During the Heat’s championship ring ceremony tonight, LeBron James was wearing a pair of Nike LeBron 11 Personal Edition’s that resembled Iron Man. It was the Avengers who won the game for the 2-time champs though, with 7-of-9 Heat players who saw action reaching double-figures during their ring ceremony victory.
First, Bron’s kicks:
Now back to the game as the Heat were handed their rings before the game began.
The Heat were hesitant about possibly coming out slow since the ring ceremony itself seems to stab opposing teams in the gut. Whomever the champion faces after collecting their hardware, invariably they come out jacked up to compete, like the Heat did against Dallas on Christmas Day following their 2011 Finals loss.
Perhaps because they were aware of this tendency, the Heat moved the ball well and shot 11-for-20 from behind the arc on the night. They built a 20-point lead that culminated with this no-look* pass by James as the third quarter ended.
That momentum carried over until midway through the fourth when the Bulls made a mini-comeback. Carlos Boozer was 13-fo-18 from the field for 31 points and they appeared poised to make it a game. But back-to-back post-ups by Dwyane Wade and ‘Bron pushed the lead back to 16. The Bulls got it into single digits with under 2 minutes remaining too, and never stopped battling, but Shane Battier (4/4 from deep) knocked down his last triplet on the night and the Bulls never got closer again.
The Heat got their rings, and the win; the Bulls have more fuel for later in the season and the all-important playoffs. The new season is here. HUZZAH!
*It wasn’t technically a no-look pass because he turned away after he started to throw the ball to a wide open Birdman, but no matter.
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