Miami—Dwyane Wade was ailing, so LeBron James and Chris Bosh more than picked up the slack.
Then Wade found his groove at the perfect time, and the Miami Heat, the team put together solely to win championships, moved one emotional victory away from the NBA finals.
James scored 35 points and Chris Bosh added 22 as the Miami Heat overcame an early 11-point deficit to beat the Chicago Bulls 101-93 yesterday to take a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.
Game 5 is set tomorrow in Chicago, when the Heat can wrap up their first finals trip since 2006.
Dwyane Wade went scoreless for nearly 33 straight minutes, before making a jump shot with 2:08 left to help Miami keep the lead. And after James made a contested jumper with 29 seconds left for a six-point lead, Wade soared to block Derrick Rose’s layup from out of almost nowhere on the next Chicago possession.
At long last, it was over.
Bosh scored the first four points of overtime, and the Heat — now 8-0 at home in the playoffs — never trailed in the extra session. James closed it with two free throws with 1.4 seconds left, his 12th and 13th of the night, all without a miss. Bosh was 10 for 11 from the line, and Miami outscored Chicago 32-17 in that department.
The Heat made their final 24 free throws.
Rose scored 23 points for the Bulls, who got 20 apiece from Luol Deng and Carlos Boozer. Chicago has lost three straight games for the first time this season.
But what this game will be remembered for was how the Heat rallied around Wade — then watched him save his best for the very end. /ap