LeBron leads Heat to NBA glory

The Miami Heat have been crowned 2012 NBA Champions after they swept Oklahoma City aside 121-106 in Game 5 of the Finals.

 The result saw the Heat take an unassailable 4-1 lead after dropping the first match in the best-of-seven series and delivered the franchise their second title in their 25-year history to go with their 2006 triumph.

 For superstar LeBron James, the result means vindication after numerous failed post-season campaigns both with Cleveland and Miami. 

 Not to mention his extremely controversial and highly scrutinised decision to leave the Cavaliers before the 2010-11 season to join the Heat.

 And it was James, as he did so often throughout this post-season, who led the way once again on Thursday as he recorded a brilliant triple-double (26 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds) to guide his team to glory and himself to his first championship after nine years in the NBA.

 The performance ensured James averaged the incredible numbers of 28.6 points, 10.2 rebounds and 7.4 assists for the series on his way to being named the NBA Finals MVP. "It means everything," James said moments after the win.

 "I made a difficult decision to leave Cleveland but I understood what my future was about... I knew we had a bright future (in Miami).

 This is a dream come true for me.

 This is definitely when it pays off." James was one of six players to hit double-figures in Game 5 with Chris Bosh (24 points, seven rebounds), Mike Miller (23, including 7-of-8 three-pointers) and Dwyane Wade (20, eight rebounds) all serving as significant contributors.

 For the Thunder, Kevin Durant was fantastic with 32 points and 11 rebounds while Russell Westrbook (19) and James Harden (19) chipped in with solid tallies. 

 The Heat busted the game open in the second term on the back of a 15-2 run to lead 53-36 4:42 before half-time.

 The Thunder admirably trimmed the deficit to five early in the third but back-to-back threes from Mario Chalmers and Shane Battier sparked a 27-7 run for Miami from which Oklahoma City would never recover.

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James ready to impress in NBA finals

Miami Heat's LeBron James insists he is not feeling pressure heading into the NBA finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

 James almost sent the Heat into the finals single-handedly with match-winning performances in the final two games of the Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Celtics.

 But the regular season MVP said he would not try and prove anything despite Miami having lost the NBA finals to the Dallas Mavericks last year. "There was so much going on with that series and the whole season you know," James said.

 "And like I said I played too much to prove people wrong last year instead of just playing my game and doing what needs to be done.

" Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra believes his team have forgotten about the 2011 finals. "Last year is behind us, this is a different journey, we went through the pain, we went through the evaluation, we went through the re-commitment at the beginning of the year," Spoelstra said.

 The first game of the NBA finals will be played on Tuesday and Oklahoma City star Kevin Durant said despite the hype, the championship would not be decided by individuals. "Everybody is going to make the most out of the match-up or me versus LeBron, but it's the Thunder versus the Heat," Durant said. "It's not going to be a one-on-one match-up to win the series. It's going to be all about the team.

" Oklahoma City Thunder coach Scott Brooks agreed with Durant. "We've always done everything as a team," Brooks said.

 "That's what makes us a good team - that we defend as a team. We're continuing to improve offensively as a team - but it's always about our guys in the locker room."

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Heat outlast Celtics, take 2-0 series lead

Miami needed the biggest post-season comeback in franchise history to clinch Game 2 of their series against Boston 115-111 in over-time.

Despite Rajon Rondo producing a blistering display for the Celtics on Wednesday with 44 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds, the Heat claimed victory and a 2-0 lead in the NBA Eastern Conference finals.

The Miami side did it the hard way, coming from 15 points down in the second quarter and recovering from an 11-point deficit early in the third.

A pair of three-pointers from LeBron James kick-started the comeback and saw Miami take the lead just before the end of the third quarter.

Despite posting 34 points and 10 rebounds, James endured a somewhat frustrating outing as he missed four free throws and failed to nail two clutch baskets in the last 30 seconds of regulation, leaving scores tied at 99-all and forcing over-time.

Time and again Rondo gave the Celtics the lead during the extra period but when he missed a lay-up with one minute, 33 seconds left, Miami took their chance as Udonis Haslem gave the Heat a 105-103 lead with a slam dunk.

Mario Chalmers took a crucial steal with less than a minute remaining to set up James for a three-pointer and a five-point advantage for the Heat.

Chalmers (22 points) had a strong game, while Dwyane Wade netted 23 points — 21 of which came in the second half.

Along with Rondo, Paul Pierce (21), Kevin Garnett (18) and Ray Allen (13) were also strong contributors for Boston.

The Heat have come from 14 points down in post-season games on two occasions, but overturned a 15-point deficit on Wednesday.

The Celtics will rue their missed chances, especially as they led 90-85 with less than four minutes left in the last quarter, before Miami produced a run of nine straight points to steal back the advantage in a see-sawing affair.

Game 3 will take place in Boston on Friday.

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Spurs notch 20th straight win

The San Antonio Spurs have taken a 2-0 lead in their NBA Western Conference finals series against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

A spectacular shooting performance propelled the Spurs to a 120-111 victory at the AT&T Center on Tuesday.

With victory, San Antonio become just the fourth team in NBA history to notch 20 consecutive wins with their last loss coming back in April against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Even more impressive is that 10 of those have come in the play-offs with the Spurs sweeping the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Clippers in the first two rounds.

Tony Parker was in irresistible form, shooting just under 74 percent from the field on his way to a game-high 34 points and eight assists.

Manu Ginobili again provided valuable support off the bench with 20 points, while Kawhi Leonard drained three three-pointers in his 18 points, as well as pulling down 10 rebounds.

San Antonio set up their victory with a dominant first half that saw them open up an 11-point lead at the long break.

They carried their momentum into the third quarter where they added another 37 points to at one stage lead by 22 points.

Oklahoma did mount a charge to close within six points midway through the final term, but the Spurs were never seriously threatened.

Kevin Durant led the way for the Thunder with 31 points, while James Harden (30 points) and Russell Westbrook (27) were also strong contributors.

Game three of the series will be at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma on Thursday.

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