Heat rallies for OT win, forcing Game 7

MIAMI -- With less than half a minute to go in regulation, the reigning NBA champion Miami Heat were on the brink of elimination on their home floor.

However, a LeBron James 3-pointer, a Kawhi Leonard missed free throw, a Chris Bosh rebound, a Ray Allen season-saving 3-pointer and a pair of blocked shots in overtime by the much-maligned Bosh gave the Heat a 103-100 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday night at AmericanAirlines Arena.

With the win, the Heat forced a deciding Game 7 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night in Miami.

Allen's 3-pointer with 5.2 seconds left in regulation sent the game to overtime when it seemed San Antonio had the championship wrapped up.

Asked if the Spurs can recover from such a tough loss, the Spurs' Manu Ginobili said, "We have to. There is no Game 8."

James had a triple-double, 32 points (including 18 after the third quarter), 10 rebounds and 11 assists. However, James missed a 3-pointer on Miami's final possession of regulation. Had Bosh not grabbed the rebound, the Heat's season might have ended.

But Bosh -- who had 10 points and 11 rebounds -- got the board and kicked it to Allen in the right corner.

"We had a couple of looks at it," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of that possession. "LeBron's first look, at least it was clean. That's all you can ask for at that time. But Chris made a heck of an effort to give us an extra possession and found Ray. And Ray did what he has done for so many years."

Before Allen's shot, James was waving for the ball for another try.

"If it's not me, I have no problem Ray taking that shot," James said. "He can be 0-for-99, if he gets an open look late in the game, it's going down."

After Allen's shot, Tony Parker drove the length of the court and missed a runner over Bosh at the buzzer.

Leonard opened the door for Allen by making just one of two free throws with 19 seconds left.

In the last minute of overtime, San Antonio trailed 101-100 when Bosh blocked a Parker jump shot.

Ginobili had a similar chance, but he misfired while driving the lane, with the refs declining to whistle a possible foul.

Allen then made two free throws.

On San Antonio's final chance of the night, Bosh blocked a corner 3-point try by Danny Green as time expired.

"It was a hell of a game," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "It was a game of mistakes, and they ended up on the winning side."

Popovich also said he did not consider fouling at the end of regulation to prevent from Miami from hitting the tying 3-pointer.

Tim Duncan scored 30 points and grabbed 17 rebounds to lead the Spurs, but he had no points after the third quarter.

Leonard had 22 points and 11 rebounds, and Parker added 19 points and eight assists. Ginobili (nine points) and Green (three points) were relatively quiet.

For the Heat, Mario Chalmers (20 points) and Dwyane Wade (14 points) also contributed.

The Heat has not lost consecutive games since Jan. 10. However, Miami also has alternated wins and losses for 12 consecutive games, and if that pattern holds, the Spurs would win their fifth NBA title since 1999 on Thursday.

The Heat started the fourth quarter with a 19-7 run to seemingly take control of the game.

However, San Antonio delivered an 8-0 run in the final 90 seconds to push the Heat to the brink of elimination.

James committed two turnovers in those final moments, but he recovered to hit a 3-pointer with 20 seconds left to slice the Spurs' lead to 94-92. That led to Leonard's free throw, and the heroics by Bosh and Allen.

The Spurs led 75-65 after three quarters, but there were some wild spurts.

The Heat closed to within 57-56 in the middle of the quarter, but the Spurs responded with an 11-0 run.

San Antonio led 71-58, its largest advantage of the game, before Miami put together a mini streak of five straight points. But James and Wade missed layups on successive possessions -- both were begging for foul calls -- and Parker and Gary Neal hit runners on the other end to kill the Heat's momentum.

The Spurs closed the first half on a 17-4 run to take a 50-44 lead into intermission. Duncan had 25 first-half points on 11-of-13 shooting. It was his biggest first half since 2006.

Meanwhile, James had just nine points on 3-of-9 shooting before halftime, although he did have five assists. James went 0-for-4 against Boris Diaw.

NOTES: The Spurs and Heat went with their same starting lineups from Game 5. ... In a knee-on-knee collision, Wade was called for charging into Ginobili in the first quarter. Wade came away limping but stayed in the game. ... Heat F Chris "Birdman" Andersen, who was not used in the two previous games, entered Tuesday with 1:41 left in the first quarter. He made an impact -- literally -- in the second quarter, diving into the second row to save a ball. Andersen wound up with one point in 14 minutes. ... Leonard gave the Heat's Mike Miller a "facial" in the first quarter, dunking on the Heat wing while hitting him in the face with his off hand.