LeBron James and Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat celebrate a 3-point shot by Wade in the second half. (Getty Images)
MIAMI — LeBron James and Dwyane Wade defended their celebration in front of the Mavericks bench with 7:14 left and the Heat up 15. In fact, the superstar tandem defended it with more gusto than they defended the Mavericks the rest of the game in last night’s 95-93 choke job in Game 2 of the NBA Finals.
After Wade hit a 3-pointer to jack the lead to 88-73, Dallas called time out and some Mavericks admitted the James/Wade little dance jacked them up. James was the main culprit, screaming joyously at Wade.
“It was no celebration at all,” James said. “I was excited he hit a big shot and we went up 15. The same thing we’ve done over the course of the season. There was no celebration at all. We knew we had seven minutes to go to close out the game.
“As far as celebration, that word has been used with us all year,” he said. “But we knew how much time was left in the game still.”
Tyson Chandler didn’t agree.
“I think it angered a lot of us,” he said. “We came out there and responded.”
The Heat have been accused of celebrating too strongly after knocking off Boston in Round 2 and, of course, their high-tech extravaganza celebration in July at AmericanAirlines Arena days after their trio of signings.
“I don’t think it’s an issue,” James said.
Wade, too, said he was surprised they were being asked about it.
“Every team in the league that goes on a run, they do something,” Wade said. “Whether it’s a signal or chest bump. It’s part of the game. A celebration is confetti, champagne bottles. There was no celebration. It was a shot made going into a timeout.
“If it pumped them up, they won the game,” he said. “Obviously, it did something. It won’t be the last time if we do a great play and we something. Don’t make nothing out of that celebration like you did in the Boston series. It was being excited about the moment.”
Jason Terry helped bring the Mavericks back after Wade and James’ celebration.
“Seeing them celebrate was disheartening for us but looking at the lock, there was a lot of time left,” said Terry, who scored eight of the first 11 points of the run.
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Chandler and Eddy Curry were selected by the Bulls with the second and fourth picks, respectively, in the 2001 draft and were going to be the Bulls’ big-man center tandem for many years. They were great friends and their potential was limitless.
Now they couldn’t be on opposites sides of the basketball spectrum, with Curry failing to play a single game this season and Chandler in his first Finals, anchoring Dallas’ defense and heading for a nice free-agent payday this summer.
Ironically, had things been a little different, Curry could have been in Miami, too. Reports in early April stated, after being traded in the Carmelo Anthony deal and getting cut by Minnesota, he worked out for the Heat’s Pat Riley. One person with knowledge of the situation, however, said he never actually had a formal workout, just interviews with Riley. Either way, he never got an offer, possibly because he refused to take a physical.
Partly because Curry is represented by CAA, which also works for Miami’s Big 3, he still has an open invitation for next season if he can get into shape. The Heat have not to fully solved their center woes, and center Zydrunas Ilgauskas is possibly retiring.
“He got in [Knicks coach Mike] D’Antoni‘s doghouse, and it was kind of tough to get out of it,” Chandler said. “It’s unfortunate. It’s tough to watch a good player with all that potential in him not live up to it.”
Chandler and Curry played four seasons together in Chicago before the Bulls made their coup-of-a-trade in dealing the rotund free agent Curry to the Knicks. Curry didn’t play a game — or dress — this season after injuring his calf on the first day of training camp. There were nights the Knicks suited up 10 guys and would not put Curry in a uniform.
“With an opportunity, he still can turn it around,” said Chandler, who has had a solid season and likely will be too rich for the Knicks’ blood this summer. “It’s something he has to ask himself. But I still believe in him.”
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Game 1 was the first time in NBA Finals history that two starters of the winning team — Miami’s Joel Anthony and Mike Bibby — went scoreless and the club still won.
“We probably have a lot of things unorthodox,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Our team is built differently.”
On Bibby’s outside shooting woes, Spoelstra said, “He’s been a great shooter his whole career. He’s due.”
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Biggest injury of night?
Clarence Clemons, “The Big Man on the saxophone,” originally was scheduled to perform last night’s national anthem, but suffered a hand injury.
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Stephon Marbury was on hand with his 7-year-old son, Stephon Jr. Marbury was approached by the Heat’s Pat Riley in the summer but never got an offer, forcing him to play in China. MSG sports president Scott O’Neil also was in attendance.