June 24, 2013
Ceci Ferrara
Sports Writer
Sports Insider
Five points and twenty-eight seconds were all that was left of the Miami Heat’s season. The team, led by superstar LeBron James, rallied to force a Game 7, and one day later they were covered in confetti, celebrating their second consecutive title.
In the 95-88 Game 7 victory, James rose to the occasion, scoring thirty-seven points, including five three-pointers. An injured Dwayne Wade contributed twenty-three points and ten rebounds, while Shane Battier knocked in eighteen—an impressive performance from a player who had only scored twenty-one in the first six games combined. “It took everything we had as a team, credit to the San Antonio Spurs,” Wade said as soon as the buzzer sounded and the confetti began to fall.
The Spurs kept the game close and pulled within two with under a minute to go. Trailing 90-88, veteran and four-time champion Tim Duncan had a rare miss. When his hook shot bounced off the board, he got a hand on it to knock it back in, but missed again. It was a disappointing end for the Spurs, who had the opportunity to win it all in Game 6.
The title is the second in a row for the Heat, and the third in franchise history. They won their first title in 2006, when they beat the Dallas Mavericks 4-2. James, who is often criticized for being self-absorbed, appeared humbled by the win, the second of his career. “I put a lot of work into my game in the offseason,” he said afterwards. “I put a lot of work into it and to be able to come out here and have the results happen out on the floor is the ultimate. The ultimate. I’m at a loss for words.”
Nationals
Six games behind first place and a record below .500 just a few weeks before the All-Star Break was not the situation the Washington Nationals envisioned for themselves when the season started. It is not what the sportswriters and pundits had predicted for them, either.
There have been a few brief periods this season when the one-time World Series favorites looked as though they had turned a corner. With three straight wins to pull within five games of the first-place Braves, last week was one of those bright spots. But instead of keeping the momentum through the weekend, the Nationals once again found themselves in a slump.
On Saturday Dan Haren had yet another rough outing on the mound. The off-season acquisition has struggled in his first year with the team, going 4-9 with a 6.15 ERA, the highest in the majors. In Saturday’s start Haren gave up six runs on seven hits before he was relieved after three-and-a-half innings. But poor pitching was only half the problem. The Nationals offense failed to produce, their one run coming from a solo homer by Ryan Zimmerman in the bottom of the ninth.
The Nationals started Sunday’s game with only a handful of starters, and finished with even less. While Bryce Harper and catcher Wilson Ramos are expected to start rehab assignments soon, both remain on the disabled list. Jayson Werth exited the game early with a left groin pull, and Manager Davey Johnson once again removed his starting pitcher before the end of the fourth.
Ross Detwiler gave up seven earned runs, and saw his ERA creep up to 4.18. Despite the 7-0 deficit, the Nats had a late-game rally in the eighth to pull within one. But like many times this season, they fell short, falling to the Rockies for the second straight day.
After 75 games, the Nationals are 37-38; this time last year, they were 44-31. “Last year was good, but not many teams play fifteen over .500 the whole year,” Third basemen Ryan Zimmerman said after the game. “A lot of teams struggle, go up and down. We need to get to that five, six games over the .500 mark and then go from there. So that’s kind of the goal.”
