CHICAGO — LeBron James came on strong down the stretch to finish with 25 points, Chris Bosh added 20 points and 19 rebounds, and the Miami Heat followed up the most lopsided playoff win in franchise history with a 104-94 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Friday night to take a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
CHICAGO — LeBron James came on strong down the stretch to finish with 25 points, Chris Bosh added 20 points and 19 rebounds, and the Miami Heat followed up the most lopsided playoff win in franchise history with a 104-94 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Friday night to take a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Norris Cole scored 18, and the Heat pulled out a tight win after blasting the Bulls 115-78 on Wednesday.
This time, Chicago refused to go quietly. But the Heat simply had too much in the end against a Bulls team without the ailing Luol Deng and injured Kirk Hinrich (calf), not to mention Derrick Rose, and lost Nazr Mohammed to an ejection in the second quarter for shoving James to the floor.
James hit just 6 of 17 shots and even got blocked on a layup by Nate Robinson in the third quarter. But the four-time MVP came through down the stretch, scoring 12 in the fourth.
Carlos Boozer led Chicago with 21 points. Robinson and Jimmy Butler each scored 17. Joakim Noah added 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Marco Belinelli had 16 points, but the Bulls couldn’t pull this one out.
SPURS 102, WARRIORS 92
OAKLAND, Calif. — Tony Parker scored 25 of his 32 points in a sizzling first half, Tim Duncan added 23 points and 10 rebounds, and San Antonio quieted Golden State to take a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference semifinals.
Kawhi Leonard finished with 15 points and nine rebounds, and Parker added five assists and five boards to help the Spurs wrestle back home-court advantage from the Warriors after withstanding a brief fourth-quarter rally.
San Antonio outshot Golden State 50.6 to 39.3 percent and curbed streaky shooters Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson for the first time in the series.
Thompson scored 17 points on 7-of-20 shooting, while Curry had 16 points on 5 of 17 from the floor.
Heat 104, Bulls 94
MIAMI (104)
James 6-17 11-11 25, Haslem 2-3 0-0 4, Bosh 8-16 3-4 20, Chalmers 3-6 3-3 9, Wade 5-7 0-0 10, Battier 2-5 3-4 9, Allen 1-6 2-3 4, Cole 6-7 3-3 18, Andersen 2-3 1-2 5. Totals 35-70 26-30 104.
CHICAGO (94)
Butler 6-12 3-3 17, Boozer 10-16 1-2 21, Noah 6-12 3-5 15, Robinson 5-13 6-8 17, Belinelli 5-13 2-4 16, Gibson 2-9 2-3 6, Teague 1-2 0-0 2, Mohammed 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 35-77 17-25 94.
Miami 25 27 18 34 — 104
Chicago 25 25 20 24 — 94
3-Point Goals—Miami 8-20 (Cole 3-3, James 2-4, Battier 2-5, Bosh 1-2, Chalmers 0-1, Allen 0-5), Chicago 7-22 (Belinelli 4-9, Butler 2-3, Robinson 1-7, Teague 0-1, Boozer 0-1, Gibson 0-1). Fouled Out—Battier, Belinelli, Noah. Rebounds—Miami 44 (Bosh 19), Chicago 45 (Noah 11). Assists—Miami 21 (James 7), Chicago 21 (Robinson 7). Total Fouls—Miami 20, Chicago 30. Technicals—James, Mohammed, Noah. Ejected— Mohammed. A—22,675 (20,917).
Spurs 102, Warriors 92
SAN ANTONIO (102)
Leonard 5-7 4-8 15, Duncan 10-21 3-3 23, Splitter 2-3 0-0 4, Parker 13-23 4-7 32, Da.Green 1-3 0-0 3, Diaw 4-5 0-0 9, Ginobili 4-11 3-3 12, Joseph 1-2 0-0 2, Neal 0-1 2-2 2, Bonner 0-3 0-0 0, Mills 0-0 0-0 0, Blair 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 40-79 16-23 102.
GOLDEN STATE (92)
Barnes 4-10 4-4 12, Ezeli 0-2 0-0 0, Bogut 5-9 1-4 11, Curry 5-17 3-3 16, Thompson 7-20 0-0 17, Dr.Green 2-7 2-3 6, Jack 5-12 1-1 11, Landry 5-8 4-4 14, Lee 2-3 1-1 5, Bazemore 0-1 0-0 0, Machado 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 35-89 16-20 92.
San Antonio 32 25 22 23 — 102
Golden State 23 25 21 23 — 92
3-Point Goals—San Antonio 6-20 (Parker 2-4, Leonard 1-1, Diaw 1-2, Da.Green 1-3, Ginobili 1-8, Bonner 0-2), Golden State 6-19 (Thompson 3-5, Curry 3-9, Barnes 0-1, Dr.Green 0-2, Jack 0-2). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—San Antonio 52 (Duncan 10), Golden State 52 (Bogut 12). Assists—San Antonio 21 (Parker 5), Golden State 20 (Curry 8). Total Fouls—San Antonio 19, Golden State 24. Technicals—Duncan. A—19,596 (19,596).