48 minutes wasn’t enough for a game of this magnitude. It took an extra five minutes of overtime, but the Miami Heat pulled off the victory in what will go down as a classic NBA Finals game. Game 7 to determine the NBA champion will take place on Thursday.
Each team looked like they had the game in hand at different points late in the game. Thanks to some big baskets by Tony Parker and some costly miscues by the Miami Heat, the San Antonio Spurs were up by five points, and looked to be in good shape for securing their fifth NBA Title. But clutch threes by LeBron James and Ray Allen, plus some key missed free throws by the Spurs, forced the first overtime of the series. And in overtime, the Heat were able to capitalize on some mistakes by the Spurs, in the process sealing the game. Tim Duncan finished with 30 points and 17 rebounds. LeBron James finished with his fourth career Finals triple double.
The big talk coming into the game was the legacy of the Miami Heat big 3, specifically LeBron James. A loss would have been a massive blow to their legacy as a whole,but mostly to LeBron James’ individual legacy. Down the stretch, LeBron missed some big shots and had some untimely mistakes, but he did hit a clutch three and he defended Tony Parker on the last shot attempt of the game. But Ray Allen ultimately saved LeBron and the Heat with a big three pointer to tie the game with just seconds left. Chris Bosh played a big role too, as the two threes that were hit were off of offensive rebounds collected by Bosh.
As classic a game as this was, we can only hope that game 7 will live up to high bar set by game 6.
