LeBron, Duncan With Chance To Elevate Place In NBA History
June 20, 2013 7:21 AM
Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs plays defense on LeBron James
of the Miami Heat during Game 3 of the NBA Finals. (Photo by FREDERIC J.
BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)
Game 7, NBA title on the line.
“The moment is going to be grand,” LeBron James said.
And it might redefine someone’s legacy.
No matter what happens Thursday night, he and the Miami Heat, and Tim Duncan’s San Antonio Spurs have already won titles and secured a place in NBA history.
Now is their opportunity to elevate it.
The truly memorable teams won the hard way, and that will be the case for the one celebrating at center court this time.
It’s either a Heat repeat, possible only after James led them back from what seemed certain elimination in the closing seconds of Game 6, or the Spurs shaking off as gut-wrenching a loss as a team can have to become just the fourth club to win Game 7 of the NBA Finals on the road.
“For all those guys who left, make sure you don’t come to Game 7,” Heat center Chris Bosh said of the fans who left the arena early on Tuesday. “We only want the guys who are going to stay in the building for the whole game. You never give up. People gave up on us. They can stay where they are and watch the game at home.”
Miami guard Ray Allen knows how much is at stake in Game 7.
“As a competitor you love it, because you know you have an opportunity and it’s up to you,” Heat guard Ray Allen said. “We have a chance in our building to make something great. All of our legacies are tied to this moment, this game. It’s something our kids will be able to talk about that they were a part of. Forever will remember these moments, so we want to not live and have any regrets.”
Allen was on the court the last time the NBA’s season went down to the very last day, his Boston Celtics fading at the finish and falling 83-79 to the Los Angeles Lakers in 2010. That improved the hosts to 14-3 in Game 7 of the Finals — and no road team has won that decisive game since Washington beat Seattle in 1978.
Overcoming those odds, not to mention the NBA’s winningest team, would make this more memorable than the Spurs’ previous four titles, though this is a franchise that never dwells too much on the past or looks too far into the future.
All that matters is now.
“You know what, it’s all about just winning the title. It’s not about situation or what has led up to it,” Duncan said. “It’s a great story for everybody else, but we’re here for one reason, one reason only: It’s to try to win this game (Thursday). We have had a very good season thus far, and I think we just want to get to the game more than anything. We just want to see what happens and be able to leave everything out there.”
The teams trudged back to the arena Wednesday, some 12 hours after the Heat pulled out a 103-100 overtime victory in Game 6 to even the series. The Spurs, five points ahead with 28 seconds left in regulation, had to fight off fatigue and heartbreak, insisting neither would linger into Thursday.
No comments:
Post a Comment