With their backs against the wall and hopes of repeating as champions fading, the Miami Heat’s Big Three used a dominating performance to beat the San Antonio Spurs 109-93 on Thursday and even the NBA Finals at 2-2.
LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh had their best game of the NBA Finals, combining for 85 points as the Heat reclaimed home-court advantage in the best-of-seven series.
“I mean, it was on our shoulders, obviously,” James, who had a game-high 33 points, told reporters.
Photo: EPA
“When all three of us are clicking at the same time, we’re a very tough team to beat,” he added.
Wade turned in his biggest offensive performance of the playoffs, scoring 32 points, while Bosh equaled his post-season high by chipping in with 20 points and 13 rebounds.
“All of them provided us great energy defensively and that got us off to a decent start, and quite obviously they are big components to what we do offensively,” Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra said.
Photo: AFP
“We run almost every trigger through them. This happened to be a game where they were all able to be aggressive. The next game might present a different challenge, but we needed every bit of it tonight,” he added.
Tim Duncan scored a team-high 20 points, while Tony Parker shrugged off a mild hamstring strain suffered in the previous game to score 15 points on seven-of-16 shooting for the Spurs, but the home side were left chasing shadows for most of the contest.
Game 5 is in San Antonio tomorrow, before the teams return to Miami for Game 6 and a series decider, if necessary.
Miami controlled the early exchanges and appeared set to take a comfortable lead into halftime, but San Antonio’s Boris Diaw came off the bench to spark an 11-2 run late in the second quarter to tie the game at 49-49 by the interval.
Leading by 11 points with six minutes to play, the defending champions started to pull away, aided by nine points down the stretch from James, who had shouldered much of the blame for the Heat’s 36-point loss in the previous contest.
James had repeatedly vowed he would be back to his best for Game 4 and despite a relatively quiet start, he managed to carry his team when it mattered most.
San Antonio’s trio of Gary Neal, Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard, who combined for 65 points in the Game 3 victory, could only contribute 35 points between them on Thursday.
The Spurs were largely undone by turnovers, giving the ball up 18 times and failing to contain James, Wade and Bosh the way they did in Game 3, when the All Star trio were limited to 43 points in Miami’s 113-77 loss.
“When Bosh, Wade and James score the way they did tonight and shoot it the way they did tonight, teams are going to have a difficult time,” Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said.
“When those guys play like that, you better be playing a more perfect game. You can’t turn it over that many times. It’s a bad combo,” he added.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Forget Real Madrid, Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain, the world’s best soccer team — statistically speaking — might be a little-known outfit from the closed central Asian nation of Turkmenistan. Founded last year, Arkadag, named in honor of former Turkmen president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, have been unstoppable, notching up 36 consecutive domestic victories in a run still ongoing. The side have not lost a single competitive match and swept to a league and cup double in their inaugural season — success unthinkable almost anywhere else. However, in Turkmenistan, it could hardly have gone any other way. The energy-rich country is one of the most closed
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping