After two years of almost-constant basketball, James still found a way to be at his absolute best in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. He scored 37 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and simply controlled everything down the stretch, as the Heat won the title with a 95-88 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night.
His final numbers: 12 for 23 from the field, 5 for 10 from 3-point range, 8 for 8 from the line.
And in a season where he was the league's MVP for a fourth time, he's now added a second ring to the collection. Suddenly, his resume is looking as complete as some of the other all-time greats.
Dwyane Wade scored 23 points, Shane Battier — benched earlier in these playoffs — had 18 on six 3-pointers, and Mario Chalmers scored 14 for the Heat, who won despite no points from Chris Bosh.
It didn't matter. James was good enough to mask any problem the Heat had Thursday night.
He rarely acknowledges this much, but James has to be exhausted. He worked out furiously during the lockout in 2011, in part because he convinced himself that the season would begin on time, in part because he was still smarting from how sub-par he played during the Finals loss to the Mavericks in his first season with the Heat.
Last season began on Dec. 25, 2011. The Heat went through the rigors of that ultra-compacted 66-game schedule and won a title. James went right into training with USA Basketball, eventually helping that team win a gold medal at the London Olympics. After that, he took about two weeks off, then starting getting ready for this season, which went all the way down to the last possible day.
That's more basketball, under more pressure, than anyone else on the planet in the last two years.
And yet there he was, a second straight championship at stake, taking the jumper with 27.9 seconds left that made it a two-possession game. He marched back to the Heat huddle, punching the air. The score was 92-88, everyone in the sold-out building seemed to be standing, and a championship celebration was mere moments away.
Two years ago, James probably wouldn't have taken that shot.
Now, there's no way he would not. And he drilled it, too, the ball going through with a soft swish for his 34th and 35th points.
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