Final seconds don't go Heat's way
Miami Heat's Dwyane Wade sits during a timeout in the fourth quarter against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. (May 6, 2012) Credit: AP
In the final sequence, there were misjudgments, mistakes and a big missed shot.
We have all seen this happen before in a Knicks playoff game. The difference Sunday was that it was their opponent, the heavily favored Heat, that unraveled in the final seconds.
As a result, Miami failed to sweep the first-round series. The Heat lost, 89-87, and now will prepare for Wednesday night's Game 5 in Miami.
The Heat, which dominated the first three games of the series, played a lackluster fourth quarter that culminated in a confusing final possession. LeBron James, the team's most dangerous weapon, was left standing idle in the left corner on the final possession while Dwyane Wade dribbled around, almost lost control of the ball and missed an off-balance three-pointer at the buzzer.
"I had my shot," Wade said, "but I fumbled the ball."
James said he had no problem with Heat coach Erik Spoelstra's decision to have Wade run a pick-and-roll with Chris Bosh to get a mismatch against Amar'e Stoudemire.
"I knew for the most part that Melo was going to try to deny me," he said of Carmelo Anthony. "I feel like he got in the lane and didn't have a good look initially and he ended up dribbling the ball for a three that he has made before. It just didn't go in for us."
James added: "For me, personally, I would love to have the ball. But as a team, we win games together and we lose games together."
This marks the second year in a row that the Heat has had a 3-0 lead in the first round of the playoffs and failed to complete the sweep. Last year, the 76ers came up big in Game 4 before losing the series in five games.
Spoelstra decided to use Shane Battier rather than James on Anthony down the stretch. Anthony scored six quick points that, coupled with Mike Bibby's three-pointer, gave the Knicks a four-point lead with 25.9 seconds left.
Spoelstra explained after the game that he had moved James to guard Tyson Chandler to create some "other things defensively." He added, "We still had enough opportunities to win this game regardless of who was guarding Anthony."
The Heat seemed more annoyed than upset about having to play a fifth game instead of taking time off to prepare for the next round.
"Everything was in our power to close this game out, but you can't let your emotions get to you," Bosh said. "You have to stay steady. That's what the playoffs are about. We have to realize that not everything is going to go our way all the time, so we have to brush ourselves off and play a solid game on Wednesday."
