Miami Heat

Heat to face Spurs in title-deciding Game 7

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 04:01:06 GMT

No matter what happens Thursday night, LeBron James and the Miami Heat, and Tim Duncan's San Antonio Spurs have already won NBA titles and secured a place in history.

Now is their opportunity to elevate it.

SPECIAL SECTION: Miami Heat in the Finals

After losing a late lead in Game 6 to the Heat, the San Antonio Spurs attempt to become the first road team in 35 years to win Game 7 of the NBA Finals in Thursday's decisive matchup with the Miami Heat.

RELATED: LeBron excited for title decider

San Antonio had a five-point lead with 28.1 seconds left in regulation on Tuesday before Miami rallied to force overtime and eventually claim a 103-100 victory.

The Heat haven't won back-to-back games in four weeks.

Miami trailed by 13 points late in the third quarter of Game 6 and the home fans were scurrying to the exits when the Heat were behind by five points in the final half-minute.

But Ray Allen drained the game-tying 3-pointer with 5.2 seconds left and Miami outplayed San Antonio over the second half of overtime to keep alive its hopes of winning back-to-back titles.

"It's so hard. It's the hardest thing," forward LeBron James said Wednesday of repeating as champion. "I said last year was the hardest thing I've ever done – winning my first. Last year (doesn't) even come close to what we've gone through in this postseason and in these finals."

RELATED: Heat fans prepare their pots, pans

The 1978 Washington Bullets were the last team to win a road Game 7 in the NBA Finals, beating the Seattle SuperSonics.

Game 7 of NBA Finals airs at 9 p.m. on Local 10.

DOWNLOAD: Free Local 10 Heat News app

LeBron James excited for decisive Game 7

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 02:13:44 GMT

LeBron James could not sleep after Game 6.

Imagine, then, how frayed his emotions will be going into Game 7.

So much is at stake. Legacies, for so many players, James included. The NBA championship. Whether the season was a success or a bust. How he will be portrayed over the next few months. How history will judge a Miami Heat team that won 27 straight games in one stretch, 66 games in the regular season and now 81 games overall.

Although the Heat will insist otherwise, the common belief is that it all hinges on James' shoulders. And the four-time NBA MVP wouldn't have it any other way when his Heat take on the San Antonio Spurs in Game 7 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night.

"I want to go down as one of the greatest. I want our team to go down as one of the greatest teams. And we have an opportunity to do that," James said. "Hasn't been many teams to win back-to-back championships. It's so hard. It's the hardest thing. I said last year it was the hardest thing I've ever done, winning my first. Last year don't even come close to what we've gone through in this postseason and in these Finals."

James was so weary afterward that he had trouble pulling himself up from the chair where he conducted postgame interviews. But on Wednesday, even after a night of no sleep — "everything goes through your mind after a game," he said — James said he was already feeling more spry than he was the night before. More rest, more treatment, some time at home with family and friends and a scheduled 9 p.m. date to watch SpongeBob with his kids, James figured that was the right formula to get ready for Game 7.

His second ring is 48 minutes away. If it comes, it will be earned.

"First of all, I'm blessed, man. I don't even know how I got here," James said. "I wasn't supposed to be in the NBA, if you go by statistics and things of me growing up where I grew up. Every time I go into my locker room and see the 'James' on the back of an NBA jersey, I'm like, 'Wow.' No criticism can deter me from playing this game because of that. I'm not supposed to be here."

He means that in a more broad sense, but in simplest terms, that also applies to Thursday night.

The Heat probably aren't supposed to be there. They were down by five points with less than a half-minute to go in regulation of Game 6. The championship celebration was being readied, literally around them. The Spurs were about to get their hands on the Larry O'Brien Trophy, and the Heat were about to slink off into another offseason of utter disappointment.

Until, of course, none of that happened.

James made a 3-pointer to get Miami within two, and after the Spurs gave Miami life by missing a free throw, Ray Allen sent it to overtime with another 3-pointer. In the extra session, James and the Heat found a way to pull out a 103-100 win, one that left Miami exhausted and San Antonio devastated. They collide one last time on Thursday with all eyes on James, who struggled for much of the game and still finished with 32 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists.

"He had an 'off' triple-double," Heat guard Mike Miller said. "I can't have an 'on' triple-double."

In James' lifetime, only four franchises — Chicago, the Los Angeles Lakers, Detroit and Houston — have won consecutive championships.

Miami can be the fifth, and even though Heat coach Erik Spoelstra is cautioning his team to not think about the potential prize, James said "human nature" dictates that he has to at least daydream a little bit about what might be looming.

"I will play Game 7 in my head from now until tomorrow night," James said. "It's just who I am, how I am. But I won't be too serious. I won't go into a bunker when I get back home. But I will be mentally sharp, mentally focused and mentally driven tomorrow night."

For the most part, the Spurs have found a way in this series to keep James under some sort of control, and that's even with him dropping two triple-doubles on them in six games so far.

They won't change their approach for Game 7. And the Heat don't expect James to change his, either. In fact, some say he'll set the tone long before the opening tip.

"I expect LeBron to be LeBron," Heat forward Shane Battier said. "He's going to be loose. Usually, in shootaround, he does some dunks that would win any dunk contest if they were televised. That's his way of saying, 'OK, I'm ready to go.' He's going to come here, he's going to listen to his music and he's going to do what LeBron does. If there's one guy we don't have to worry about, it's LeBron."

James has kept his phones off during the playoffs. He's stayed away from social media. He has tried to limit how much he hears of what the Heat call the noise, all the constant analysis of a team that has alternated wins and losses for the last month — and now needs one last two-game winning streak to wrap up their second title.

"I don't know how it is possible," Miller said of James turning off the outside world, as much as he can, at this time of year. "I tell him all the time, I wouldn't want to be in his shoes. It's not always fun being the greatest player on the planet. But he handles it about as good as I've ever seen anyone."

It could be a great deal of fun for James on Thursday night.

If Miami pulls this off, a second straight Finals MVP award will likely be his, to go with the four regular-season MVPs. He'll be a two-time champion, to go along with his two Olympic gold medals. Others have won more titles and more MVPs, but poking holes in James' resume will become a considerably tougher task, even for his biggest naysayers.

"We can't worry about what the history books say. That's why it's history," James said. "We have to live in the present. We have to live in the moment. And we have to do whatever it takes to bring that trophy — or to keep that trophy — here in Miami."

Traffic rerouting for Game 7

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 00:29:11 GMT

At approximately 10:15 p.m. Wednesday, roads will begin closing in preparation for Game 7 between Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs.

Closures will begin on Biscayne Boulevard from Northeast Third Street to Northeast 14th Street in the northbound and southbound directions.

No traffic will be allowed east of Northeast Second Ave. from third Street to Northeast 14th Street, therefore all traffic will be flushed westbound.

Brickell Bridge will also be closed in the northbound direction, but Port Boulevard will remain open at all times.

All drivers are encouraged to take alternate routes if they are planning to be in the area of the road closures.

Only those who live and work in the area will be allowed to enter these roads.

Miami Police Department officers will be placed throughout the road closures for assistance and guidance.

Roads are expected to reopen at approximately 1 a.m.

Know before you go: Check the latest weather and traffic conditions before heading out.

Miami Heat fans prepare their pots, pans

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 23:45:21 GMT

Miami Heat fans are getting their pots and pans ready for what they hope is a celebration after Game 7.

But where did the tradition start? Many South Floridians say it's a Cuban thing.

World-renowned percussionist Willie Stewart said it goes much deeper than that.

"When you're born, you're in your mother's womb, that heartbeat is your heartbeat. It connects you back to the universe, so the moment you feel celebrated, you want to beat something," he said. "The connection to Cuban music is from Africa."

Stewart said the African roots in islanders who live in South Florida make them want to beat their pots and pans like drums.

"Don't knock it until you try it," he added.

Local 10's Neki Mohan, Stewart, and his production assistant later composed their own Miami Heat tune.

Children at Jackson Memorial Hospital see Game 6 of NBA Finals day later

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:49:33 GMT

Some Miami Heat fans may have called in sick to work Wednesday after staying up late to watch the end of Game 6 of the NBA Finals.

However, some sick children at Jackson Memorial Hospital didn't get to see the game until Wednesday.

While the Heat tied the game, sending it into a thrilling, nail-biting overtime, those children at Holtz Children's Hospital, a few battling life-threatening illnesses, were sound asleep.

A day later, they had the chance to see what everyone was talking about.

"This is a way for us to give them an opportunity to have some fun, socialize, and forget about the hospital and all the meds and all that stuff for a little while," said Jenny Justice with the hospital.

Any hospital "stuff" was overpowered by Heat gear, decorated wagons and white-hot chocolate cupcakes.

For the family of 4-year-old Brandy, who is battling leukemia, it meant a lot.

"It's pretty good because she don't get out," said the girl's grandmother. "We really appreciate it."

Raymond Jimenez, 12, is at the hospital for a battery of tests. He was able to forget all of that on Wednesday.

"It's really fun," he said.

"This is a very nice thing for them to do," said Elsie Jimenez, Raymond's mother. "This is like taking things out of his mind right now."

Heat forward James Jones later came. He signed autographs and took photos with fans.

"I'm glad that you enjoyed it," Jones said. "It was a crazy game."

Jones put his own job in perspective at the hospital.

"It's still a game and this is life," said Jones. "I enjoy interacting with kids and families because without them, my profession wouldn't exist, and more important, I'm a citizen of Miami and we're one big community and it means a lot to the kids for us to be here and it also means a lot to the families, and that's what it's about."

Dwyane Wade's knee swollen, stiff after Game 6

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:55:24 GMT

Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat says he woke up with swelling and stiffness in his left knee on Wednesday, one day after getting hit in Game 6 of the NBA Finals against San Antonio.

Wade missed the start of the second half of Game 6 while getting treatment, then returned. He has no doubt that he will play in Game 7 on Thursday, when the Heat and Spurs will decide this season's NBA champion.

Wade has been bothered by right knee soreness for about three months. In Game 6, a collision hurt his surgically repaired left knee, the one that kept him out of last summer's London Olympics.

Wade says that with just one game left, "you muster it up, you give it. So I'll be fine."

Will LeBron James wear headband in Game 7?

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:10:32 GMT

Will he or won't he?

The big question heading into Thursday night's decisive Game 7 of the NBA Finals is whether LeBron James' headband will return to the action.

James' ubiquitous accessory was knocked off in the fourth quarter of Miami's series-tying win over the Spurs on Tuesday. But instead of returning the sweatband to his head, LeBron played the final 13:50 of the game with a naked skull and put forth some of his best basketball of the night.

Without the headband, the NBA's MVP scored 12 of his 32 points and hit 5 of his 11 field goal attempts.

When asked before practice on Wednesday about whether he'll wear the headband in Game 7, LeBron said laughing, "I'll probably start off with it, man. A little superstitious. If it gets knocked off, then me and him will have a discussion if he will return."

It was after the Heat's miraculous comeback win that the "Legend of the Headband" really took on a life of its own involving hundreds of parody Twitter accounts filling the social media universe. Even Las Vegas has dipped a toe into the fun with the online sports betting website Bovada posting 3-2 odds that LeBron will go sans headband at tip-off vs. the Spurs.

James said that before Tuesday, the last time he had played a considerable amount of time without the headband was during a preseason game in his rookie season in 2003.

Poll is embedded here

In a poll on Local10.com, 60 percent of viewers said they didn't believe that playing without the headband had anything to do with LeBron's Game 6 heroics.

Game 7 tickets going for $50K

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 18:20:28 GMT

Want to see Game 7 of the NBA Finals at the AmericanAirlines Arena? It could cost up to $50,000.

On Stubhub.com, the cheapest ticket for standing-room only was $335.

Would you rather sit down? Tickets in the balcony corner -- way up in the 400 level -- started at $440.

Lower level seats started at $923.77.

And two courtside seats -- row AA, seats 11 and 12 -- cost $100,000.

Oh, there's also a $4.95 service charge if that stops you.

Miami Heat come back, force Game 7

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:55:00 GMT

When LeBron James' greatness almost wasn't good enough, officials began preparing for a San Antonio celebration.

Miami's championship reign would be over. Someone in Spurs black would replace James as NBA Finals MVP.

James and the Heat wouldn't let it happen.

"To be a part of something like this is something you would never be able to recreate once you're done playing the game. And I'm blessed to be a part of something like this," James said. "And I'm happy about the way we dug down and was able to get a win. It didn't look like we could muster up at some point in the game."

James powered Miami to a frantic fourth-quarter rally and overtime escape as the Heat beat the Spurs 103-100 on Tuesday night to extend the NBA Finals as far as they can go and keep Miami's repeat chances alive.

Losing his headband but keeping his cool while playing the entire second half and overtime, James finished with 32 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists, making the go-ahead basket with 1:43 remaining in the extra period.

"It's by far the best game I've ever been a part of," James said.

He wouldn't let the Heat lose it — or their NBA title. If the Spurs want to take it, they'll have to fight just a little harder to get it.

One last game, winner take all.

So close to being eliminated that they noticed officials bringing yellow tape out to block off the court for the Spurs' trophy presentation, the Heat hit a couple of big 3-pointers and got some defensive stops — everything that makes a great team a champion.

"We seen the championship board already out there, the yellow tape. And you know, that's why you play the game to the final buzzer," James said. "And that's what we did tonight. We gave it everything that we had and more."

Tim Duncan scored 30 points for the Spurs, his most in an NBA Finals game since Game 1 in 2003, but was shut out after the third quarter. He added 17 rebounds.

Game 7 is in Miami on Thursday, the NBA's first do-or-die matchup to crown a champion since the Lakers beat the Celtics in 2010.

"They're the best two words in sports: Game 7," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

And two the Spurs were oh-so-close to avoiding.

They looked headed to a fifth title in five chances when they built a 13-point lead with under 4 minutes left in the third quarter, then grabbed a five-point edge with 28 seconds left in regulation after blowing the lead.

But James hit a 3-pointer and Ray Allen tied it with another. Just 5.2 seconds remained in regulation. The Heat were that close to the edge.

"It's a tough moment. We were a few seconds away from winning the championship and we let it go," Spurs veteran Manu Ginobili said. "A couple rebounds we didn't catch, a tough 3 by Ray and a couple missed free throws. It's a very tough moment."

James was just 3 of 12 after three quarters, the Heat trailing by 10 and frustration apparent among the players and panic setting in among the fans.

Nothing to worry about. Not with James playing like this. He finished 11 of 26, even making a steal after his basket had given Miami a 101-100 edge in the OT.

Somewhere in there, early in the fourth quarter, James lost his familiar headband. He couldn't remember exactly when or how. Nor was it particularly important to him.

Losing the game would have been far worse.

"I guess the headband was the least of my worries at that point," James said.

Before that, he had been 12 minutes from hearing the familiar criticisms about not being able to get it done, from having to watch a team celebrate on his home floor again.

Then he changed the game and erased that story.

The Heat, who haven't lost consecutive games since Jan. 8 and 10, had too much defense and way too much James for the Spurs in the final 17 minutes. They are trying to become the fourth team to win the final two games at home since the NBA went to the 2-3-2 format for the finals in 1985.

This wasn't quite the 45-point performance in Game 6 of last year's Eastern Conference finals in Boston, but given the higher stakes it may go down as more important — if the Heat follow it with another victory Thursday.

"He just made plays. I don't think there's any two ways to put it," Duncan said. "We were in the right position to close it out and he found a way to put his team over the top and we just didn't make enough plays to do that."

Kawhi Leonard had 22 points and 11 rebounds for the Spurs. Tony Parker had 19 points and eight assists, but shot just 6 of 23 from the field.

The Spurs had one final chance down 103-100, but Chris Bosh blocked Danny Green's 3-pointer from the corner as time expired.

Bosh had said Green wouldn't get open the way he has all series — and he didn't. Green finished 1 of 5 from behind the arc after going 25 of 38 on 3-pointers (65.8 percent) in the first five games.

The Heat, the NBA's 66-win powerhouse during the regular season, will be playing a seventh game for the second straight round, having needed to go the distance to beat the Indiana Pacers in the East finals.

Parker's 3-pointer over James tied it at 89 with 1:27 left. He then came up with a steal, spinning into the lane for a 91-89 lead with 58 seconds to go. Miami coughed it up again and Ginobili made two free throws, and he hit another after a third straight Miami turnover to put the Spurs ahead 94-89.

But James nailed a 3-pointer with 20 seconds left, and the Heat had one more chance after Leonard made just one foul shot to give the Spurs a 95-92 edge. James missed but Bosh got the rebound out to Allen, the league's career leader in 3-pointers, who made another one from the corner to even it up.

The Spurs went ahead by three again in overtime, but James found a cutting Allen for a basket, then scored himself to put the Heat on top.

"He just plays with great force," Allen said.

Notes: James had his 11th postseason triple-double and second of this series. ... Allen moved two behind Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher (48) for second place in finals 3-pointers. Robert Horry, a former champion with the Spurs, made 56 3-pointers in the finals. Horry held the Spurs' record for 3s in a Finals series with 15 in 2005 that Green has broken with his record 26. ... Duncan and Spurs coach Gregg Popovich appeared in their 210th playoff game together, moving 30 ahead of Phil Jackson and Bryant for most all-time.

Hundreds of fans leave early, try getting back in arena

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:20:05 GMT

When the Heat's defeat in Game 6 seemed all but certain, some Miami fans poured out of the AmericanAirlines Arena in droves.

But with five seconds to go, Ray Allen nailed a three pointer, tying the game at 95 points apiece, sending Game 6 into overtime. The same fans raced back up the arena's steps, begging to be let in. The arena, though, has a no re-entry policy.

Local 10's Victor Oquendo was tweeting as he watched fans pour out of the arena.

@VictorOquendo: Fans streaming out...I'm gonna throw up. @VictorOquendo: Now I'm watching horrible, drunk, quitting fans desperately trying to get back in. This is madness. @VictorOquendo: I was born and raised in Miami. I used to hate the national perspective against Heat fans but I can't fight it anymore.

By the end of the night, Victor was trending in Chicago.

As for the fans who stayed until the very end, they were just as disgusted with the fans who left.

"It's probably the biggest regret in Miami 305 history," one fan told Local 10's Todd Tongen.

A second fan echoed the sentiment.

"Shame on the people who left early. You never give up on them whether they win or lose," she said. "How dare they leave."