared in court Tuesday to have it heard, hours before the Miami Heat guard was to play in Game 4 of the NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

A hearing was set for June 26, which would be the date of Game 7 if the Heat and Thunder extend the series to its limit.

Wade told The Associated Press that his sons have been with him in Miami since about 6 a.m. Sunday — “That’s what mattered most to me, getting them here to be with me on Father’s Day,” he said — and that the incident has not adversely affected his play in the championship series.

Siohvaughn Funches-Wade was charged with two counts of attempted child abduction, two counts of unlawful visitation interference and one count of resisting arrest, Cook County Sheriff’s spokesman Frank Bilecki told The AP on Tuesday. Another woman at the home at the time, Nadgee Alarcon, was charged with one count of resisting arrest, Bilecki said. All the charges are misdemeanors.

— Reported by Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press

Heat use free-throws to grab control of Finals

The Heat had struggled at the free-throw line at times during the first three rounds of the playoffs.

But in the NBA Finals, shots from the stripe haven’t been much of a problem.

On Sunday night, Miami’s proficiency from the line might have been its salvation.

Miami was in danger of watching the visiting Thunder take control during the third quarter, yet 13 free-throw makes for the Heat kept the visitors at bay.

Miami then made 9 of 10 in the fourth, as it took its first lead in the Finals with a 91-85 victory in Game 3.

Game 4 is back in Miami on Tuesday night.

The Heat was an impressive 22 of 24 from the line in the second half and scored 31 of its 91 points via the free shot. Oklahoma City, however, hit on just 63 percent of its free throws (15 of 24).

— Reported by George Richards of the Miami Herald

InsideHoops.com note: The Heat finished Game 3 hitting 31-of-35 from the line.

LeBron scores 29, Heat take 2-1 NBA Finals lead

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

Miami nightlife can be distracting to visiting NBA teams

Games 3, 4 and 5 of the NBA Finals will be played at American Airlines Arena in Miami, a town that lures visitors to its nightlife.

During the 2006 Finals between Dallas and Miami, Mavericks coach Avery Johnson ordered his players to switch hotels after the Heat won Games 3 and 4 to tie the series.

Johnson said his players had developed a “vacation mentality” and moved them 25 miles north to Fort Lauderdale, away from family and friends who had been sharing the previous hotel. Miami went on to win four straight and claim the series 4-2.

In last year’s Finals against the Heat, which the Mavs won 4-2, Dallas players and coaches were booked into one hotel while family and friends stayed in neighboring hotels.

Asked if he was concerned about his players engaging in the Miami nightlife, Thunder coach Scott Brooks deadpanned, “What about the coaches?” before playfully revealing his wife was on the trip.

“I’ve never had any issues with our guys playing on the road,” Brooks said, not kidding. “They’ve always been focused. Miami is a great city, there’s no question. It’s a great environment, but we’re here to play basketball. There’s only 10 days, two weeks left of the season, then there’s plenty of time to vacation.”

— Reported by John Rohde of the Oklahoman

Heat know what to expect from Thunder in Game 3

At this point a year ago, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade were using words like urgency and desperation.

And that’s exactly what the Miami Heat expect the Oklahoma City Thunder to bring into Game 3 of this year’s NBA Finals.

So far, this championship series has followed the same script as a year ago, with the home team winning the opening matchup, then falling in Game 2 to lose the home-court edge. Miami took the sting of that into Dallas last year and used it as fuel to win Game 3 — and the Heat will look to ensure that trend doesn’t repeat itself when the title matchup resumes on their home floor Sunday night.

“You’ve got the two best teams in the league right now going against each other,” Wade said Saturday, when practices resumed after a day off for both clubs. “So it’s going to be a very tough game, but we have to find a way to win it. And it’s about taking, like I said, one possession at a time, one second, one minute at a time to make sure we reach our goal — and that’s to win the game.”

A Game 3 victory assures nothing, a lesson the Heat learned the hard way last year. That win in Dallas was Miami’s final victory of the season.

— Reported by Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press