James carries Heat past Spurs to tie NBA Finals (Game 2)SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- No cramps, no problems for LeBron James.
And with their superstar making it to the finish this time, the Miami Heat bounced back from a loss, just as they always do in the playoffs.
''Obviously, having No. 6 in the game at the end was a plus for us,'' Dwyane Wade said.
James had 35 points and 10 rebounds in a powerful comeback from the cramps that knocked him out of the opener, as the Heat tied the NBA Finals with a 98-96 victory over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 2 Sunday night.
Chris Bosh made the go-ahead 3-pointer on a pass from James with 1:18 remaining for the Heat, who have won 13 straight following a loss in the postseason. Just like last year, they rebounded after losing Game 1 to the Spurs.
Bosh had 18 points for the Heat, who are headed home for Game 3 Tuesday night.
James played more than 37 minutes, making 14 of 22 shots. He was 1 for 4 with three turnovers in a shaky first quarter, then made 11 of his next 13.
After two days of enduring criticism for not finishing the game and getting suggestions on how to avoid cramps, James changed the subject.
''What happened on Thursday was Thursday,'' James said. ''My whole focus was how I was going to try to help this team even this up and just try to make some plays.''
He had a key strip of Tony Parker down the stretch, playing a dominant game on both ends as if he had something to prove.
As usual, James found a way to silence his haters.
He had 11 points in the second quarter, helping Miami erase an 11-point deficit early in the period. The game was played within a margin of a few points from there, and the Spurs missed a chance to seize control in the fourth quarter when Parker and Tim Duncan missed four straight free throws when they had a two-point lead.
James then made a 3-pointer and two free throws to put Miami in position to win.
Parker scored 21 points and Duncan had 18 points and 15 rebounds for the Spurs, who had won eight straight at home by at least 15 points.
''Down the end there they executed really well,'' Duncan said. ''LeBron made some great passes and guys made open shots. We had the same result in the first game. They kind of flipped it in this one.''
The game was played in comfortable conditions inside the AT&T Center, where an air conditioning failure in Game 1 sent temperatures soaring to about 90 degrees. The broken circuit breaker was fixed by Friday afternoon, and it was much cooler inside the arena.
James had the toughest time with the heat Thursday, needing treatment midway through the fourth quarter before eventually having to leave for good. He had plenty of time to recover, with the two days off between Games 1 and 2.
He changed only a little of his routine, taking an 8 a.m. yoga class Sunday morning and switching to a shorter pair of tights.
He personally erased a 62-56 San Antonio lead by scoring eight points in less than a minute, and his 14 points in the third quarter had Miami down only 78-77 heading to the fourth.
''For me, once I get into a good groove, I feel like everything is going to go in,'' James said.
For a time, everything did. Then he switched to being a passer at the end, finding Bosh in the corner for the shot that made it 95-93.
Wade and Rashard Lewis each scored 14 points for the Heat, who also dropped Game 1 of the NBA Finals against Oklahoma City two years ago. They have won five straight series after dropping the opening game.
The Spurs were in good position, withstanding James' assault long enough to lead by one with under 2 minutes to play. But they were shut out from there until Manu Ginobili's 3-pointer as time expired.
''LeBron with the ball did a pretty good job at his end and we had to be really perfect at the other end and we didn't,'' Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. ''We didn't take advantage of things. We made bad decisions.''
And it didn't help them that they had to deal with James at the end of this one.
Ginobili finished with 19 points for the Spurs, whose 18 points in the fourth quarter were half the 36 they scored in the opener.
''We have a very competitive group and you have two days to commiserate how that game went down,'' Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. ''It was frustrating, painful going through that for two days and now we have to manage the other emotion.''
After their sensational finish to Game 1, the Spurs picked up right where they left off, making 10 of their first 15 shots. They opened an 11-point lead early in the second before James got going. He had three straight Miami baskets, and a follow shot later in the period gave the Heat their first lead at 34-33.
Notes: Parker has 1,026 assists in the postseason, moving past Michael Jordan (1,022) for eighth place on the career postseason list. He also passed Jordan's Hall of Fame teammate, Scottie Pippen, for 13th on the career scoring list with 3,655 points.
From
Y! SportsLeonard, Spurs roll to 111-92 victory over Heat (Game 3)MIAMI (AP) -- Maybe in a video game. Possibly in the pregame layup line.
But shoot this way in the NBA Finals, against the two-time defending champions?
''It's not something you can plan for,'' San Antonio reserve Manu Ginobili said. ''There was no magic plays. We just moved the ball and every shot went in.''
Not quite every shot. But just about.
Kawhi Leonard scored a career-high 29 points, and the Spurs made a finals-record 75.8 percent of their shots in the first half in a 111-92 victory over the Miami Heat on Tuesday night that gave them a 2-1 lead.
The Spurs made 19 of their first 21 shots and finished 25 of 33 in the first half, bettering the 75 percent shooting by Orlando against the Lakers in the 2009 finals.
''It's a hit-or-miss league,'' Miami's Dwyane Wade said.
The Spurs didn't do much missing.
''I don't think we'll ever shoot 76 percent in a half ever again,'' Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.
The Spurs led by as much as 25 and were only briefly challenged in their second lopsided victory in the series.
LeBron James and Dwyane Wade had 22 points for the Heat, who host Game 4 on Thursday.
Returning to the arena where they were oh-so-close to winning a fifth championship last year, the Spurs came out playing like they were trying to build a lead that was impossible to blow.
They shot 13 of 15 and led 41-25 lead after the first quarter, then hit their first six shots of the second in front of a stunned crowd in Miami to go ahead 55-30.
View galleryLeonard, Spurs roll to 111-92 victory over Heat
MIAMI, FL - JUNE 10: Kawhi Leonard #2 of the San Antonio Spurs and Head Coach Gregg Popovich during …
Leonard scored only 18 points in the first two games, looking frustrated while getting into foul trouble trying to defend James in Game 2. But he had his outside shot working early, making his first six shots and finishing 10 of 13 from the field.
''I just found a rhythm and my teammates found me the ball. I made shots,'' Leonard said.
The last three NBA seasons ended in this building, the last two followed by Heat championship parades.
The Spurs nearly canceled the last one, building a five-point lead in the final half-minute of regulation of Game 6, a title seeming so certain that workers were already making preparations around the court.
But the Heat rallied to win in overtime and took Game 7, leaving the Spurs with a summer to think about the one that got away.
They're in good shape to get another chance.
With the league scrapping the 2-3-2 format for the NBA Finals -in which the lower seed played three consecutive home games - the Spurs would have a chance to wrap it up in San Antonio on Sunday in Game 5 if they can win Thursday.
Chris Bosh took only four shots and scored nine points for the Heat, who for the second straight year will have to overcome a 2-1 finals deficit after being blown out in Game 3.
This rout came on their home floor, where they had been 8-0 this postseason and had won a franchise-record 11 in a row since the Spurs beat them in Game 1 last year.
San Antonio inserted Boris Diaw into the lineup, countering Miami's small lineup and creating more ball movement that clearly helped Leonard. The game got off to a crisp start, with the Spurs making their first five shots and Miami opening 4 for 4.
Turned out the Spurs were just getting started.
Coach Erik Spoelstra planned to communicate with James to make sure there were no lingering problems from the cramps that forced him to miss the final minutes of the opener. But there was no way he could rest James early, since he was the only one keeping the Heat in the game. He had 14 of their first 20 points, but even James couldn't keep up with the Spurs' pace.
The Spurs ''came out at a different gear than what we were playing at, and it just seemed we were on our heels the most part of the first half,'' Spoelstra said.
San Antonio led 71-50 at halftime. It was the first 70-point first half in the finals since the Lakers scored 75 against Boston in Game 2 in 1987.
The Heat finally got into it in the third, running off 10 straight points to cut a 17-point deficit to 81-74 on a drive by Norris Cole, who had replaced an ineffective Mario Chalmers.
That was as close as Miami would get, as the Spurs pulled away in the fourth.
Notes: Wade appeared in his 150th postseason game and passed Dirk Nowitzki (3,455 points) for 17th on the postseason scoring list. ... The Heat fell to 68-20 in the postseason at American Airlines Arena. Their .782 winning percentage entering the game trailed only the Lakers' .792 mark at Staples Center.
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