Thunder-Heat Preview

By TIM REYNOLDS
Posted Jun 18 2012 6:10PM

MIAMI (AP) LeBron James arrived for practice Monday wearing lime-green sneakers, a highly fluorescent shade.

It was the fashion statement du jour for the league's three-time MVP, much like the eyeglass frames he's been sporting after games throughout this postseason. But those sneakers probably would have remained tucked away in the drawer beneath his locker during last year's NBA Finals, since very little about James' game would be considered glowing or luminous during those two weeks.

Different year, different story.

For the second straight season, the Miami Heat hold a 2-1 lead in the NBA Finals. There's a glaring difference this time around - that being James is playing at the top of his game. And he'll try to help the Heat move within one win of a championship on Tuesday night, when Miami plays host to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 4 of this title series.

"We're a totally different team than we was last year when we was up 2-1," James said Monday. "We're a totally different team. We understand what it takes to win, we've used that motivation, and we will continue to use that motivation. But last year is last year, and we're not going into a Game 4 on someone else's floor. We're going into a Game 4 on our floor with a lot of experience in this type of situation. We'll be ready. We love the challenge."

Miami lost Game 4 in Dallas last year, the start of a three-game slide that ended with the Mavericks hoisting the title trophy.

So the Thunder know a 2-1 deficit in a series is hardly insurmountable, even though the home-court roles are reversed this time around. And if Oklahoma City needed more proof, all the Thunder need do is remember the Western Conference finals when they lost the first two games to San Antonio, becoming the 19th and 20th entries on the Spurs' incredible winning streak. The Spurs didn't win another game the rest of the way.

"We were down 2-0 against San Antonio and everybody thought the series was over," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. "But I know our guys, they're very competitive, they're very resilient. They've always showed that type of effort every game, and we've always been a great bounce-back team. I thought last night was a great bounce-back last night. It's unfortunate we didn't make a couple plays, and uncharacteristic, also."

Uncharacteristic. That would also be a fine word to describe how James played in the finals last season.

He freely acknowledges that he "didn't make enough plays" against the Mavericks a year ago, and the numbers - 17.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game - back that up, as do his well-chronicled fourth quarter struggles in that series. So far in this year's finals, James is averaging 30.3 points, 10.3 rebounds and 4 assists, and in the final minutes of Miami's two wins in the series he's done his part to slam the door on the Thunder.

"He's been aggressive. He's an aggressive player," Thunder guard James Harden said. "He's been aggressive all year, all postseason. He's tall, strong, and physical. He's a tough matchup. It takes five guys to really lock down on their offense because they're a very offensive team especially with LeBron and (Dwyane) Wade."

James is shooting 46 percent in the series, not even close to the 57 percent clip Kevin Durant is putting up for Oklahoma City. But here's maybe one piece of proof to support that aggression notion Harden was speaking of - James is 25 for 29 from the foul line in the three games, while Durant is just 14 for 19 so far in the series.

James has done much of his work near the rim in these finals. But while it wasn't his most memorable shot, perhaps the biggest one he hit all night in Miami's Game 3 victory was a 3-pointer late in the third quarter, one of just five shots that the Heat made from outside the paint in that game. That shot put Miami up entering the fourth, and seemed to extend the Thunder defense just enough to allow James, Wade and Chris Bosh to create more in the lane late.

"The biggest evolution of great players is they always stay in constant state of being uncomfortable," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "They don't stay satisfied. And LeBron every summer has added something to his game. I've seen it when I've followed him from afar, and now that I've gotten to know him he's added two, three, four different elements now to his game, the well-documented one of the post-up game, which we needed. But he continues to try to improve and stay uncomfortable. I think that's a sign of greatness."

Another sign of greatness? Rings.

James' first is just two wins away, again. And yes, the memories of what went wrong in 2011 still drive Miami now.

"Experience don't guarantee you anything," Wade said. "It just lets you know I've been here before. That doesn't mean it's going to be successful for you. So for us we've got to continue ... to make the game that we're in, the moment that we're in the biggest moment and the biggest game and not look back and not look forward too much. Obviously the team that was here that lost the championship last year, that burning sensation is going to be inside of us until we change that."

A year ago, the talk was how James shied away from the biggest moments, the brightest moments.

It's not happening now. Miami overcame a 10-point deficit in the third quarter of Game 3, becoming the first team in these playoffs to dig out of that large a second-half hole against the Thunder. James had eight points and four rebounds in the fourth quarter - no Thunder player had more than four points or two rebounds in those last 12 minutes.

Not pretty, but more than good enough to put the Heat back in the spot where last year's finals went awry.

"I don't give a damn how we get four," James said. "We can win 32-31. It doesn't matter to me. We can win any type of game. We can win a gritty game, a high-paced game, but we take every game as its own. ... And at the end of the day, if we play to our identity like Spo always preaches to us, then we'll give ourselves a good chance to win. Yeah, I don't care how we get four."

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Follow Tim Reynolds on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ByTimReynolds

Heat top Thunder 104-98, 1 win from NBA title

By BRIAN MAHONEY
Posted Jun 20 2012 3:42AM

MIAMI (AP) The pain was so great, LeBron James said, that his body practically shut down on him.

He could hardly stand, certainly couldn't run. Good thing all he needed to do was shoot.

A limping, grimacing James shook off the pain of 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.

"He was hurting," teammate Dwyane Wade said. "But that's what it's about this time of the year. It would hurt more if we lose the ballgame, so it feels a little better if you can win it."

Imagine how good it will feel if the Heat get one more victory.

Better get well fast, LeBron. You're one win from the biggest party of your life.

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 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 the 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."

James stumbled to the court on a drive midway through the fourth quarter, staying on the offensive end of the floor as the Heat regained possession on a blocked shot, and he made a short jumper that made it 92-90. After Westbrook missed a jumper, the Heat called timeout as James gingerly went to the court. Unable to walk off, he was carried to the sideline.

He returned to a huge roar with a little over 4 minutes left and the Heat down two, and after Chris Bosh tied it, James slowly walked into a pull-up 3-point attempt - perhaps doing so knowing he couldn't drive by anyone - and drilled it.

"That 3 was just sheer will and competitiveness, to contribute in some way," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

That made it 97-94, and when Wade followed with a layup with 2:19 left, the Heat finally had enough room to withstand Westbrook, who kept coming all night.

"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."

Chalmers, the player who was struggling so badly that the Thunder put Durant on him in hopes of avoiding further foul trouble, made 9 of 15 shots, scoring more points than he had in the previous three games.

"Obviously LeBron James is one of the most dominant players in the game, and he explodes many nights scoring-wise. But we've always got his back, and certain nights like tonight when he wasn't feeling his greatest, you have guys like Mario Chalmers step up, big plays, big moments," said Wade, who had to shake off his own aches and pains after landing hard on his back in the first half following a spectacular block by Serge Ibaka. "That's what this team is built on, and that's the reason we're playing together."

The Heat couldn't have done it without James, who refused to let any pain prevent him from taking the biggest step of his career.

The Heat led 2-1 in the finals last year but James' struggles were their biggest problem as they lost the next three to Dallas. He was at his brilliant best in this one, keeping up his scoring surge but also willingly kicking it out to open teammates whenever he was double-teamed.

He tried to play through the pain, but the Heat had to call another timeout and remove him for good shortly after his go-ahead basket, and Spoelstra said the Heat couldn't keep playing four against five.

Bosh finished with 13 points and nine rebounds for the Heat, who quickly climbed out of the 17-point hole by scoring 16 straight points, with Chalmers and backup Norris Cole helping steady them until James and Wade got going.

"We're going to keep fighting," Durant said. "It's just frustrating, but we're going to keep fighting. That's how we've been since I got here."

In foul trouble the last two games, Durant began the game covering Chalmers, an adjustment that freed him from the burden of defending James. It kept Durant safe from fouls - but the Thunder probably didn't count on the scoring explosion from Chalmers after he totaled just five points over the previous two games.

"I took that as a little sign of disrespect," Chalmers said.

Neither team could gain separation during a dizzying middle two periods, one score quickly answered on the other end as Miami took a 79-75 lead to the final 12 minutes.

Westbrook hit his first four shots and the Thunder made six of their first seven in a 13-3 burst out of the gate. A run of six straight made it 23-12 against the stunned Heat, who started 5 of 17, and it grew to 33-17 on Harden's fast-break layup with 21 seconds left.

The Heat found their spark in Cole, who hit a 3-pointer and then opened the second quarter with another to kick off a 16-0 burst, and the Heat would come all the way back to tie it at 35 on Wade's 3-pointer with 7:57 remaining in the half.

With the crowd back in it, Bosh got them even more fired up by diving on the floor for a loose ball, then leaping up after he was fouled and screaming toward the fans.

Yet the Thunder never gave up the lead, Westbrook constantly coming through with a bucket every time the Heat seemed to get within one point in the final minutes. The Thunder took a 49-46 lead into the break after Shane Battier missed a 3-point attempt just before the buzzer.

Miami finally went in front again in the third, Wade hitting a pair of free throws and James rifling a pass to him after a rebound for a basket that made it 50-49, and the Heat would play from in front for most of the remainder of the period.

Notes: Heat president and former coach Pat Riley was honored before the game with the "Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award" by the National Basketball Coaches Association. Riley is the only coach to win Coach of the Year honors with three different teams. ... Battier came in 11 for 15 from 3-point range in the series, tied with Orlando's Rashard Lewis in 2009 for the most makes ever in the first three games of the finals. He made only one. The most through four games is Derek Harper in 1994, with 14.

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Follow Brian Mahoney on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Briancmahoney

Notebook: Heat 104, Thunder 98

Posted Wednesday June 20, 2012 12:46AM

By Shandel Richardson, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: The Miami Heat rallied from a 17-point first-half deficit to defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder 104-98 Tuesday in Game 4 of the NBA Finals at AmericanAirlines Arena.

The Heat lead the series 3-1, and have a chance to close out the series in Game 5 Thursday.

LeBron James led Miami with 26 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds, but it was the play of Mario Chalmers that may have been most key. He finished with a postseason-high 25 points on 9 of 15 shooting. With James on the bench suffering from apparent leg cramps late in the game, Chalmers hit a driving layup that put the Heat ahead by five with under a minute remaining.

His play was what Miami needed to offset a remarkable performance by Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook. He scored a game-high 43 points and almost single-handedly led the Thunder to tying the series.

QUOTABLE: "We're excited about the opportunity to have a chance to play for (the title). We know at the same time that we have to stay the course and there'll be an incredible amount of noise on the outside and we have to focus on staying in the moment."
-- Heat coach Erik Spoelstra

THE STAT: The Thunder shot just 3 of 16 from the 3-point arc while Miami was 10 of 26.

TURNING POINT: The Thunder were in trouble the moment they allowed the Heat to get back into the game after leading by 17. The young and inexperienced group fell victim to the team that's been here before.

QUOTABLE II: "It's not disappointing, it just happens that way. Russell had a great game. We were going. We were going with him and he was making terrific plays at the basket. ... Like I said, unfortunately we didn't make a couple plays down the stretch that we could have won the game."
-- Thunder coach Scott Brooks

THE STAT II: Westbrook scored 43 points on 20-32 shooting from the field. His 20 made field goals are the most in an NBA game the last two seasons, and the most since Luis Scola had 20 against New Jersey on March 13, 2010.. ... The Heat are now 10-2 at home during the 2012 Playoffs ... Westbrook became the first player in Finals history to score at least 43 points with three free-throw attempts or fewer. ... The Thunder are 15-17 this season when held under 100 points.

NOTABLE: Chalmers scored 17 points total in the first three games of The Finals before his outburst in Game 4.

HOT: Without Chalmers, the Heat likely end the night in a series tied at 2. He was effective off the dribble and on the perimeter. He was arguably Miami's most important player.

NOT: James Harden is the early scapegoat for the Thunder in the series. He has struggled throughout and has hardly lived up to the billing as the league's top sixth man.

GOOD MOVE: Give Spoelstra credit for sticking with Chalmers. There was opportunity to replace him when rookie Norris Cole hit a few shots in the first quarter. Chalmers returned to have a big game.

BAD MOVE: The Thunder had a chance to extend the lead to four or five when Westbrook made one of his few mistakes. He dribbled the ball off his foot, giving the Heat possession. Miami tied it and eventually took the lead for good.

UP NEXT: Game 5 is Thursday at AmericanAirlines Arena. Miami is 3-1 in closeout games this postseason.

• Thunder: Jackson, Maynor
• Heat: Curry, Pittman

• Thunder: --
• Heat: --

• Lead Changes: 12
• Times Tied: 8

• Arena: American Airlines Arena, Miami, FL
• Officials: #48 Scott Foster, #24 Mike Callahan, #55 Bill Kennedy
• Attendance: 20003
• Duration: 2:33