NBA FInals: Heat force Game 7 after dramatic OT win

Dwyane Wade #3 of the Miami Heat celebrates after the Heat defeat the San Antonio Spurs 103-100 in overtime during Game Six of the 2013 NBA Finals at AmericanAirlines Arena on June 18, 2013 in Miami, Florida. (Getty images)

LeBron James says the Miami Heat started seeing red when officials began prepping the court for the San Antonio Spurs‘ victory celebration with less than a minute left in game six of the NBA finals.

With the Spurs ahead by five points, 94-89, with just 28 seconds left in the fourth quarter, American Airlines arena officials began surrounding the playing surface with yellow tape to keep the spectators from rushing the court.

James said once the Heat players witnessed the decorations going up they decided the Spurs weren’t going to partying on their home court.

“There’s a few guys in the locker room (after the game) that talked about it,” James said. “We saw the championship board already out there and the yellow tape.

“That’s why you play the game, to the final buzzer. And that’s what we did tonight. We gave it everything that we had and more.”

Ray Allen drained a three pointer with five seconds left to send it into overtime and James hit the game-winning jump shot with 1:43 remaining in overtime as the defending NBA champs rallied from a 13-point deficit to beat the Spurs 103-100 and forced a game seven.

The Spurs’s final chance came with 1.4 seconds in OT as Danny Green’s attempted 3-pointer but Chris Bosh came up with the crucial block as the horn went off. Bosh scored 10 points and had 11 rebounds, Mario Chalmers had 20 points and Shane Battier scored 9 points for the Heat.

James missed nine of his 12 shots but he scored 16 points in the fourth covering a 10-point deficit. James was brilliant in the fourth finishing with 32 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists for his 11th career playoff triple double.

“I was just trying to be aggressive and help the team get back into the game,” said James, who posted his fourth career finals triple double.

“It was by far the best game I’ve ever been a part of,” James said. “The ups and downs, the roller coaster, the emotions, good and bad throughout the whole game.

“To be a part of something like this is something you would never be able to recreate once you’re done playing the game.”

The Heat’s supporting cast came up huge, including former Boston Celtic Allen who missed his first four shots from the field Tuesday before finishing with nine points, all coming in the fourth quarter and overtime.

“My focus is to help this team win,” Allen said. “We put ourselves in the situation we are in. Good or bad we are going to fight to try and make it to the top.”

Tim Duncan scored 30 points and also grabbed 17 rebounds but he couldn’t score in the fourth and overtime as the Spurs tried to close out the series.

Tony Parker finished with 19 points and eight assists while Leonard had 22 points and 11 rebounds for the Spurs.

The Heat staved off elimination and now have a chance to win their second title in a row if they can pull out a victory in game seven Thursday (Friday, 6:30 am IST) at home.

Thursday’s deciding game will be the 18th game seven in NBA finals history and the third since 2005. The home team has won 14 of the previous 17 game sevens.

The Heat have not lost back-to-back games since early January.