MAY aircon na sa AT&T Center, at hindi pinulikat si basketball superstar LeBron James kaya naman nakatapos siya ng laro upang igiya ang two-time defending champions Miami Heat sa 98-96 panalo laban sa San Antonio Spurs kahapon sa Game 2 ng 2013-14 National Basketball Association, (NBA) Finals.
Nangalabaw ng 35 points, 10 rebounds at tatlong assists si four-time MVP James para itabla ang sa 1-1 ang kanilang best-of-seven series.
‘’Got to play hard,’’ ani James. ‘’I believe the man above will protect me. I just try to put myself and my teammates in position to succeed.’’
Abante ng anim na puntos ang Spurs 62-56 subalit kumana ng 8-0 run ang Heat, lahat kay James upang makuha muli ang bentahe ng huli, 62-64 may 4:50 minuto na lang sa third period.
‘’LeBron with the ball did a pretty good job at his end and we had to be really perfect at the other end and we didn’t,’’ saad ni Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. ‘’We didn’t take advantage of things. We made bad decisions.’’
Sa Game 1, hindi natapos ni James ang laro dahil lumabas ito sa fourth quarter dahil pinulikat ang hita nito kung saan ay dalawang puntos lang ang lamang ng Spurs.
Nag-ambag si Heat center Chris Bosh ng 18 points at tatlong rebounds kasama ang krusyal na three-point sa 1:18 mark sa payoff period at assist kay Dwyane Wade sa huling 0.9 segundo ng laro.
Tumikada rin ng tig 14 puntos sina Wade at Rashard Lewis habang may bakas na nine points si Ray Allen.
‘’We have a very competitive group and you have two days to commiserate how that game went down,’’ ani Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. ‘’It was frustrating, painful going through that for two days and now we have to manage the other emotion.’’
Si Tony Parker ang umunat sa opensa para sa Spurs matapos bumira ng 21 puntos at pitong assists habang may tig 19 at 18 ang sinalansan nina Manu Ginobili at Tim Duncan ayon sa pagkakasunod.