Friday, June 15th, 2012 at 9:00 am  |  180 responses

LeBron James, Miami Heat Even Up NBA Finals With Game 2 Win


by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni

We have one hell of a championship round on our hands, as the NBA Finals now shift to Miami for three consecutive tilts, following the Heat’s big Game 2 win last night.

LeBron James (32 points, 8 boards, 5 assists) received the help he so desperately needed from Dwyane Wade and others, and in the end, James got the best of Kevin Durant at crunch time.

Per the Miami Herald:

“We wanted to split,” James said. “Game 2, we wanted to come out and get a win. We didn’t want to go back home down two.” While his offense shaped the game early, his defense saved it in the end. He provided desperate defense against Kevin Durant in the closing seconds, forcing the young offensive maven to miss from seven feet with a chance to tie the game. James was 10 of 22 from the field and 12 of 12 from the free-throw line. “I just wanted to put a body on him,” James said.

“We had a chance, man. It’s tough,” said Durant, who had 16 points in the fourth quarter. “It’s tough to lose that way. I was open and I missed the shot.” [...] Dwyane Wade, critiqued for looking a little past his prime in Game 1, responded with 24 points, including 13 in the first half. Wade was 10 of 20 from the field to go along with six rebounds and five assists. He was 4 of 6 from the free-throw line. “Just know that I’m always going to keep coming back until I can’t play this game no more,” Wade said. “I had more opportunities than Game 1 and I was able to attack it.”

This was the OKC Thunder’s first Playoff loss at home this year, and now they must prove their mettle on the road. Even more importantly, the Thunder will need to get off to a better start in Game 3.

The first two games between Miami and OKC have provided thrilling finishes. Here’s to hoping this theme continues as we move forward in these NBA Finals.

  • Add a Comment
  • Share
  • RSS

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

← Older Comments
  • Roi

    Oh and Cleveland fans must be PISSED that Lebron never played as hard in Cleveland as he is doing now.

  • http://slamonline.com LakeShow

    I remember when OKC drafted Harden I was thinking WTH. Steph Curry and Reke were available in addition to Ricky Rubio and Brandon Jennings.
    I THINK they made the right choice now looking back…

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=542782613 The White Charles Barkley

    Pat Riley should trade Wade for Bill Russell.

  • http://Roosterteeth.com Caboose

    Lake, can you imagine Rubio at the 1, Westbrook at the 2 and Durant at the 3?

  • http://slamonline.com LakeShow

    Yes I can.
    And it’s beautiful…
    But it’s also not, because Rubio had the contract in Europe in addition to the injuries (not saying he would or would not be injured in OKC). Also the contract situation would not be any better going forward and the team would have to dismantle like it is going to anyway.
    Sorry that was kind of the downer, realistic route.
    Or as I call it the nbk route.
    Wow it would be amazing though…
    Think about how they run already, then throw Rubio in as the Quarter Back and Russ running at the 2 spot. Holy smokes.

  • http://Roosterteeth.com Caboose

    So yes, I think they should have grabbed Rubio instead of Harden. Especially since Rubio might have left Spain for OKC.

  • http://slamonline.com LakeShow

    I do not agree with that.
    What’s arguable is who is better.
    What is not arguable is who has had more NBA success. This is a league about what have you done for me lately. Ask any player. Harden is a 6th man of the year 18ppg scorer off the bench. What has Ricky done? You honestly think that Rubio was going to come out of Spain for OKC but not Minny?
    Whaaaa?
    You think he wanted to go to a team in a new state and city that is not well known for being a haven for entertainment and such in addition to the fact that the Thunder’s record was ’23-59′ …
    I don’t agree, but it’s mute, so whatevs.

  • http://Roosterteeth.com Caboose

    Sigh, that one wasn’t me Lake. Yeah, Harden has for sure had more success. Don’t worry, I know that. I just think Rubio on the Thunder (as a rookie this year) might have fit the Thunder better than Harden. Who knows though.

  • http://Slamonline.com nbk

    I have a foot fetish!!!

  • http://Slamonline.com Datkid

    ROI nahh lebron arguably played harder in Cleveland. He avg 40,10,10 in 09 against the magic. He torched the pistons for 25 straight, and what about the epic duel he had w/ paul pierce in 08? IMO tho he plays just as hard as he did then, he just doesn’t do quite as much bc even injured wade+bosh take a little pressure off him. Just their presence on the floor means the entire defense can’t key in on him.

  • http://Slamonline.com Datkid

    This Miami team does need him to do everything for them tho. Also harden seems to be working out just fine for OKC. You can argue that they might be better with Rubio… But they’re in the finals. You cant do much better than that. And without Harden they might not be. Also why wouldn’t Rubio come to America for the chance to play with KD and Westbrook?

  • http://slamonline.com LakeShow

    I got straight trolled back there.
    That troll totally got me to have a legitimate conversation about basketball…
    wait…
    so he’s not a troll…
    He’s a commentor that likes to steal names and have legitimate convo’s using that ID… okay..
    got it.
    cool.

  • http://slamonline.com LakeShow

    Cause KD was a low percentage scorer that didn’t pass well and Russ was a shot jacking foo who they all wanted to be their next point guard. They had no Ibaka and no Perk… That team was not amazing looking from the start ya know.

  • http://Roosterteeth.com Caboose

    No Lake, I had the first Rubio convo, troll posted about Rubio coming over early, I corrected.

  • Waskito

    Co sign s kemp @ 9.07. Just hope battier can not drop a lot of 3′s at the next game.

  • http://www.slamonline.com Redd

    As a Bulls fan I can’t imagine Harden coming here…but oh my what if..:(

  • http://Slamonline.com nbk

    Not even a pssibility

  • http://Slamonline.com nbk

    What do you mean. No Possibility of you ever getting a woman. I agree.

  • http://Roosterteeth.com Caboose

    ^He means no possibility of that single neuron of yours replicating.

  • http://Slamonline.com nbk

    That was ignorant. #trollbetter

  • http://slamonline.com Mars

    That was a great game. LeBron played perfect D. And that was definitely a good “no call” on KD’s last shot. Let em’ play. KD VS. LeBron since the summer games = EPIC Basketball. Sit back and enjoy the show haters. Geez.

  • http://slamonline.com The Philosopher

    @JTaylor21:
    My apologies for bringing up history.
    There are different kinds of mileage on players;
    Tim Duncan = highway miles. Not spending too much on the deck, or under the knife.
    Dwyane Wade = city miles. Multiple surgeries on multiple body parts. Spends much time on the floor.

  • http://slamonline.com The Philosopher

    And Kevin Durant will go down as one of the greatest scorers of all time.

  • Gary E

    By 2016, the Heat will have cemented their legacy as the Buffalo Bills of the NBA. They play with about as much heart as their heartless, disconnected, ultra-quiet home crowd. Look for some crisp passes by LeBron to Udonis Haslem (or anyone else) in the waning seconds as they go deeper into the finals. If I hear anyone even remotely compare this guy to Jordan anymore, I’ll puke.

  • http://slamonline.com Datkid

    who compared lebron to jordan on this thread dumb@ss?

  • SeanMagicJuan

    I’ve seen a ton of flopping comments and comparisons with no mention of one Derrick Lamar Fisher, are we serious here? He is the one player who can “draw” 2 or 3 charges in a single 24 second possession.

  • Gary E

    Go back to sleep dat, if you’ve never heard those comparisons, you must be living under a rock. Find a thread where 12-year olds are discussing the NBA so you can showcase your gripping insights.

  • Backboard

    I lol´d at Gary E´s last comment and co-sign the hell out of it. Goodbye

  • justink81

    Guess what people if its a foul at the first of the game its a foul at the end of the game. You don’t all of a sudden say oh well we will just let them play now with a few seconds left. I think it was a foul but I’m biases I’m an OKC fan. But the ref was just in a bad spot and could not see so I can live with that they aren’t always going to make the right calls. If he wuld have just yelled like lbj and dwade do they would have called the foul. And for flopping I mean really no dwade votes the man flops a lot a lot not so much on defense but on offense he does

  • justink81

    Oh ya one other thing I know fouls were missed on both ends and little oh he touched me so I yelled dwade calls got made for him. But remember the goal tending call that wasn’t goal tending. Even the refs discussed it and still got it wrong.

← Older Comments
Advertisement