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For the entirety of the regular season, the supremacy of the Miami Heat
in the Eastern Conference was brought into serious question by the
Indiana Pacers.
Then came the playoffs.
And the question was answered -- emphatically.
The
Heat became the third franchise in NBA history to reach the title
series in four consecutive seasons, a laugher of a conference-title
finale getting them there again Friday night. LeBron James scored 25
points, and Miami eliminated the Pacers for the third straight year with
a 117-92 romp in Game 6 of the East championship series.
"I'm
blessed. Very blessed. Very humbled," James said. "And we won't take
this opportunity for granted. It's an unbelievable franchise, it's an
unbelievable group. And we know we still have work to do, but we won't
take this for granted. We're going to four straight Finals and we will
never take this for granted."
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The Spurs beat the
Oklahoma City Thunder 112-107 in overtime Saturday night in Game 6 of
the Western Conference finals to set up a rematch with the Miami Heat.
San
Antonio will host Game 1 on Thursday night and will try to avenge last
year's heartbreaking loss. San Antonio led Miami 3-2 before losing Game 6
in overtime, then dropping Game 7.
"People keep talking like we
weren't close to winning, but we were ready to win last year," Spurs
center Tim Duncan said. "We're happy it's the Heat again. We've got that
bad taste in our mouths still."
A trio of 30-somethings led the
way for the Spurs. Duncan had 19 points and 15 rebounds, Boris Diaw
scored 26 points and Manu Ginobili chipped in 15 points and six rebounds
for the Spurs.
San Antonio pulled this one out despite All-Star
point guard Tony Parker missing the entire second half and overtime with
left ankle soreness. Popovich said Parker had been struggling with the
ankle since Game 4 of the series. The Spurs overcame it the way they
have for more than a decade - with teamwork, passing and great
performances by role players.
"We didn't know how much Tony was
hurt in his ankle," Diaw said. "But we didn't want to go to Game 7, and
we didn't know if he would be ready to play if we did or if he would be
100 percent, so we tried to get it over with tonight."
It was the third-best playoff scoring effort of Diaw's 11-year career and his best since 2006.
"Boris was amazing," Duncan said. "He had an unbelievable game. He's had a great series."
Russell
Westbrook had 34 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and six steals,
and MVP Kevin Durant added 31 points and 14 rebounds for the Thunder.
But Oklahoma City committed 20 turnovers that led to 33 points for the
Spurs. Westbrook and Durant each had seven turnovers.
"We started
settling for too many jump shots," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. "It
just seemed like we couldn't get enough good looks at the basket.
Defensively, they just had us scrambling around."
San Antonio
also handled Serge Ibaka's return from injury. Oklahoma City's defensive
star missed the first two games with a strained left calf, but he
returned to help the Thunder win the next two games and tie the series.
The
series featured five blowouts wins by the home teams, but the closeout
game was a gem. Oklahoma City overcame a 12-point deficit in the fourth
quarter to force overtime.
"I have to be honest, this victory is
really sweet because we know we played one hell of a team, and we take
great satisfaction in that since they're so special," San Antonio coach
Gregg Popovich said.
In overtime, Duncan's shot from the baseline rattled in to give the Spurs a 110-107 lead with 19 seconds to go.
Durant
missed a good look at a 3-pointer, and the Spurs rebounded and went to
the line. Diaw missed the first and made the second free throw to make
it a four-point lead for the Spurs. Westbrook missed a wild 3-pointer,
and Spurs wrapped it up.
San Antonio led by 12 early in the
fourth quarter, but the Thunder chipped away at the free throw line
after getting the Spurs into foul trouble. Back-to-back baskets by
Westbrook and Durant cut San Antonio's lead to 93-91 with 4:01 to play, leading to the frantic final minutes.
Westbrook
was fouled on a drive with 9.3 seconds to play. He made both free
throws to tie the score at 101. Ginobili's fadeaway at the free-throw
line against Westbrook missed, and the game went to overtime.
Ginobili said the Thunder were a significant hurdle, and he expects them to be a roadblock in the future.
"They are a pretty good team," he said. "They have so much talent, so much athleticism, so much future. They are a tough team."
