Abstimmungen » e Phillies gave Hamels a 3-0 lead in the second. Ryan How

MIAMI -- Their season, their legacy, their reign atop the NBA was all at stake, and the Miami Heat responded in a manner befitting defending champions -- with a blowout. LeBron James scored 32 points and grabbed eight rebounds, ailing Dwyane Wade matched his post-season high with 21 points, and the Heat ran away from the Indiana Pacers 99-76 in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference series on Monday night. In the NBA Finals for the third straight year, the Heat will play the San Antonio Spurs in Game 1 on Thursday in Miami. "Theyre just an amazing group of guys," Heat managing general partner Micky Arison said after handing the East trophy to Chris Andersen. "Theyve given us an incredible season so far, but its a long way from over." It could have ended on Monday, of course. The Heat had alternated wins and losses with the Pacers in the first six games of the series, and were coming off their worst offensive outing of the year in Game 6. They responded with a rout, despite shooting just under 40 per cent, well below their norm. "By any means necessary ... we took care of business," James said. Miami led by as many as 28 points, a shocking amount for a series that had an aggregate score of Heat 569, Pacers 564 entering Monday night. The Heat actually trailed by six in the early going, were still down 21-19 after the first quarter and it was starting to look like it was starting to look like one of those down-to-the-wire nights. Not even close. "You never want to take anything for granted," Wade said. "Being here three straight years in a row, going back to the finals, is an amazing feat. Im just glad we were able to do it. Everything that happened in the first six games didnt mean anything to us. It was about tonight. It was about Game 7. It was about finding a way to win here at home." James exited with 5:08 left, shaking retired soccer star David Beckhams hand as he made his way to the Heat bench for a relatively subdued celebration. Not long afterward, security personnel started whats become a familiar task in Miami -- surrounding the court and stretching out a yellow rope, preparing to hold people at bay for the looming on-court trophy presentation. More than a few people didnt stick around to see the East title formally presented. After all, its an all-or-nothing season for the Heat -- and this trophy isnt the one that will satisfy them. Ray Allen added 10 points for Miami, which earned its 78th victory of the season, matching the 11th-best, single-season total in NBA history. "Its just a privilege to be with this great team, great teammates, and we have another opportunity to go back to where we are," Heat forward Chris Bosh said. "You never really want to get it out of the way too much. Game 7s dont happen too often. We enjoyed it and now we have to move on." Roy Hibbert scored 18 points for the Pacers, who got 14 from David West, 13 from George Hill and 10 from Lance Stephenson. All-Star Paul George was held to seven points on 2-for-9 shooting and fouled out early in the fourth quarter. George was the last Indiana player on the floor as Miami prepped for its postgame celebration, shaking any hand he could find before being walked toward the visiting locker room by Pacers coach Frank Vogel, who slung an arm over his stars shoulder. His time will likely come -- someday. Not yet, though. Not with this Miami team built for titles. Its the fourth trip to the finals for the Heat, who won the title in 2006 and have now been there all three years of the "Big Three" era, falling to Dallas in 2011 and then topping Oklahoma City in five games last year. "The great thing is were a young team and we are past the building stage," George said. "This is really our first year tasting success. The rate we are going, we see championships soon." Theyre getting closer. A second-round loss to Miami in six games last year was followed by a seven-game, conference-finals exit this time around. Still, theyll be watching the title round. "Everybody in this country knows who the Indiana Pacers are now," Vogel said. "And we represent all the right things -- class, character, hard work, old-school basketball, playing the game the right way. We represented our franchise, our city and our state extremely, extremely well, and we have a lot to be proud of." Miami went 2-0 against San Antonio this season, though neither of those games should be considered harbingers of whats ahead. The Spurs rested four regulars in the first meeting, the Heat were without three injured starters in the second matchup. "Its crazy that it worked out this way," Wade said. James delivered an inspirational address of sorts to his team Monday morning, publicly revealing no details of what he said afterward other than insisting that the Heat would be ready. He was right. After 5 minutes, it was 12-6 Indiana. After that, the rest of the half was pretty much all Miami. Once the Pacers cooled off a bit, the Heat immediately went into pull-away mode. Over the final 19 minutes of the half, Miamis edge was 46-25. Over the final 11 minutes, it was 33-14, as James and Allen outscored the Pacers by themselves. Allen did less pregame shooting than usual on Monday. He was at the arena several hours before game time -- as is his custom -- and got in a pregame workout, but once he found a groove, he decided that was enough. And after going 13 for 46 in the first six games of the series, the NBAs career leader in 3-pointers had to believe that he was simply overdue to get going. His first shot on Monday was a 3-pointer that connected, giving the Heat a 26-23 lead. The Heat never trailed again. "We just focused on every possession, trying to get stops, play Miami Heat defence, create havoc," James said. "I thought we did that tonight." By halftime, it was 52-37, with James scoring 18 points, Bosh and Wade combining for 17 and Allen adding 10 more. And what had to be most troubling to the Pacers at halftime was their 15 turnovers, a number Vogel said earlier Monday would spell trouble if his team committed that many in the entire game. And in the third, the run the Pacers so desperately needed never arrived. Indiana was still within 13 with 3:37 left in the period when Hibbert picked up his fourth foul. Ordinarily, that would mean someone goes to the bench, though Game 7 on the road for a trip to the finals hardly could be classified as an ordinary occasion. So Vogel -- who was second-guessed for not having Hibbert on the floor for the final moments in overtime of Game 1, when James got to the rim easily for a game-winning layup -- left his centre out there with four fouls. Barely a minute later, it backfired. Hibbert picked up his fifth late in the third, and George got to five fouls by getting whistled twice in the final 46.1 seconds of the quarter. By then, the outcome was obvious. It was Miamis night. "Well enjoy this," Spoelstra said, "for a short period of time." NOTES: Miamis Norris Cole and Indianas Jeff Pendergraph were ejected with 2:17 left after exchanging some heated words. ... The Heat kept struggling Shane Battier on the bench, with Mike Miller getting his minutes. ... .Andersens streak of 18 straight field goals made (he had been 15 for 15 in the series) was snapped in the first half. ... Beckham, who is deciding whether he wants to bring a Major League Soccer team to Miami, was seated next to the Heat bench for the second straight game. Justin Bieber and Flo Rida were also in the crowd, as was reigning American League MVP Miguel Cabrera. ... The Pacers fell to 2-4 all-time in Game 7s, including 0-4 in road editions of winner-take-all games to decide the Eastern Conference title. ... Hibbert did not elaborate Monday about his comments that drew a $75,000 fine after Game 6, saying he wanted to focus on basketball instead. Brian Burns Womens Jersey . In what the team had called a retirement, Ryan said Thursday that he is resigning as chief executive of the Rangers in a move effective at the end of this month. Ryan Kalil Youth Jersey . The Brazilian goalkeeper signed a loan deal with the Major League Soccer club on Friday as he looks to get playing time ahead of this summers World Cup in his home country. http://www.thepanthersofficialstore.com/authentic-greg-olsen-panthers-jersey/ . "Jeff is a hard worker who was an important special-teams contributor for us last season," said Stamps GM John Hufnagel. Will Grier Youth Jersey . No. 13-seeded John Isner and No. 21 Philipp Kohlschreiber were among six players who dropped out of the tournament on Tuesday, joining No. 12 seed Tommy Haas and two other players who withdrew on Monday. Greg Little Youth Jersey . The 20-year-old Pelicans big man glanced up and smiled widely at the well-wishers -- a fitting end to a day he wont soon forget. Davis responded to his selection earlier in the day as a Western Conference All-Star with 26 points and 10 rebounds, and the New Orleans Pelicans overcame a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves 98-91 on Friday night.PHILADELPHIA -- One step back helped Juan Lagares save three big runs. Lagares hit a go-ahead double and ran down a deep drive, Jeremy Hefner pitched six effective innings and the New York Mets came back from a three-run deficit to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 4-3 Friday night. Hefner (2-6) gave up three runs -- two earned -- and 10 hits to help the Mets snap a five-game losing streak against the Phillies. Before his clutch hit at the plate, Lagares made a fine catch on Carlos Ruiz fly to centre with the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth to keep the score tied at 3. "When the count went 3-1, I took a step back," Lagares said. "It was over my head and I went after it hard." Hefner said he was holding his breath when the ball was hit. "Juan is an unbelievable athlete," Hefner said. "You saw a little of it in spring training, and getting to watch him every day is exciting." Eric Young Jr. had two hits, including a two-run single for the Mets, who have won three of four. Scott Rice and Carlos Torres each tossed a hitless inning and Bobby Parnell finished for his 12th save in 15 tries. Cole Hamels (2-11) blew a 3-0 lead in another disappointing outing for the three-time All-Star. He allowed four runs and seven hits in six innings. "Its been a bad case of not keeping the team in games," Hamels said. The Phillies have lost two in a row after coming within one out of sweeping the defending NL East champion Washington Nationals before Jonathan Papelbon blew a save Wednesday night. Theyre four games under .500 and just four games ahead of the Mets. Hamels didnt allow a hit until Young lined a double off the wall to start the fourth. One out later, David Wrights RBI single cut the deficit to 3-1. Young hit a two-run single with two outs in the fifth to tie it at 3. Lagarees doubled and Omar Quintanilla singled before Youngs key hit.dddddddddddd "I just tried to take a nice swing, not put pressure on myself and put the barrel on it," Young said. After Lucas Duda walked in the sixth, Lagares ripped a two-out RBI double to left-centre to make it 4-3. Lagares finished 3 for 4 with two doubles. "That was a great win for us," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "Down 3-0 to Cole Hamels, this is big." Hefner allowed one earned run in each of his previous three starts without getting a win. This time, he earned his first win since May 29. The Phillies gave Hamels a 3-0 lead in the second. Ryan Howard led off with a double to right-centre and scored on Domonic Browns double down the right-field line. After Delmon Young singled, Brown scored on a grounder by Ben Revere. An error by second baseman Daniel Murphy on Jimmy Rollins two-out grounder scored Revere to make it 3-0. Hamels hasnt received much run support this season, contributing to his poor record. But he has an 8.63 ERA in the eight starts in which the Phillies have scored at least three runs for him. Hes 2-5 with a no-decision in those games. "He wasnt real sharp," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "Ive seen him better. He got hurt with two-out hits." NOTES: The Mets placed LHP Jonathon Niese on the disabled list because of a partial tear in his rotator cuff. RHP Greg Burke was called up to take his spot. ... The Phillies sent INF Michael Martinez to Triple-A Lehigh Valley to make room for Chase Utley, who came off the disabled list. ... Hamels fell to 6-11 vs. the Mets. ... Parnell has saved nine of his last 10 chances. ... Revere extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a bunt single. ... Dillon Gee (5-7) faces Phillies rookie Jonathan Pettibone (3-3) on Saturday. ' ' '