If the Miami Heat are to win the NBA Finals, they will need to make even more history than they envisioned when the series started, last week.
The two-time defending champions were aiming at matching the longest run of consecutive titles, three, by an NBA team in 44 years. However, if they are to do that now, they must also become the first club in NBA history to come back from a 3-1 series Finals deficit.
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Kawhi Leonard scored 20 points and gathered 14 rebounds as the San Antonio Spurs again crushed the Heat in Miami, 107-86 on Thursday, to move within a victory at home on Sunday of the championship.
In the 31 previous Finals in which a team took a 3-1 lead, the trailing team has never rallied to win.
“We put ourselves in a position where it is about making history,” said Miami’s LeBron James, who led the Heat with 28 points. “But all we can do is worry about Game 5.
“We’ve got to worry about Sunday first. Try to go up there in a hostile environment, where we were able to steal one in Game 2, and try to get another one and go on from there.
“Obviously, I do know the numbers. It’s never been done before, but we’re still a confident bunch.”
His confidence may be misplaced after the Spurs shredded the Heat for the third time in four games.
Again, they created open shots and converted them at a high rate, 57 per cent, had a big lead at half time, 19 points, and met little resistance beyond that put up by James.
“They’re playing beautiful basketball,” Miami’s Chris Bosh said.
“We’re playing Spurs basketball,” San Antonio’s Tony Parker said.
San Antonio’s coach, Gregg Popovich, assumes nothing, despite what NBA history says. “Now we’ve got to go back home and play as well or better,” he said.
Parker said: “They’re the two-time champs, they’re a great team, and there is still one more game. We have to win one more game.”
James was typically brilliant, making 10 of 17 shots and added eight rebounds. But Dwyane Wade struggled, shooting 3-for-13 and scoring only 10 points in a performance that left him looking a spent force. Bosh scored 12.
Most of the Miami crowd of 19,900 had left the arena before the game ended.
Parker scored 19 points for the Spurs, who got 14 from Patty Mills and a 10-point, 11-rebound night from Duncan, the 158th double-double of his career, passing Magic Johnson for the NBA play-off record. Duncan also passed another Lakers legend for another NBA record in Game 4: he has 8,869 career play-off minutes, 18 more than Kareem Abdul-Jabbar logged.
Duncan called it an honour to have those marks, but quickly stressed he wants something else. “The focus is winning one more,” Duncan said.
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