MIAMI -- LeBron James finally got a Game 7 victory, on his third try.
Next up, the NBA finals -- and his third try at that elusive first championship. A year after watching someone else celebrate on their home floor, the Miami Heat players were the ones dancing at midcourt.
James had 31 points and 12 rebounds, Chris Bosh hit a career-best three 3-pointers -- the last sparking the run that put it away -- and the Heat won its second straight Eastern Conference title by beating the Boston Celtics 101-88 in Game 7 on Saturday night.
Miami opens the title series in Oklahoma City on Tuesday night. The Heat got there by outscoring Boston 28-15 in the fourth quarter, with the "Big Three" of Wade, Bosh and James scoring every Miami point.
"We decided to come together and play together for a reason," Wade said.
Wade scored 23 points, Bosh finished with 19 and Shane Battier added 12 for the Heat, which won a Game 7 for the first time since 2004 -- Wade's rookie season. Now it's back to the finals, where Miami fell in six games to Dallas a year ago.
Rajon Rondo finished with 22 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds for Boston, which got 19 points from Paul Pierce in what might be the last game of the "Big Four" era for the Celtics.
Boston took out its starters with 28.3 seconds left. By then, workers already had a rope around the perimeter of the court, preparing for the East trophy presentation.
"Give them credit,"
Rondo said. "They spread the points out as a team tonight. They played great tonight as a team, and we just came up short."James and Celtics coach Doc Rivers -- who teared up often postgame -- shared a long embrace when it was all over. Before coming to Miami for Game 7, Rivers had packed for Oklahoma City, a trip he won't make, set to now spend his time seeing if James can win that first title.
"I told him to go do it," Rivers said.
Down by seven at the half and eight early in the third quarter, Miami started clawing back. An 8-0 run tied it at 59-all, capped by Wade hitting a jumper, and then the fun really started.
There were six lead changes and five more ties in the final 7 minutes of the third. Bosh scored with 29 seconds left for the last of those ties, and it was 73-all going into the fourth.
Six games decided nothing, and nothing was decided in Game 7 until the very last moments, neither team yielding much of anything. Battier's 3-pointer with 8:06 left in the third cut Boston's lead at the time to 59-57.
And back and forth they went.
For the next 13 minutes, a span of 46 dizzying, unbelievable possessions, neither team led by more than two points.
That finally changed when Bosh his third 3-pointer with 7:17 left. James made a runner on the next Miami trip, and suddenly the Heat had its biggest lead of the night to that point, 88-82 with 6:54 remaining.
"He was big time -- every shot, every defensive play, every rebound -- we missed him," James said of Bosh. "We're just happy to have him back at the right time. If it wasn't for him and the rest of the guys that stepped up, we don't win this game."
James made a 3-pointer -- it went into the books as a 30-footer, as he leapt from atop one of the Eastern Conference finals stickers on the floor -- as the shot clock was expiring with just under 6 minutes left, making it 91-84.
"Backbreaker," Rivers said.
Even mistakes were going Miami's way, as James lost a behind-the-back dribble, only to see the ball skip right into Battier's hands.
Bosh scored from inside the lane to end that possession. Wade scored on the next one, the lead was 95-86 with 3:23 left, Boston called time and the building was simply rocking. James did plenty of talking on the Heat bench in that stoppage, clearly saying the word "Finish" at one point.
They listened. A three-point play by Wade with 2:53 left all but sealed it, the Heat was up 12, and Oklahoma City beckoned.
"Everybody was in tune today," said James, who lost Game 7 appearances with Cleveland in 2006 and 2008. "We look forward to the next challenge."
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