CHICAGO LeBron James and Dwyane Wade won the Heat these Eastern Conference Finals with stellar fourth-quarter play. They saved their grand finale for Thursday night s Game 5, and it earned them a spot in the NBA Finals .
The two Heat stars combined for 22 fourth-quarter points, leading their team from a double-digit deficit to a 83-80 win over the Bulls. The victory clinched the Eastern Conference Finals for the Heat; they open the NBA Finals on Tuesday at home against the Mavericks in a re-match of the 2006 Finals.
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Thursday marked another step in a crazy year for the most fascinating franchise in North American professional sports. It started with James electing to join Wade by signing with the Heat as a free agent and spun into a rocky regular season, where the Heat rallied for 58 wins. It now continues with James' first chance to deliver one of the multiple championships he promised Heat fans during a preseason pep rally.
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James and Wade, combined with fellow free agent Chris Bosh, combined for 69 of the Heat s 83 points, including the final 33 of the game.
For much of Game 5, a Game 6 on Saturday night in Miami seemed certain. The Bulls defense dominated the first three-and-half quarters and helped give them a 12-point lead with 3:14 remaining.
But the Heat capped the game on an 18-3 run. Wade converted a key four-point play. James followed with a tying 3-pointer with 1:01 remaining and a jumper with 29 seconds left to give his team the lead for good.
Derrick Rose missed a potential tying free throw with 27 seconds left, and Bosh sank two to put the Heat up 83-80. The Bulls failed to get a look on their final possession, run without a timeout because they had none. Rose s desperation 3-pointer was deflected and never reached the rim, setting off a Heat celebration led by James and Wade.
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