Miami takes 3-2 lead in NBA finals

By: Larry Fitzgerald
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
Originally posted 06/21/2006

 

Miami waited to get back to South Beach and American Airlines Arena to grab control of the NBA Finals and take momentum away from the Dallas Mavericks. The Heat now lead the Finals 3-2 after becoming only the second home team since 1985, when the league went to the 2-3-2 home-away format, to sweep all three middle games. The Heat won 11 of 12 games at home in the 2006 playoffs and won 98-96, 98-74, and 101-100 in  overtime to win three straight in the Finals.

 

Dwyane Wade was sensational, scoring a game-high 43 points, including 17 in the fourth quarter, and two critical free throws to give Miami the lead with 1.9 seconds left in overtime. Wade set an NBA Finals playoff record by making 21 free throws. He also joined and elite class of NBA superstars, including Shaquille O’Neal, Allen Iverson, Michael Jordan, Rick Barry and Elgin Baylor, as one of the few players in NBA Finals history to score 35 points or more in three straight games. Wade scored 42 points in game three; he scored 36 in game four and 43 in game five.

 

If history holds up, the Heat will do what the Detroit Pistons did in 2004 when they beat the Los Angeles Lakers four games to one. In fact, every time a team has won all three middle games of the NBA Finals, that team has gone on to win the title. In 1990, the Detroit Pistons won all three road games at Portland, so did the 1991 Chicago Bulls at Los Angeles, and the 2001 Los Angeles Lakers did also at Philadelphia. In each case, the team that swept the middle three games, as Miami did, won the championship.

 

However, the Heat will have to win one game at Dallas to win their first NBA title. The winner of game five in an NBA Finals series that was tied at 2-2 has won the title 18 of 24 times.

 

The 2006 NBA playoffs have to be regarded as one of the greatest years in the 60-year history of the NBA playoffs. Ten times, playoff games have been decided in overtime — that’s an NBA record. Clearly the athleticism, determination and enthusiasm of the leagues players are shining through.

 

Not many of us could lose 25 pounds in a few weeks as O’Neal did this year, but clearly his sacrifice, which Coach Pat Riley demanded, has made a difference. O’Neal, down from 345, is moving better; he scored 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in Miami’s 101-100 win. O’Neal in recent years has battled swelling in his knee and shoulder arthritis, but he has made a difference so far in helping the Heat get within one win of the franchise’s first World Championship.

 

O’Neal, although lighter, continues to struggle from the free throw line: He made only two of 12 in game five. The Heat had only 11 turnovers in game five; that’s a series low. If Miami wins the title, they will join the University of Florida as champions. Florida beat UCLA to win the NCAA crown in April — it would mark only the fourth time in history that the same state’s college basketball team and NBA team combined to win championships.

 

 

 Jordan is back in the NBA!

 

Robert Johnson, founder of BET and majority owner of the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats, announced that he will enter into a venture with Michael Jordan to invest in business opportunities. As part of Jordan’s investment in Johnson’s existing portfolio, Jordan will become the largest individual owner of the Bobcats after Johnson. Jordan will become the managing member of basketball operations for the Bobcats ownership group.