Times wires
Thursday, May 26, 2011
CHICAGO — LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh joined to win a championship. Well, now they have their shot.
James scored 28, Wade added 21 and the Heat eliminated Derrick Rose and the Bulls 83-80 in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference final on Thursday.
James and Wade were strong down the stretch, each scoring eight during a game-ending 18-3 run as Miami wiped out a 12-point deficit to clinch this series.
Now, the Heat is headed back to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2006, to face the Mavericks. Back then, with Wade leading the way and Shaquille O'Neal at center, Miami beat Dallas to capture the championship. This time, it'll be James and Dirk Nowitzki going for their first rings.
"Defense. Staying together,'' James said of how the rally occurred.
Of Wade, who struggled for most of the game, James said: "I kept telling him to play through it. We need him.''
Rose was double-teamed when he shot an airball with a final chance to tie it with a 3-pointer.
Former Gator Mike Miller was a big part of the series victory. Wade delivered a message to Miller after Game 4 Tuesday: "I told him, 'No matter what happened all year, at this moment, this was the best game you could have played for us.' This is what we needed."
Miller totaled seven points and missed 12 of 15 shots during the playoffs before scoring 12 on 5-for-8 shooting in Game 4 against the Bulls. He had a career playoff-high nine rebounds in 26 minutes.
"It's been a long time coming. I've been waiting for this," said Miller, who has called his injury-plagued season the most frustrating of his career. "I made some big shots in big moments."
Kings: Owners Joe and Gavin Maloof say they are "optimistic" that Sacramento can help finance a new arena after a feasibility study was released at a special City Hall meeting.
The Maloofs said "the political and public will are here" in Sacramento despite years of failed measures to finance a facility.
The study was preliminary and didn't outline how an arena would be paid for. The report called for "significant contributions" from private and public sectors.
The Kings were close to moving to Anaheim before deciding this month to stay at least one more season.
thunder: Guard Kevin Durant isn't happy about looking to the future, which many consider bright for Oklahoma City, after the Thunder was eliminated in a Game 5 loss to the Mavericks on Wednesday.
"I think the pieces are here. We had a good opportunity to get there right now," Durant said.
"A lot of people always put that tag on us as being young and, 'We'll be okay down the line,' and 'The future is bright.' We wanted to kind of rush the moments up and do something people didn't think we could do."
Durant said it was "shocking" that the season ended.
Mavericks 100, Thunder 96
OKLAHOMA CITY (96): Durant 8-20 4-6 23, Ibaka 1-6 0-0 2, Perkins 0-2 0-0 0, Westbrook 11-28 9-9 31, Sefolosha 0-0 0-0 0, Collison 6-9 0-0 12, Harden 7-11 8-10 23, Maynor 2-6 0-0 5, Cook 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 35-82 21-25 96.
DALLAS (100): Marion 10-17 6-7 26, Nowitzki 8-15 9-9 26, Chandler 3-7 3-3 9, Kidd 1-7 0-0 2, Stevenson 0-7 1-2 1, Stojakovic 1-4 0-0 3, Terry 3-9 4-5 12, Haywood 1-1 5-6 7, Barea 5-11 3-4 14. Totals 32-78 31-36 100.
Oklahoma City 27 28 21 20— 96
Dallas 26 26 20 28— 100
3-Point Goals—Oklahoma City 5-16 (Durant 3-5, Maynor 1-3, Harden 1-5, Westbrook 0-3), Dallas 5-20 (Terry 2-3, Nowitzki 1-2, Barea 1-2, Stojakovic 1-4, Marion 0-1, Kidd 0-3, Stevenson 0-5). Fouled Out—Chandler. Rebounds—Oklahoma City 52 (Collison 12), Dallas 50 (Nowitzki, Chandler 9). Assists—Oklahoma City 16 (Harden 6), Dallas 19 (Kidd 10). Total Fouls—Oklahoma City 24, Dallas 17. Technicals—Westbrook, Oklahoma City defensive three second. A—21,092 (19,200).
Conference finals
East
Heat 4, Bulls 1
Game 1: Bulls 103, Heat 82
Game 2: Heat 85, Bulls 75
Game 3: Heat 96, Bulls 85
Game 4: Heat 101, Bulls 93 OT
Thursday: Heat 83, Bulls 80
West
Mavericks 4, Thunder 1
Game 1: Mavericks 121, Thunder 112
Game 2: Thunder 106, Mavericks 100
Game 3: Mavericks 93, Thunder 87
Game 4: Mavericks 112, Thunder 105 OT
Game 5: Mavericks 100, Thunder 96
NBA Finals
Heat vs. mavericks
Game 1: at Miami, 9 p.m. Tuesday, Ch. 28
Game 2: at Miami, 9 p.m. June 2, Ch. 28
Game 3: at Dallas, 8 p.m. June 5, Ch. 28
Game 4: at Dallas, 9 p.m. June 7, Ch. 28
Game 5: at Dallas, 9 p.m. June 9, Ch. 28*
Game 6: at Miami, 8 p.m. June 12, Ch. 28*
Game 7: at Miami, 9 p.m. June 14, Ch. 28*
* If necessary