LeBron James of the Miami Heat dunks the ball over Tyson Chandler of the Dallas Mavericks in Game One of the NBA Finals at American Airlines Arena in Miami on May 31, 2011. James scored 24 points as the Heat won 92-84 to take a 1-0 series lead.
Tags: sport, basketballJames scored 24 points, added nine rebounds and five assists to lead the Heat to the victory before a raucous Miami crowd, hungry to see the Heat's first title since 2006.
The two-time NBA most valuable player hit nine of 16 shots but was at his best from long range, connecting on four-of-five from beyond the arc.
Dwyane Wade added 22 for the Heat while collecting a team-leading 10 rebounds.
Chris Bosh scored 19 for Miami, giving the so-called "Big Three" 65 of the team's 92 points.
James scored nine points in the third quarter, including a 25-foot, three-pointer at the buzzer with the Mavericks' Shawn Marion in his face, as Miami recovered from an eight-point deficit to take a 65-61 lead into the final period.
"It's kind of the way we have been winning games - you have got to stick with it, you can't get frustrated because the ball's not going in," Wade said.
"There are other ways you can dominate the game and we were able to do that tonight.
"I thought we did a great job in the second half."
Miami led 77-73 with just under four minutes left but two foul shots by Bosh and a 24-foot, three-point jumper by Wade hiked the advantage to nine points with 3:06 on the clock.
Two free throws by Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki sliced the lead to 82-75 but James responded with a three-point play on the next possession to end any thoughts of a Dallas comeback.
Nowitzki scored 27 points, hitting seven-of-18 shots from the floor and all 12 of his free throw attempts.
Game Two is in Miami on Friday morning (AEST) before the best-of-seven series shifts to Dallas for the next three games.
Dallas lost to Miami in the title series five years ago, the Mavericks winning the first two games of the best-of-seven series before losing the next four.
The Heat were 47-35 last season but became one of the NBA's elite teams when James and Bosh took the free agent route last summer to join fellow All-Star Wade in Miami.
Wade admitted the Mavericks had trouble guarding both him and James.
"We are two playmakers who can not only take shots and make plays ourselves, we can do it for our team-mates," he said.
"This was a total team win though. And we got one."
-Reuters
Tags: sport, basketball, united-states First posted June 1, 2011 14:06:00"Whatever it takes," said Heat star LeBron James, who finished with 29 points.
"This is the conference finals and these are two great defensive teams. But you have to be patient... keep working the offence."
Dwyane Wade added 24 points for the Heat, who managed to steal home-court advantage from the Bulls as the series now switches to Miami.
James, who has been fighting a cold this week, said he was relieved to get the win but was also relishing the chance to go home and rest up.
"Do you hear my voice?" he asked.
"I put it all on line tonight. I am glad I got a few days to get back down to the great weather we got in Miami and get over it (cold)."
The Heat recovered down the stretch Wednesday to pull even after surrendering an 11-point lead earlier in the contest.
James drained a three pointer in the fourth to put the Heat in front for good, at 76-73.
He scored nine points in the final five minutes and also grabbed 10 rebounds as Miami outrebounded Chicago 45-41.
"The series has just started," James said.
"It's 1-1. We're excited that we were able to come here and get a win. But it's just started."
The Bulls ended Game One on a 46-24 run en route to winning the contest 103-82. The Heat limited them to just two points in the final seven minutes in Game Two.
James also grabbed 10 rebounds while Wade finished with nine rebounds for the Heat, who host Sunday's game three. Chris Bosh scored 10 points.
Udonis Haslem came off the bench to score 13 points for Miami, which defeated the Bulls for the first time this season.
"We got the one that we needed," Wade said.
"Now, we go home and we've got to take care of business. This team right here is like us. They can win at home and on the road."
Derrick Rose scored 21 points but had only two in the fourth quarter for the Bulls.
Luol Deng added 13 but had just four after the opening period. Rose and Deng were the only Chicago players to finish in double figures.
Joakim Noah finished with nine points and eight rebounds. Taj Gibson came on strong in the final quarter, scoring all of his eight points.
Carlos Boozer struggled Wednesday, sitting out the final quarter after recording seven points and eight boards.
- AFP
Tags: sport, basketball, united-states First posted May 19, 2011 15:26:00
LeBron James (l) and Chris Bosh of Miami Heat look on late in the fourth quarter against Chicago Bulls in Game One of the Eastern Conference Finals during the 2011 NBA Play-offs on May 15, 2011 at the United Centre in Chicago, Illinois.
Tags: sport, basketball, united-states