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Topic: Heat or Thunder Forecast.
cerebus (3,258 Posts)	Posted: 10-Jun-2012 09:16	Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply
cerebus (3,258 Posts)	LeBron enjoying a good spell... should see the Promised Land in 6.
cerebus (3,258 Posts)	Posted: 13-Jun-2012 06:54	Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply
cerebus (3,258 Posts)	Heat Waive Game 1. 94-105. Teams don’t just arrive in this building, they get buried, and in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, the Miami Heat got to experience what Loud City is all about, as the Oklahoma City Thunder emerged victorious for the ninth time in as many home games this postseason... ...The first game of a highly-anticipated matchup of the league’s two best teams and the two best players lived up to the billing, as star players stepped up, role players filled the gaps and teams traded baskets. But using the energy of his home arena, Durant made a few more... ...The Heat is hoping to become the third team in the past 25 years – joining the Detroit Pistons in 1989 and the Los Angeles Lakers in 2009 – to lose in the Finals the year before and win the title the next season... washingtonpost.com
Anelka (1,353 Posts)	Posted: 13-Jun-2012 08:12	Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply
Anelka (1,353 Posts)	Lebron to choke again..... I hope
tse (483 Posts)	Posted: 13-Jun-2012 10:54	Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply
tse (483 Posts)	Originally posted by Anelka: Lebron to choke again..... I hope He didn't choke but was not able to match Durant. The Thunder put Sefolosha on James in the 4th and he slowed him down. Wade was average and beyond that they struggled. They have no bench (thats what you get when you invest so much at the top). The Celtics were similar in the last round with little depth, but the Thunder have depth - James Harding barely played night despite getting 6th man award. Its a long series yet and one or two superstar performances may win a game or two especially back in Miami, but the Thunder should win out the series. The Thunder and the Spurs have looked the best two teams this year.
cerebus (3,258 Posts)	Posted: 15-Jun-2012 08:38	Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply
cerebus (3,258 Posts)	Game 2 win for Miami....oh what a beautiful morning...
barney stintson (46 Posts)	Posted: 15-Jun-2012 08:39	Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply
barney stintson (46 Posts)	King James will RULE.
Yojimbo (13,947 Posts)	Posted: 15-Jun-2012 14:21	Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply
Yojimbo (13,947 Posts)	Originally posted by cerebus: Game 2 win for Miami....oh what a beautiful morning... Great news Lets hope they go out there now and win one for The Gipper! Ballyporeen is watching
cerebus (3,258 Posts)	Posted: 18-Jun-2012 08:47	Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply
cerebus (3,258 Posts)	Heat hold on, take 2-1 Finals lead vs. Thunder USA TODAY Updated MIAMI – Forward Shane Battier made three-pointers and guard Mario Chalmers converted a clever reverse layup for the Miami Heat. Heat forward LeBron James, right, led Miami to victory in Game 3 of the NBA Finals with 29 points, 14 rebounds and three assists. Oklahoma City Thunder guard James Harden, still not scoring like the Sixth Man of the Year, got to the free throw line, and guard Derek Fisher had his typical game. But Game 3 of the NBA Finals came down to the four best, most scrutinized players on the floor. And Heat forward LeBron James and guard Dwyane Wade made the better combo, outdoing Thunder forward Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook in Miami's win Sunday. The Heat took a 2-1 series lead with a 91-85 victory, helped by hitting 31 of 35 free throws to 15 of 24 for the Thunder. How huge is Game 3 in the Finals? The victor has won the championship 85.3% of the time — and the Heat get the next two games at home. Game 4 is Tuesday (9 p.m. ET, ABC). "This is competition at its highest," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "We had to find a way to grind a win." This was another game not decided until the final minutes. Wade is still off some with his shot but had 25 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, and James had 29 points (eight in the fourth quarter) and 14 rebounds. Wade and James scored 13 of Miami's last 15 points. "It's all about chemistry," James said. "It's good to see us execute down the stretch, but more importantly, to get stops." It was just enough to top the Thunder and 25 points from Durant, who again played with foul trouble, and 19 from Westbrook. Durant, who had big fourth quarters the first two games, got four points this time on 2-for-6 shooting with two turnovers and two missed free throws. "We put ourselves in position to win," Durant said. "That's what it's about. It's not over. Got to be ready for the next game." James credited the help defense of teammate Chris Bosh for Miami's ability to limit Durant in the fourth. Bosh scored 10 points with 11 rebounds and two blocks in his second game in the starting lineup since suffering a back injury, which has limited him in the playoffs. "I just tried to keep my body on him in the fourth quarter," James said of Durant. "He was able to miss a few, Chris (Bosh) was able to block a few, and that's what our defense is all about, helping each other." Durant lamented Oklahoma City's uncharacteristic struggles from the free throw line. The Thunder shot 62.5% from the stripe in Game 3 compared with 81% during the regular season. "Got to be focused, disciplined, knock them down," Durant said. Miami struggled with its outside shooting, but had enough firepower in the lane. Wade's three-point play gave the Heat an 81-77 lead with 4:51 left and James' driving dunk shot and free throw made it 84-77 with 3:47 to go. "It wasn't pretty all the way through," Spoesltra said. "But here in Miami we like these wins, because they are gritty, speak a lot to the team's character."
cerebus (3,258 Posts)	Posted: 20-Jun-2012 08:34	Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply
cerebus (3,258 Posts)	Game 4 ...104- 98 Miami. Deep Heat for LeBron.... Up 3-1 in the best-of-7 series, the Heat can close out the series in Game 5 Thursday in Miami . Since the NBA went to the 2-3-2 Finals format in 1985, a home team has won the middle three games just twice - the Detroit Pistons over the Los Angeles Lakers in 2004 and the Heat over the Dallas Mavericks in 2006. With 5:15, James fell to the floor with cramps. The Heat called timeout, and James was carried to the bench with the Heat up 92-90. He did not return the floor after the timeout. He returned with 4:05 left in the fourth quarter and the Thunder ahead 94-92. But James' three-pointer put Miami up 97-94 and Wade's layup gave the Heat a 99-94 lead with 2:19 left. "Four or five plays, that's what this series coming down to, what this game came down to. Not much of a margin either way," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "LeBron had cramps, we talked about it in his leg before the game, that you have to play with an intensity (like there's) nothing left. At the end of the game, he was playing with an incredible intensity level. "The (cramps) didn't really go away. At that point he was just trying to will his body and make something happen. That three (pointer) was just sheer competitiveness." The Heat overcame a game-high 43 points from Thunder guard Russell Westbrook, who scored 25 points in the second half. "I thought Russell was terrific tonight," Brooks said. "The guy played relentless, he was terrific, he kept us in the game and gave us a chance to win." Since 1980, 14 teams have trailed 3-1 in the NBA finals and not only have all 14 teams lost, not one has forced a Game 7. Miami is in great position to win its first championship since 2006 and more important, it's first since Heat president Pat Riley assembled the Big Three of James, guard Dwyane Wade and forward Chris Bosh ( apologies rr30). Those three were an integral part of Tuesday's victory. Wade had 25 points, and Bosh had 13 points and nine rebounds. USA Today.
cerebus (3,258 Posts)	Posted: 22-Jun-2012 07:49	Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply
cerebus (3,258 Posts)	Game 5 Miami 121-Thunder 106. (Miami win title in 5) LeBron now LeGold One.... MIAMI — From the time he graced the cover of Sports Illustrated 10 years ago, LeBron James has been the most celebrated and scrutinized athlete of the Internet age, with his every glorious step and agonizing misstep overanalyzed and overhyped. He has gone from the phenom from Akron, Ohio, who could do no wrong; to the superstar destined for greatness; to the villain whose narcissism and arrogance led him to shun sullen Cleveland for sunny Miami. While his incredible gifts resulted in his winning three MVP awards, James struggled to fulfill the championship promise. But this season was about James redefining his image and his destiny, about blocking out the noise and becoming more centered — about becoming a champion. Surrounded by a sea of white shirts, flanked by the teammates that he tarnished his reputation to join with one controversial decision, his moment finally came in Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night at American Airlines Arena. History is often kind to winners, and with the Miami Heat’s resounding 121-106 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder, James has assumed his place among the all-time greats. “It was a journey for myself,” said James, who became the 10th player — and first since San Antonio’s Tim Duncan in 2003 — to win regular season and Finals MVP. “All the ups and downs, everything that came along with it, I had to basically figure it out on my own. I’m happy now nine years later since I’ve been drafted that I can finally say that I’m a champion, and I did it the right way. I didn’t shortcut anything. I put a lot of hard work and dedication in it, and hard work pays off. It’s a great moment for myself.” Closing out his end-to-end dominance of this lockout-shortened season, James had a triple-double (26 points, 13 assists, 11 rebounds) and claimed the title that seemed inevitable when he entered the league in an unblemished white suit on the night of the 2003 NBA draft. With 3 minutes 1 second remaining, Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra pulled James from the game and he hugged his teammates as fans chanted, “MVP! MVP!” James didn’t need to have another dominant performance or fight through agonizing cramps because he had Chris Bosh overcoming his abdominal strain to dunk and snarl, Dwyane Wade playing through soreness in his knee to make impossible layups and blocked shots and the bandaged and padded-up Mike Miller overcoming a litany of ailments to make seven three-pointers. A coronation nine years in the making was complete for James. “I’m proud of him,” Wade, the 2006 NBA Finals MVP, said of his close friend, James. “He really took being the best player in the league to another level, and he did it all season long, man. Thanks to him, we’re able to celebrate once again.” Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and the young Thunder had to look on as James danced and preened on the floor where the Dallas Mavericks crushed Miami’s championship dreams a year ago. After the game, James and Durant shared an embrace at midcourt, with James shouting encouraging words in Durant’s right ear. Durant later cried as he embraced his parents, Wanda and Wayne Pratt, on his way to the locker room. Washington Post.
Yojimbo (13,947 Posts)	Posted: 22-Jun-2012 14:19	Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply
Yojimbo (13,947 Posts)	Delighted for Lebron: a great player such as he clearly is deserves to get a Championship, and not having to remain with the first team he signed for. He made the right decision: just as Samir Nasri did! I look forward to enjoying ESPN's as-live broadcast of the title clinching game tonight
cerebus (3,258 Posts)	Posted: 22-Jun-2012 23:31	Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply
cerebus (3,258 Posts)	Originally posted by Yojimbo: Delighted for Lebron: a great player such as he clearly is deserves to get a Championship.. Yo,he's big into Da Bukes too. You read it here ...first! LeBron James, Open Book Star credits reading for making him calmer during playoffs By Michael Wilbon - ESPN.com "Surely, you've noticed the videotape of LeBron reading books before every game the past two months. Biographies, history, pop culture, best sellers, short books that explore human psychology, you name it. LeBron lying on the floor reading "The Hunger Games." LeBron sitting at his locker reading "The Pact," about three boys from challenging circumstances agreeing to finish college and attend medical school. It seems every time James was photographed before or after a game this spring, he was reading a book. The cynics among us -- which essentially is everybody in America outside South Florida when it comes to LeBron -- just knew this whole reading thing had to be contrived. Maybe a publisher or an author was paying him. How about that for product placement? Maybe some PR guru had gotten to LeBron and convinced him this was the best possible way to change his image, that appearing to read a book whenever he wasn't bouncing a basketball was the best way to reverse two years of bad pub following "The Decision" and taking his talents to South Beach. I must admit to becoming obsessed with what LeBron was reading and why. Why now? Why so many books, and why these particular books? Suppose, even if somebody was paying LeBron, little boys who don't normally read anything started to read books because they saw their hero reading in a locker room? Who, whether this was contrived or not, could object to that? Turns out there's nothing whatsoever feigned about LeBron's one-man book club. Nobody's paying him to read (although it's OK for folks to be paid to lose weight on TV). He's not doing product-placement favors for any author buddies. Simply, LeBron James decided before the playoffs he would be best served if he stopped watching hour after hour of sports on television, and got off the Internet, and stopped tweeting, and stopped reading Twitter. (We should all have such an intervention.) If he could shut off all the noise, LeBron wouldn't have to hear why he and his Miami teammates are such losers and play so poorly in the fourth quarter, and why if the Heat didn't win this year the team should be blown up. So, LeBron figured, why not just read books to occupy his non-basketball time during the playoffs? He called his dear friend/confidant/business associate Maverick Carter, a voracious reader who keeps a preferred reading list in his PDA, and said, essentially, "Maverick, I need you to pick up five to seven books from your book list." So Carter did. Stuff like "The Fighter's Mind" and "Shogun" and "The Post-American World" and "West by West" (the Jerry West bio) and "The Tipping Point." "The Hunger Games" trilogy was LeBron's idea. So was "Decoded," the Jay-Z bio. TV off, books on. Just like that. Even after Carter delivered the books, as asked, he presumed LeBron would consume them on team flights and buses. But there he was early in the playoffs, reading "The Hunger Games." It became as much a part of his pregame ritual as shooting. Where cynics saw a ballplayer doing something for the cameras, I saw a chance, whatever LeBron's motivation, for a role model to use his influence to make an impact, intentional or not. According to The Alliance for Excellent Education, only 3 percent of all eighth-graders read at an advanced level. Imagine how many of those eighth-graders want to do what LeBron James does. At 13, 14 years old, they can't drive the car he endorses, might or might not be able to afford the shoes he endorses. But they can borrow a book even if they can't afford to buy one. And if LeBron is reading, then reading must be fairly cool. Is there a better message the world's best basketball player could send...."
Yojimbo (13,947 Posts)	Posted: 22-Jun-2012 23:52	Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply
Yojimbo (13,947 Posts)	"Its a long way from penny apples", cer!
cerebus (3,258 Posts)	Posted: 22-Jun-2012 23:59	Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply
cerebus (3,258 Posts)	Originally posted by Yojimbo: "Its a long way from penny apples", cer! In fairness, LeBron was more of a Big Apple man before The Decision.
Yojimbo (13,947 Posts)	Posted: 23-Jun-2012 02:49	Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply
Yojimbo (13,947 Posts)	Originally posted by cerebus: In fairness, LeBron was more of a Big Apple man before The Decision. I'm not so sure about that: he must have thought he'd bitten off more than he could chew this time last year!
cerebus (3,258 Posts)	Posted: 23-Jun-2012 15:33	Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply
cerebus (3,258 Posts)	Mike Krzyzewski expects LeBron James to play for the U.S. Olympic team..... While it's not certain yet who will be going to London, he said matter-of-factly that "I know LeBron will play." One ring secured now for five more...
The Dude (109 Posts)	Posted: 23-Jun-2012 16:06	Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply
The Dude (109 Posts)	It's more or less common knowledge over there who'll be going to the Olympics bar 1 or 2. Can't wait to see them playing. As much as I'm delighted to see LBJ finally get his ring and shut the critics up, I don't think he'll get anywehre near the 7 or 8 he said he would win. OKC are a seriously young team and came very close this year. Kevin Durant will only get better aswell and with a bit of good business in the off-season, along with a years experience, I think they could be unstoppable next year.
cerebus (3,258 Posts)	Posted: 23-Jun-2012 16:29	Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply
cerebus (3,258 Posts)	Originally posted by The Dude: It's more or less common knowledge over there who'll be going to the Olympics bar 1 or 2. Can't wait to see them playing. Yeah a lot of lads going over to see them play v GB on 19th July at the Manchester Arena.

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