Sports

Ray Allen's Three-Pointer, LeBron's Fourth Quarter Keep the Heat's Hopes Alive

See you Thursday night. With less than three seconds left and the Heat down three, the ball found Ray Allen in the corner, and he buried it, sending the game into overtime and sending fans' hearts into their esophaguses. Miami went on to win in overtime 103-100 in what might be the greatest game in Miami Heat history, if not NBA Finals history. Other than that, it was a snoozer.

Entering the fourth quarter, a headband-clad LeBron was 3-12. He would end the game with 32 points, ten rebounds, 11 assists, three steals, two blocks, one Miami New Times recap guy who wants to be more than friends, and zero headbands.

Not only that, but he also played lock-down defense on Tony Parker SO HARD that for a good chunk of the final period, Parker was forced to the bench with cramps and a terrific idea as to what Derrick Rose was talking about when he said LeBron is a big meanie and won't let him score.

"If we were going to go down tonight, we're going to go down with me leaving every little bit of energy that I had on the floor," James told reporters. No shit. LeBron had the looks of a guy who was fighting for his life in the fourth. Spoelstra sat Wade and Bosh for most of the comeback run, not daring to call a timeout with LeBron in that kind of zone. When it was all said and done, LeBron James played 50 minutes, the last 17 at the kind of pace never seen before. Nobody even knows what happened to LeBron's headband. Rumor is it left early to beat traffic, like some completely fraudulent Heat fans. Just an amazing effort by LeBron to close the most important game of his life.

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Ryan Yousefi is a freelance writer for Miami New Times, a lover of sports, and an expert consumer of craft beer and pho. Hanley Ramirez once stole a baseball from him and to this day still owes him $10.
Contact: Ryan Yousefi

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