Miami Heat even up the NBA Finals at one

Trailing 1-0 in the NBA Finals does not seem to be a problem for the Miami Heat. For the third straight year, the Heat faced this situation and came away with a victory in game two. On Sunday night, Miami topped the San Antonio Spurs 98-96. This victory extends the Heat’s streak to 46 straight playoff games without consecutive losses, which is the third longest streak in NBA history.
After receiving much criticism for cramping up at the end of game one, Miami small forward LeBron James was sensational, posting a double-double with 35 points and 10 rebounds. The Heat improve to 15-1 in the playoffs when James has at least 30 points and 10 rebounds.
In the 38 minutes that he was on the court in game two, Miami outscored San Antonio by 11 points and connected on 60 percent of their field goal attempts. When he was on the bench, the Heat struggled, being outscored by nine and making only 29 percent of their attempts from the floor, reports ESPN.
A defining moment in the game came in the fourth quarter, when Heat point guard Mario Chalmers flagrantly fouled San Antonio point guard Tony Parker by elbowing him on a drive to the basket. Parker, who was shaken up on the play, missed both free throw attempts. Then, power forward Tim Duncan got fouled and missed both of his free throw attempts. On the ensuing possession, James knocked down a 3-pointer to give Miami a one-point lead.
“It definitely affected me, but I’m a little bit frustrated, should have made them,” Parker said in his postgame press conference on. “I don’t think we lose the game on that. We were up one with one minute and a half to go or two minutes and we make the stops that we need, and so we just couldn’t make the shot that we needed to come up on top. We had a great opportunity.”
San Antonio went 12-of-20 from the free throw line.
Duncan posted his 157th career playoff double-double with 18 points and 15 rebounds. He ties Hall-of-Famer Magic Johnson for the most all-time. Parker had a team-high 21 points, and shooting guard Manu Ginobili amassed 19 points.
Heat center Chris Bosh tallied 18 points. Shooting guard Dwyane Wade and power forward Rashard Lewis each compiled 14 points.
Game three is Tuesday night in Miami.
“They came out great; they played a great game,” Parker said. “Now it’s our turn to go over there and try to get one. We played pretty well on the road all season long, and so we’re going to have two great opportunities to come up with a win.”