(LEFT) Entrepreneur and singer/songwriter Jay-Z, left, and his wife, singer Beyonce, watch Game 4 of the Brooklyn Nets second-round NBA playoff basketball game against the Miami Heat at the Barclays Center in New York. (AP Photo)
(RIGHT) Miami Heat forward LeBron James (6) scores over Brooklyn Nets forward Andrei Kirilenko (47) in the first half of Game 4 of a second-round NBA playoff basketball game at the Barclays Center, Monday, May 12, in New York. (AP Photo)
NEW YORK, May 13 (AP): LeBron James had done his part to put the Miami Heat in control of the Eastern Conference semifinals, and one last free throw was meaningless except to him. He missed, leaving him one shy of his first 50-point playoff game, muttering to himself after. "That's the first time I've been disappointed in myself in a win," James said. Then he smiled, realizing his performance left nothing to complain about.
James tied his playoff career high with 49 points, Chris Bosh made the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 57 seconds left, and the Heat beat the Brooklyn Nets 102-96 on Monday night for a 3-1 lead. James carried the Heat nearly the entire way until Bosh hit the shot that put Miami ahead for good — a play where James resisted the temptation to force a shot, instead passing to Mario Chalmers, who swung it to a wide-open Bosh.
Ray Allen followed with four free throws and James finished it off with one more, putting the Heat in position to wrap it up at home Wednesday in Game 5. James was 16 of 24 from the field and 14 of 19 from the free throw line in matching the 49 points he scored for Cleveland against Orlando in the 2009 Eastern Conference finals. He missed his second free throw with 1.1 seconds left.
"He was what was needed on the road and that's what makes him the best player in the game," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. Spoelstra talked to James about coming out in the fourth quarter, but had about as much success as the Nets' defenders. "He asked me and I didn't know if he was serious or not, and what I told him I cannot say again," James said. "So I wanted to finish out the game. I felt like it was a must-win for us."
Joe Johnson scored 18 points for the Nets, who were 15 of 25 from 3-point range in their Game 3 victory but only 5 of 22 in this one. Paul Pierce scored 16 points, while Deron Williams and Shaun Livingston each had 13. Dwyane Wade scored 15 points on the night his Heat postseason record of 46 points was shattered. Bosh finished with 12. Miami pulled out a thrilling victory in a game neither team led by double digits and has won at least one road game in 14 straight series, breaking the record set by the Chicago Bulls from 1991-94.
Kevin Garnett's two free throws tied it with 2:30 remaining. Both teams then couldn't score, with Bosh missing a pair of jumpers before getting a third crack at it when the Heat swung the ball around to him in the corner in front of the Brooklyn bench for a 3 that made it 97-94. Johnson then missed a jumper while trying to draw James' sixth foul — Johnson said afterward that James "flopped" — and Allen's free throws put it away. "Obviously the series is not over but we really have to have some urgency going to Miami and we've got to come out of there with one," Johnson said.
