Chicago— LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh joined to win an NBA championship and now they have their shot after the Miami Heat beat the Chicago Bulls, 83-80, yesterday to clinch their Eastern Conference finals series 4-1.
James scored 28 points, Wade added 21, and they led a furious rally in the final minutes. They scored eight points each during a game-ending 18-3 run as Miami wiped out a 12-point deficit.
Now, the Heat are headed back to the NBA finals for the first time since 2006, and by coincidence they will again be facing the Dallas Mavericks. Back then, with Wade leading the way, Miami beat Dallas to capture the championship. This time, it’ll respective stars James and Dirk Nowitzki going for their first rings.
The Heat will host Game 1 on Tuesday (Wedenesday in Manila).
“There’s no sense of relief right now,” James said. “We’ve still got work to do.”
For Miami’s Big Three, this was the plan from the moment they chose to get together in Florida before the season. The Heat had their difficulties along the way, but look at them now.
They just knocked off the team that won more games than any other, that boasted the league’s MVP in Derrick Rose and which had sent expectations soaring around Chicago in a way not seen since Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen were racking up championships.
Rose led Chicago with 25 points but hit just 9 of 29 shots. He fouled Wade on a key four-point play and missed a tying free throw with 26.7 seconds left.
James had 11 rebounds and six assists. Wade’s late surge helped negate his nine turnovers. Bosh added 20 points and 10 rebounds as the Heat pulled out a dramatic win.
The Bulls looked like they were in good shape up 77-65 with about three minutes to go, but Wade started the deciding run with a runner and layup. A 3 by James pulled Miami within 77-72 with 2:07 left. Rose then scored on a spin move in the lane, but fouled Wade as he nailed a 3, resulting in a four-point play.
Then, after a miss by Rose, James tied it at 79 with another 3 with 1:01 remaining, sending a loud groan through the arena.
James buried another jumper to put Miami ahead 81-79 with 29.5 seconds left. Rose immediately got fouled by James, but missed the second free throw after making the first.
Kurt Thomas tipped the inbounds pass, but the Heat recovered, leading to two free throws for Bosh.
The Bulls still had one more chance to tie it, but Kyle Korver got doubled up top and passed to Rose on the wing. His 3-pointer got blocked by James, with Udonis Haslem doubling him as time expired.
“We don’t even know what happened,” Wade said. “I’m not going to lie to you and say we do.” AP