“I just wanted to be aggressive,” Bosh said. “I missed some shots but that was the best way to 
play for me, just to go no matter what. I think it really set the tone for me offensively and defensively. It worked out alright.”
And then there was James. The Best Player on the Planet lived up the title with 32 points, eight rebounds, four assists, two steals and one block. He was 15-for-16 on free throws.
Oh, yeah, he also took pressure off his buddy, Wade, by electing to defend Pacers forward Paul George instead of having Wade handle the job.
“I told him I would take Paul George,” James said, recalling a conversation he and Wade had Monday morning, hours before the game. “I want to allow him to focus on his offense, not have to worry about stopping Paul George every possession and allow him to get out in transition, allow him to make a couple of cuts and get to the line.
“I think that was huge for him.”
Spoelstra, who probably won’t get credit for being a good coach even if he wins multiple titles, kept the Heat’s ship steady throughout this harrowing series. He was ripped locally for not playing swingman Mike Miller earlier and won’t get credit for inserting Miller in the first quarter of Game 7. That’s because Miller ended 0-for-3 from the field, all of them 3-pointers. But the move was an indication Spoelstra was willing to shake things up in this winner-take-all game.
Spoelstra also won’t get credit for benching an ineffective Shane Battier – the only player on the active roster who didn’t play Monday – or showing faith in a suddenly effective Ray Allen (10 points on 3-for-5 shooting on 3-pointers).
But Spoelstra made the right moves Monday.
“We had to play our best game in the series to get this one done,” he said.
Consider what happened in Game 7:
- After having no assists on eight field goals in the first quarter, the Heat had 14 assists on 22 bucket over the final three quarters. That’s impressive ball movement.
- Smallish Miami outrebounded the towering Pacers, 43-36, and grabbed 15 offensive rebounds to eight for Indiana.
- And while the field goal percentages were fairly even (Miami shot 39.5 percent; Indiana shot 40.6 percent), and each team made six 3-pointers, the biggest difference came at the free throw line. Miami was 33-for-38 while Indiana was just 14-for-20. That’s a whopping 19-point difference.
So now the Heat gets to work on being an elite team of its era, a dynasty, a team for the ages. They’ve earned that privilege by advancing to the NBA Finals for a second consecutive year via a grinding seven-game Eastern Conference finals victory. Last year it was against Boston, this year it was against Indiana.
But more work remains. If the Heat are truly going to be a dynasty, their Big Three has to outplay San Antonio’s Big Three, and their coach has to outcoach San Antonio’s coach.
Legacies are at stake. Either San Antonio wins the title, further cementing its legacy as perhaps the second-best team in the NBA’s free agency era, after Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls.
Or the Heat win this title and get on their way to establishing themselves as a challenger to the Spurs, Lakers, Bulls, Pistons and every other multiple-time champion of the last three decades.
It’s all up to the Big Three of James, Wade and Bosh, and Spoelstra.