LeBron James did his best Paul Pierce impression by fighting through late-game cramps to help power the Miami Heat to a 104-98 victory over Oklahoma City on Tuesday night. The win put the Heat one win away from a series victory and moved James one step closer to his first NBA title. It wasn’t quite Willis Reed, but for a player who has dealt with endless scrutiny for his late game failures over the years, James’ clutch three-pointer that gave the Heat the lead with 2 minutes, 34 seconds left could prove to be one of the biggest shots of his career. As Michael Lee reported:
LeBron James grimaced and groaned, unable to play and unable to sit on the bench because of a throbbing pain in his right leg. James had been such an impactful force against the Oklahoma City Thunder, given so much of himself that he was too exhausted to finish. With the win within his grasp, James was forced to be a spectator for the final, unsettling 55.5 seconds of Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
With Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant leading a furious charge, the Miami Heat was placed in a difficult position to hold on. But after letting James carry the team for most of the night — with his dominant presence inside and impeccable passing — the Heat lifted James to the finish with a gritty 104-98 victory that put the three-time league’s most valuable player within one victory of hoisting that elusive Larry O’Brien trophy.
“It’s a big-time team win, and we needed every point. We needed every rebound and everything that everyone had to get it,” said James, who has worn a mouth piece with XVI — the Roman numeral for 16 — to symbolize the number of postseason victories required to win a title. “If we come out with the mind-set that we’ve come out with during the playoffs, we’re going to give ourselves a good chance to win.”
Mario Chalmers matched a playoff career high with 25 points, including the final five points — a driving underhanded layup and three free throws — as Miami took a three-games-to-one lead over the Thunder. The Heat, a team built through free agency wizardry and James’s controversial defection from Cleveland, is close to capturing the first of the many titles James predicted during a smoke and laser introduction two years ago — and completing the exorcism of a disappointing loss to the Dallas Mavericks that lingered with them for more than a year.
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