MIAMI — Ever since LeBron James’ Finals campaign ended in misery last June, he has waited for a do-over.
“I prepared myself all season, through the offseason,” James said. “So I’m excited and humbled and blessed.”
Add ticked. Because that’s how he certainly appeared yesterday after he took a shot from behind by the Knicks’ Tyson Chandler late in the first half of Miami’s 100-67 victory in Game 1 of the Eastern first-round series. It wasn’t going all that well for the Knicks to that point. And then Chandler fouled James.
And then it went really not well.
“You guys seen it. You seen it from every angle. I got hit with a blind pick. It’s all right. I’ve been hit harder than that. I played football,” James said.
James dropped to the floor 1:34 before halftime and arose from what the referees initially rated a flagrant-2 foul, but downgraded to a flagrant-1 after review. And when he arose, it was the Knicks turn to hit the deck. James went on a personal 9-0 tear in those final 94 seconds. He was, in Heat coach Erik Spoelstra’s word, “spectacular.” And he may have even been better than that.
“Sometimes, it gets guys going. He was going before that, too,” Heat forward Mike Miller said. “He brought it up more of a notch.”
Or three. James hit the two free throws he was awarded on the flagrant. Then he nailed a left side 20-footer as the Heat maintained possession — he drew a foul on J.R. Smith in the process, turning it into a three-point play. After a Knick 24-second violation, James banged in another fadeaway to push the Knicks down 21. And he still wasn’t done in the half. He got a steal on a Carmelo Anthony turnover, drove and scored.
That upped James’ halftime point total to 23 — the Knicks outscored him just 13-11 in the second quarter, just 31-23 in the half. He finished with 32 points, four steals — in three quarters.
“His play spoke for itself. On both ends of the court, it seemed he had his hands on every single play in one form or another,Either a deflection, steal, a rebound, a score getting into the paint drawing the foul,” Spoelstra said.
James said he wanted to attack and be aggressive. Suffice to say he achieved both goals.
“I’m just trying to be in attack mode throughout these games,” James said. “Just take what the defense gives me.”
Well, then the Knicks sure as heck gave him a lot.
“I was able to make a couple shots, I was able to get back to the free throw line and my teammates continued to go to me. That’s what it’s about, always putting pressure on the defense,” James said.
“He played great,” Dwyane Wade said. “Very focused, very efficient.”
And for a time, very ticked.