LeBron James Wins – It’s about damn time said LeBron James when asked how it felt during the last few seconds of the game of the NBA Finals of Miami Heat against Oklahoma City Thunder.
Once more in the NBA Finals, James led the Heat to victory, a 121-106 conquest over the young and talented Oklahoma City Thunder Thursday night that delivered to Miami its second NBA championship.
In the moments after winning the series 4-1, James composed himself long enough to put the accomplishment into perspective.
“It means everything,” he said. “I made a difficult decision to leave Cleveland. But I understood what my future was about. . . I knew we had a bright future.”
It did not always look so bright, though. They were down in the Indiana series and Boston extended the Heat. In each case, however, James was magnificent, providing an all-around effort – including clutch performances – to pull Miami from the brink of disaster.
Thursday night, he was again a difference-maker. He solidified the Finals MVP award by spinning a triple-double of 26 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists. If there was one player that exemplified the desperation in the moment, it was James. He was driven at once by the lure of success and the fear of defeat.
“Losing in the finals last year put me back in place,” James said. “It humbled me a lot. I went back to the basics. I looked at myself in the mirror and I had to be better on and off the floor.”
He not only was better, but he was better than everyone else.
“We had so much pain, so much hurt, so much embarrassment from last year, nothing had to be said,” star guard Dwyane Wade said on the championship platform after the game. “From Christmas day, we’ve been on a mission and it wasn’t accomplished until now.”
According to the Kansascity.sbnation.com, the series proved to be a major boom for the NBA in general and ABC as the network for it all. The ratings are officially in for ABC for the series and the only downside was that it ended in five games.
“ABC NBA Finals: 5-game overnite avg was 11.8, highest five-game avg since ’04. Game 5 did 12.6 & record 40.3 Miami. 39.8 in OKC”
Congrats Miami!
