Hamilton: In and After Game 7 of the NBA Finals, History Had Repeated Itself

MIAMI — As LeBron James stood at center court of the American Airlines Arena, he gazed up into the heavens and was bathed in white confetti in front of Bill Russell and David Stern. The king—now twice crowned—had a message for the world.

“I’m LeBron James,” he said. “I’m from Akron, Ohio.”

And as he stood tall, after a hard fought, seven-game battle in which he avenged his first Finals loss against Gregg Popovich and Tim Duncan six years ago—he told the world.

“I ain’t got no worries.”

Not one, not two, and not three…

Just 48 hours earlier, down the stretch of Game 6, the San Antonio Spurs yielded two critical offensive rebounds and missed two game-sealing free throws that allowed the Miami Heat to abscond with a victory the Spurs had earned.

After 47 minutes and 32 seconds, the Spurs were the apparent winners of Game 6. But by the time 48 minutes had elapsed, they were on the brink of elimination, needing to outplay the Heat for what would have been the fifth time in seven games, and even worse—needing to do it on the Heat’s home floor.

The mantra for the Spurs entering Game 7 was simple. Win it, and Game 6 would shrivel into a meaningless footnote, utterly forgettable in the grand scheme.

Instead, those wretched 28 seconds will haunt them.

Yes, Game 6 was the night that the Spurs let LeBron James and Ray Allen steal the Larry O’Brien trophy from them.

Game 7 was the night they failed to steal it back.

And in that Game 7, we saw history repeat itself.

With a shade less than 30 seconds remaining in the Finals and the Heat and Spurs separated by two possessions, the Spurs could not do what the Heat did to them in Game 6.

When it mattered most, they simply could not get the baskets they needed—even when the Heat left the door slightly ajar.

Kawhi Leonard turned in a brilliant performance, scoring 19 points and grabbing 16 rebounds. A timely 3-pointer with two minutes remaining in the fourth brought the Spurs to within two, but on the ensuing possession, with just 1:26 remaining in the game and the Heat clinging to a 90-88 lead, Leonard’s clean 3-point look—his chance at potentially making up for his missed free-throw in the final seconds of Game 6 —went awry.

And though the Spurs got one more critical stop on the Heat’s next possession, Duncan, with 48.9 seconds remaining in the Spurs season, missed a game-tying 3-footer when only Shane Battier stood between him and a fifth championship ring.

The game was different. But the thesis was the same.

For the Spurs, yet again, it was so close, yet so far.

The Heat is on; Miami twice, and maybe even Miami thrice.

That is possible now, because the Heat, led by their leader, knew that the Spurs were heading back to San Antonio, but refused to allow them to carry the Larry O’Brien trophy with them.

When it was James’ turn to close the door, he slammed it shut—hitting the game’s clinching field goal with 27.9 seconds left, giving his team a four point lead as a result.

No, the Heat would not be a one-and-done champion.

Heat Repeat.

Like in 2012, history repeated itself. As the confetti rained, the king reigned. Atop the NBA mountain once again, the American Airlines Arena became a 680,000 square foot night club.

Yes, history repeated itself. Yet, something was different.

After winning his first championship in 2012, James was almost beside himself. When he hugged the Larry O’Brien trophy for the first time, he looked like a child on Christmas morning meeting his new puppy for the first time.

But after defeating these Spurs—after pilfering something he simply refused to lose without a fight—James looked and sounded more like a lioness that was protecting her cub.

“This is what it’s all about,” James said at the podium, long after he had slapped hands with hundreds and drenched himself in celebratory champagne.

“I came here to win championships and to be able to go back-to-back… It’s the ultimate.”

-Relieved and authentic, James was filled with pride. “To be able to come through for my teammates in the biggest moment on the biggest stage makes me more satisfied than anything in the world.”

After outlasting the Spurs in a hard fought Game 7 for the NBA’s ultimate prize, the Heat had earned this. Their 95-88 victory over Tim Duncan and Tony Parker yielded this.

And after a brilliant 37-point, 12-rebound, four-assist performance, James basked in it all.

But although this was his moment, he did not get there alone.

Again, history repeated itself.

On cue and in the nick of time, Shane Battier, after shooting just 1-for-9 from behind the 3-point line over the first four games of the series, began to show life in Game 5 and Game 6, where he shot 5-for-10.

But in Game 7, Battier did his best impersonation of Mike Miller, who buried the Oklahoma City Thunder in last season’s series clincher by hitting seven 3-pointers.

In Game 7, Battier doubled his 3-pointer output over the first six games of the series, hitting six of his eight attempts — including his first five. He turned in 18 points, tying his highest output of the entire season.

“I believe in basketball gods,” Battier said. “I felt that they owed me big time.”

Tonight, they made good, just like Dwyane Wade did.

Despite the declarations of his downfall, Wade turned in a timely 11-for-21 shooting night, scoring 23 points and grabbing 10 rebounds to top it off.

Wade has been noticeably limited throughout these playoffs, but came up big when it mattered most.

And he got up when it looked, for a moment, like he could not.

With 7:35 remaining in the game, Wade took a nasty spill and was slow to get up as the arena fell silent. On the ensuing possession, after his team fell victim to over-passing a few times throughout the game, Wade received the ball with Duncan guarding him and the shot clock winding down.

Just 15 seconds after peeling himself off of the canvas for what seemed like the dozenth time, Wade rose up after he limped up and hit an 18-footer that pushed the Heat lead back up to six.

It was the last jump shot Wade made this season, and it was quite fitting that he made it after kissing the hardwood, yet again.

But yet again, Wade rose up like a prideful competitor and answered the bell.

“I talked to my knees today,” he said. “We had a conversation. I said ‘Listen, both of you guys, y’all can give me one great game, you’ll have a great summer.'”

And now, so will everyone in Miami.

As for Duncan, when he came with one win of securing his fifth NBA championship, he defied Father Time. He led his troops into battle, turning in two inspiring performances in Game 6 and Game 7, where he averaged 27 points and 14.5 rebounds in those two games.