MIAMI — LeBron James better get well fast. He’s about to play for a championship.
Hardly able to move, James returned from a left leg injury to make the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 2:54 remaining, and the Miami Heat held off Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder for a 104-98 victory on Tuesday night and a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals.
With James watching the final moments, Mario Chalmers finished off a standout 25-point effort that matched Dwyane Wade. James had 26 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds, only missing a triple-double because he was on the bench at the end after hurting his leg with a fall to the court.
“Whatever it takes. No excuses,” Wade said. “You don’t want to leave this arena saying you missed opportunities.”
Game 5 is Thursday night, and James will have a chance to finish a championship chase that started in Cleveland before he famously — or infamously — left for South Florida.
Westbrook scored 43 points for the Thunder, who wasted an early 17-point lead but were never out of the game because of their point guard. Kevin Durant had 28 points, but James Harden threw in another clunker, finishing with eight points on 2-of-10 shooting. Westbrook and Durant were the only Thunder players to score in the last 16:46.
James stumbled to the court on a drive midway through the fourth quarter, staying on the offensive end of the floor as the Heat regained possession on a blocked shot, and he made a short jumper that made it 92-90. After Westbrook missed a jumper, the Heat called time out as James gingerly went to the court. Unable to walk off, he was carried to the sideline by a pair of teammates.
He returned to a huge roar with a little over four minutes left, and after Chris Bosh tied it, James slowly walked into a pull-up 3-point attempt — perhaps doing so knowing he couldn’t drive by anyone.
That made it 97-94, and when Wade followed with a layup with 2:19 left, the Heat finally had enough room to withstand Westbrook, who kept coming all night.
His counterpart, Chalmers, scored more points than he had in the previous three games.
“Mario Chalmers is a winner,” Wade added. “He’s due for a big game and he came through for us.”
The Thunder got an epic performance from Westbrook. They ran out to a huge early lead. They watched James get carried off the court in the fourth quarter, and took the lead shortly after he departed.
Somehow, it still wasn’t enough.
“I can guarantee this,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. “We have fight in us.”
History says the Thunder are now in deep, deep trouble. No team in NBA history has rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the Finals. No team has even forced a Game 7 when faced with that scenario.
Westbrook took 32 shots, as many as James and Chris Bosh tried combined. He made 20 — half of Oklahoma City’s field goals on the night — and finished with seven rebounds and five assists as well.
