D. Wade Leads Miami’s Big 3 Past Spurs, Even Series

14 Jun, 2013

LeBron James had a game-high 33 points to inspire the Miami Heat to a 109-93 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday as the visitors evened up the best-of-seven NBA Finals series at 2-2.

James, who vowed to make up for his dismal 7-of-21 shooting performance in Miami’s Game Three loss, went 15-for-25 from the field and added 11 rebounds as the Heat kept their bid for a second consecutive NBA title on track.

Miami’s ‘Big Three’ all contributed to a victory that wrestles back home-court advantage for the Heat, with Dwyane Wayne adding 32 points and Chris Bosh chipping in with 20 points and 13 rebounds.

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 7-of-16 shooting for the Spurs, but the home side were left chasing shadows for most of the contest.

Game Five is in San Antonio on Sunday before the teams return to Miami for Game Six 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 Four 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 Three victory, could only contribute 35 points between them on Thursday.

Reuters

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