CHICAGO — LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh joined to win a championship. Well, now they have their shot.
James scored 28 points, Wade added 21, and they led a furious rally in the final minutes as the Miami Heat eliminated Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls, 83-80, in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals on Thursday.
James and Wade were simply spectacular down the stretch, each scoring eight during a game-ending 18-3 run as Miami wiped out a 12-point deficit to win the series.
Now the Heat are headed back to the NBA finals for the first time since 2006, and in a fitting twist, they'll be facing the Mavericks. Back then, with Wade leading the way, Miami beat Dallas to capture the championship. This time, it'll be James and Dirk Nowitzki going for their first rings.
The Heat will host Game 1 on Tuesday night.
For Miami's Big Three, this was the plan right from the start. The Heat had their difficulties along the way, including a five-game losing streak in March, but look at them now.
They just knocked off the team that won more games than any other, that boasted the league's MVP in Rose and sent expectations soaring around Chicago in a way not seen since Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen were racking up championships.
Rose led Chicago with 25 points but hit just 9 of 29 shots. He fouled Wade on a key four-point play and missed a tying free throw with 26.7 seconds left.
"At the end, it's all me," Rose said. "Turnovers, missed shots, fouls. The series is over."
James had 11 rebounds and six assists. Wade's late surge helped negate his nine turnovers. Bosh added 20 points and 10 rebounds as the Heat pulled out a dramatic win.
"We had to go through a lot of adversity," coach Erik Spoelstra said. "That struggle that we went through in March, where we lost five straight -- all of them close games, where we didn't execute down the stretch and weren't able to close games out -- that helped us. As painful as that was, we had to go through that fire together to be able to gain the confidence where we could be successful now in the postseason."
The Bulls looked like they were in good shape when up, 77-65, with about three minutes to go, but Wade started the deciding run with a runner and layup. A 3 by James pulled Miami within 77-72 with 2:07 left. Rose then scored on a spin move in the lane, but fouled Wade as he nailed a 3, resulting in a four-point play.
Then, after a miss by Rose, James tied it at 79 with another 3 with 1:01 remaining, sending a loud groan through the arena.
James buried another jumper to put Miami ahead, 81-79, with 29.5 seconds left after he stole a pass from Rose. He immediately fouled Rose, who missed the second free throw after making the first.
Kurt Thomas then tipped the inbounds pass, but the Heat recovered, leading to two free throws for Bosh. The Bulls still had one more chance to tie it, but Kyle Korver got doubled up top and passed to Rose on the wing. His 3-pointer got blocked by James, with Udonis Haslem doubling him as time expired.
Now James and his gang have their title shot.
He came close with the Cavaliers, getting all the way to the finals in 2007, but never could win it all. His surge at the end capped a terrific series in which he repeatedly made big shots and helped contain Rose at times.
For Chicago, it was simply a bitter end.
After losing out on their bid to land some combination of two of the Big Three in free agency, they built a solid team that leaped to the top of the Eastern Conference with a league-leading 62 wins. That's probably little consolation after they let this one slip away. It could be a valuable learning experience, though, for a team making its first deep run.
"I do think experience helps," coach Tom Thibodeau said. "That being said, all these games came down to the end. ... Tonight, we had the lead and we couldn't hold onto it. Hopefully, we learn from that, move on. I think you use this experience to drive you so you can improve for next year."
They took the opener, 103-82, but the series soured for them after that. They were in every game and led this one for much of the way.
Things were looking good in the early going, with Luol Deng scoring 14 points as they built a 45-38 halftime lead. That included a highlight reel sequence late in the first half, when he stole a pass from James and threw down a vicious one-hander over him on the break, getting fouled in the process.
He missed the free throw, but Rose scored on a layup after a miss by Mike Bibby to put Chicago ahead, 16-15. And the Bulls outscored the Heat 15-6 over the final four-plus minutes of the period to take a 25-21 lead.
The lead reached 12 midway through the second after a two-plus minute stretch in which Chicago ran off seven straight and the Heat committed four turnovers -- three by Wade. Two of his turnovers led to baskets for Chicago, with C.J. Watson stealing his dribble and feeding Ronnie Brewer for a fast-break layup and Carlos Boozer nailing a jumper to make it a 12-point game midway through the quarter.
