NBA

LeBron: Champs feel ‘slighted’ by cries ‘13 title was lucky

SAN ANTONIO — Hey, you want to tick off the Miami Heat?

Tell them they were lucky to win the Finals last year. Tell them the Spurs blew it more than they won it. Walk right up to LeBron James and friends and say that.

Then duck.

“Absolutely. I can’t sit here and lie to you, we do. We feel slighted,” James said at Wednesday’s media session before the NBA Finals rematch that has been a year in the making starts with Game 1 Thursday. “It went seven. It wasn’t like it was 3-0 and they had us in Game 4 and we took it and won four straight.

“We just happened to make one or two more plays to win it. But at the end of the day it doesn’t take away that we did win.”

The basketball world knows the story of 2013. The Spurs led by five with 28.2 seconds left in Game 6 when they could have clinched the title. But everything fell right for the Heat, wrong for the Spurs. Miami tied it on a Ray Allen second-chance 3-pointer, won in overtime, then took Game 7.

The Spurs want vindication. Shooting guard Danny Green recalled how coach Gregg Popovich in preseason showed the Spurs clips of Games 6 and 7 mistakes. What could have been stuff.

“He made a point by showing how close we were and reiterating the little things we can fix that could have changed the outcome for us,” Green said.

The Heat? Well, they wave it off and say they won — but they realize how close to extinction they were.

“You play back the whole game in your head,” said Chris Bosh, who grabbed the biggest rebound in Game 6, feeding Allen for the biggest 3-pointer. “The rebound. What if it would have gone an inch over to the right? Would I be able to grab it? What if I didn’t pass to Ray?”

Allen, too, sometimes thinks, what if?

“People think about the shot going in but, personally, I think about everything that happens and I tell people Chris Bosh getting the rebound was just as important as me making that shot,” Allen said. “So many things had to happen”

Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Norris Cole celebrate after the Heat finished off the Spurs in the 2013 NBA Finals.Getty Images

And they all did. Which made it so painful for the Spurs.

“It was something that lingered for a month after it happened or maybe until the season started again but once the season starts, you have to get over it,” San Antonio’s Manu Ginobili said. “You know how many times I’ve lost like that? I lost medals, I lost world championships, I lost a lot of things. Though we never were as close as that but it happens. You work hard to be back in the same situation.”

This Finals has two of the greatest franchises in league history. The Heat are in for a fourth straight year. The Spurs seek their fifth championship, all since 1999. Their four are topped only by the Celtics (17), Lakers (16) and Bulls (6). Both teams say they are better than last year. The Spurs are deeper. The Heat are healthier.

“I wouldn’t call ourselves a young team but we got some young players who got better,” Boris Diaw said. “And every series experience gets you better, even if it’s a bad one.”

Miami’s Mario Chalmers sees a big difference for Miami: “We are better than last year because everybody’s healthy.” And that includes Dwyane Wade.

The Spurs seem motivated to make amends for their mistakes. The Heat seem motivated by the Spurs’ motivation. When Tim Duncan spoke innocently last weekend about another chance, the Heat responded as if he dissed them.

“Everybody keeps talking about it. I don’t know what I said that was so bad, I said I wanted to win the Finals. … If they need to find fuel in that, so be it,” said Duncan, who waved off the notion he dislikes Miami. “I don’t have a problem with them individually or as a team. I respect what they’ve done.”

James knows all about motivation — all kinds.

“Motivation can only go so far,” James said. “At the end of the day, 10 guys on the floor, three refs and one basketball. You got to make plays.”