The coronavirus pandemic forced delays to the regular season. During this time in a normal 82-game campaign, the playoffs would come to a close after the NBA Finals.
On this day eight years ago, the 2013 NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs went to Game 7.
No team won two in a row this series in a back-and-forth affair. Both sides stole games on the road to force a win-or-go-home scenario in the final game of the series.
The Heat hosted the Spurs, and the game got off to a slow start on the scoring end. Miami led San Antonio 18-16 after the opening quarter.
The game stayed close until the fourth quarter when the pace slowed down again, and Miami’s defense locked down San Antonio’s offense.
Miami outscored San Antonio 23-17 in the fourth quarter to secure the win. The championship marked Miami’s second in franchise history as they had won the title a year prior.
The same applied to LeBron James. It was also his second championship, and his performance definitely shined.
James led all scorers with 37 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and two steals in 45 minutes. He shot 12-of-23 overall and 5-of-10 from 3-point range, including the dagger:
"I'm LeBron James from Akron, Ohio, from the inner city. I'm not even supposed to be here…I'm blessed."
8 YEARS AGO TODAY, LeBron did this to the Spurs in GM7 of the 2013 NBA Finals:
37 PTS | 12 REB | 4 AST | 1 DAGGERpic.twitter.com/icdbd9n5UC
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) June 20, 2021
Here are more photos from the post-game celebration:
Eight years ago, LeBron, Wade and Bosh won their second of back-to-back titles with the Heat 🏆 pic.twitter.com/WhtQeSPBj4
— ESPN (@espn) June 20, 2021
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