Spurs 94, Heat 89 | 28.2 seconds
The first chords of Eminem's "Lose Yourself" are rattling through AmericanAirlines Arena, the bass notes imparting an appropriate sense of doom. Otherwise, the giant room is silent, save for the sound of scores of shoes shuffling on concrete steps.
Heat fans -- long, snaking streams of fair-weather Heat fans -- are leaving. Pat Riley, the team's president, is the only man standing in his section of Heat families, friends and employees, all stone-faced and in shock. Riley looks determined, but he's standing, because otherwise he would not be able to see the Heat bench for the dozens of fans in front of him surrendering their four-figure courtside seats for the exits.
The Spurs lead Game 6 of the NBA Finals by five points, Manu Ginobili having just split two free throws to complete an 8-0 run. Ahead three games to two, San Antonio is less than half a minute from the franchise's fifth title in the past 15 years. Tim Duncan wraps a giant hand around the top of Tony Parker's head and gives it a little shake, his way of rewarding him for sinking two chilling shots during the run.
Chris Bosh: You never give up. People gave up on us.
On his way to the huddle in the Heat's final timeout, LeBron James passes the jubilant Spurs bench. Throughout the timeout he's staring, biting his lower lip, fiddling with a towel in his hands. He's not wearing his headband; he lost it earlier in the quarter in the middle of the furious 13-point comeback he led. But the two brutal turnovers he committed in the past 12 seconds are gnawing at him, including the one when he threw a lob pass to Bosh that landed in the stands. The concern in James' eyes betrays the thoughts in his mind -- that he might have just lost a third Finals in four tries.
James: I had a bad turnover, a couple of them actually, right there.
Bosh: I guess LeBron saw something I didn't, and he lobbed it to me. I thought he was passing to another guy. I was like, "I'm sorry, man, I didn't know you were throwing it to me." That's when I thought it was pretty much over. Oh boy.
Allen: When Ginobili went to the free throw line, they were jumping on the sidelines. We had a chance to sit there and watch. When he missed the free throw, they were still celebrating. It just burns into your memory.
As the Heat break their huddle, they can't help but notice the five security guards who have appeared on the edge of their bench, crouching along the ground. They're under the basket too, and all along the opposite sideline. At their feet is a thin yellow rope. The rope isn't what is truly noticeable; it's the bright yellow shirts of the security guards forming a perimeter, like beacons against the white-out crowd.
The security routine was practiced hours earlier, to be used under only one condition: a Spurs championship celebration. The walkie-talkies around the arena crackle: "Execute." On the broadcast, ABC analyst Jeff Van Gundy later declares: "What do they think, [San Antonio fans] are going to rush the floor in Miami?
"Get 'em off the floor!"
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra: I don't think any of us saw [the yellow rope] until afterwards. We were fully engaged in the moment.
Allen: The yellow rope pissed me off. It did. I've been in two other situations where I saw that come out. And it wasn't a good thing in those situations. The audacity of the league -- and this is not even their fault -- but just the fact that they did that, on our home floor, when we still had say-so in the matter and a chance to change the outcome. That's always going to be a lesson to me and to anybody.
James: Yeah, I noticed it. It kind of did the same to all of us. We saw the championship board already out there, the yellow tape. And you know, that's why you play the game to the final buzzer.
Shane Battier: I didn't overreact, but I thought it was premature. What fired me up more was seeing all the Spurs players linking arms on the bench. I saw Tracy McGrady link arms with Matt Bonner, and I [thought], C'mon guys.
After the timeout, the Heat run James off an Allen screen, freeing LeBron for the inbounds pass and a wide-open straightaway three.
Spoelstra: The side out-of-bounds play that we ran with 28 seconds left in regulation was probably the cleanest look -- and probably the worst miss of all.
James: I couldn't have asked for a better look. I just missed it. The Spurs had three guys under the basket for the rebound, but somehow Mike Miller got it.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich: We had one guy who didn't [box out].
Spoelstra: We had a horrible miss that turned into a bad bounce that turned into an offensive rebound that turned into the most wide-open rhythm three that LeBron could have. Sometimes that's the way the ball bounces. As soon as he hit the three, I think we all felt a collective: Okay. We're okay. We have plenty of time now.
Spurs 94, Heat 92 | 20.1 seconds
Following a timeout, the Spurs inbound the ball to second-year forward Kawhi Leonard -- who is 9-of-11 from the line during the Finals. The Heat immediately foul. Leonard misses the first, guaranteeing that the Heat will have a chance to tie.
Leonard: I don't think I lost the game. We had two times we could've gotten rebounds, defensive stops.
Duncan: We missed some free throws down the stretch that could have clinched it for us.
Ginobili: A couple of missed free throws, it's very tough.
Popovich: I was proud of Kawhi. Nobody expected him at this young age to play the way he has through the whole playoffs. He's like a little baby learning how to walk, as far as NBA basketball is concerned.
Bosh: I was like, "Okay, cool, that's awesome. Now we have chance." Then I thought, I better practice my free throws more.
Before Leonard's second free throw and prior to the Heat's last possession, Popovich controversially pulls Duncan from the game for Boris Diaw.
Popovich: We were switching at the three-point line to take away the three. And Boris has a little more speed than Tim, so it makes sense to have him out there reading at the three-point line.
Ginobili: Believe me, he had many more reasons to make that sub than for any of you to question him.
Duncan: It is what it is. Obviously, I want to be in there every minute of the game. That's just how we're built. But we've done it all year long. We've been successful with it. And if it comes down to it again, Pop will make the call again.
Leonard makes the second free throw.
Spurs 95, Heat 92 | 19.4 seconds
With no timeouts left, the Heat inbound the ball under the basket. Mario Chalmers dribbles it upcourt. Although a non-shooting foul would have allowed the Heat only two free throws, the Spurs opt to not foul. Bosh manages to screen both Parker and Diaw, affording James another surprisingly open three. In what will prove a telling decision, Diaw fights around the Bosh screen to lunge at James, freeing Bosh to roam for the offensive rebound.
Spoelstra: LeBron's first look, at least it was clean. That's all you can ask for.
James: We ran a great set. I got a great look.
Popovich: Unfortunately, we had two guys who went to LeBron and didn't switch with Bosh, and Bosh went right to the hole. He's the guy who got the rebound. It had nothing to do with Duncan.
Duncan: It was just unfortunate, the bounces we got ... We actually got the stops.
Bosh: The stars aligned. They made one mistake. I set the screen for LeBron, and I rolled to the rim and nobody picked me up.
Spoelstra: Chris made a heck of an effort.
Spurs 95, Heat 92 | 9.0 seconds
Bosh, not blocked out, is perfectly positioned to grab James' miss and wrests the rebound away from the shorter Ginobili. As he does, his body twists toward the right corner of the court, and his line of sight lands directly on Allen, the most prolific three-point shooter in the history of the NBA.
Allen: When I saw Bosh get the ball, I just backpedaled right to the three-point line. I was hoping I was where I needed to be. Whether CB threw me the ball or not, I had to get myself in a position where I was ready. We needed a three. Two points wasn't going to cut it. My mental checklist was to have my legs ready and underneath me so when the ball came, if it came, I was ready to go in the air.
Spoelstra: In practice Ray does this routine. He lies on his back in the middle of the paint with a coach at the top of the key. He pops up and backpedals without looking down at the three-point line or the out-of-bounds line. And hits the three. And does it over and over and over again. Just instinctually does it.
Battier: The devil is in the details, and it's in his routine. If you know Ray, he lives very military-like, discipline-like. Everything has a purpose, and everything is succinct. Anyone who's had success in the corners understands the footwork, understands the spacing of the box that is the corner three shot. Ray's maybe the best corner three-point shooter of all time.
Allen: I try to put my body in precarious situations coming from different parts of the floor, different angles to try to get my momentum going moving forward. I honestly can say I gave myself a great opportunity, a great chance to make that shot. And it wasn't unfamiliar to me, positionally.
James: I've been on the other end of seeing him get them feet down, putting them stupid two fingers up after he makes the shot.
Bosh: You can't put it into words. He's the best three-point shooter of all time. And the fact that he was open is just unbelievable. In my head, I told myself to wait for Ray to get back, but I know it still happened pretty fast.
Allen: Once I got my legs there, I just let the ball go.
James: I saw it in the air, and I was like, "It's going in. It's got a chance."
Dwyane Wade: When he shot it, I was looking at the ball and I said, "Oh my god ... that's going in." It was kind of like I couldn't believe it in a sense. But also, Oh my god ... it's going in.
Spoelstra: Ray did what he's done for so many years.
Ginobili: Bad, very bad.
Parker: We all have scars in our careers. That one is pretty deep.
Duncan: It was painful.
Popovich: I've thought about it every day. I'm anxious for it to go away. It hasn't happened yet.
Spurs 95, Heat 95 | 5.2 seconds
Few might remember it, but Game 6 was not yet over. With 5.2 seconds left, officials follow protocol and stop the game to review the three-pointer, affording the Spurs, who are out of timeouts, several minutes to draw up a play. Popovich is even mistakenly allowed to make a substitution, and he puts Duncan back in the game. Regardless, when Parker, guarded by James, misses a running baseline fallaway at the buzzer, the game goes into OT, and the Heat win 103-100 after two costly Ginobili turnovers, clutch free throws from Allen and a Bosh block of a potential tying three-pointer. But it's Allen's three that history will recall.
Allen: When it went in, I was ecstatic. But at the same time, I was expecting to make it. I was waiting for somebody to tell me that was a lucky shot. Anybody who knows me or has been around me knows that it wasn't luck. People who know me say, "Yep, that's Ray."
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