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The Miami Heat swept their NBA playoff series against the Charlotte Bobcats with a 109-98 victory on Monday. LeBron James led the way for the Heat as he finished with a game high 31 points and added nine assists and seven rebounds, as he battled a right thigh bruise that he suffered in the third quarter.
“He took a thigh contusion, I mean that’s what it is, there was contact, knocks him down,” Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said. “He’s durable, but again we don’t take that for granted, because he’s not superhuman as much as we think.”
Chris Bosh chipped in with 17 points and eight rebounds, while guard Dwyane Wade battled through foul trouble to finish with 15 points. The sweep of the Bobcats allows Miami to get some rest, so players can nurse minor injuries. Wade adds that Charlotte challenged the Heat and in the end, they were the better team.
“When you get a team on the ropes you don’t want to let them up, you don’t know how the playoffs will go, as a team you obviously want to play well,” Wade said. “You can tell we are working to get our rhythm back we haven’t together a lot, so this was a good series for us, they pushed us a very competitive team, a very scrappy team, but we felt we were the better team.”
The Heat will now wait for the winner of the Toronto Raptors and Brooklyn Nets series, which is tied at two games apiece.
Elsewhere, the Atlanta Hawks extended their series lead against the Indiana Pacers with a 107-97 victory. Atlanta forward Mike Scott had 17 points off the bench, all of which came in the second quarter when he hit five threes. The Hawks outscored the Pacers 41-19 in the second quarter and at one point in the game, Atlanta built a 30 point lead. The Hawks are now up 3-2 in the series and will look to close out the Pacers on Thursday.
Finally, the San Antonio Spurs defeated the Dallas Mavericks 93-89 to even up their series at two games. The Spurs rode the effort of Manu Ginobili as he had 23 points off the bench. Boris Diaw hit a go ahead three point shot with less than 40 seconds to play in the game. Ginobili sealed the victory with free throws. The series shifts back to San Antonio with Game 5 on Wednesday.
The playoffs continue tonight, with three games on tap. First, the Washington Wizards will look to eliminate the Chicago Bulls and become the second team to advance to the second round of the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Memphis Grizzles and the Oklahoma City Thunder will look to break their two-two tie in their series. And the Los Angeles Clippers will look to put behind the Donald Sterling controversy, as they will host the Golden State Warriors.
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