Miami Three Party Reigns Supreme In Finals
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – For most of the 2012 season, fans and media members alike begged the Miami Heat not to shoot too many 3-pointers. Luckily the Heat didn't listen and in the NBA Championship clinching Game 5 of the NBA Finals, it was a complete Miami Three Party.
The Heat connected on 14-26 3-point shots for the game, which tied an NBA Finals record for most 3-pointers made in a single game. The record had been hit just twice before in NBA history, both in 1995 by the Houston Rockets and the Orlando Magic.
Heat forward Mike Miller, who may have been playing in the final game of his career, was Miami's most deadly weapon from long-range. Miller, who battled injuries all year long, saved his best for last in Game 5.
Miller entered the game early after Dwyane Wade and Mario Chalmers both got into early foul trouble. Once he started shooting, he couldn't miss. Miller finished third on the team in scoring with 23 points in Game 5 and shot 64 percent from the field and 88 percent from behind the 3-point line.
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"The whole playoffs, my jumpers felt great," Miller said. "The first couple of games of the NBA Finals my first jumper – usually I can tell when I shoot that first one. Last game when I shot the one I got, it was long, and I like being long on the first one. I obviously like to make the first one, but it was long."
Miller continued, "It felt good. You get extended minutes with these guys – that's why it's fun playing with these guys; they get a double and it gives you an opportunity. Tonight, I had some opportunities and fortunately, I knocked them down."
In the Finals, the Heat shot 43 percent from behind the 3-point line. Besides Miller's epic Game 5 performance, Shane Battier was dialed in from long-range for the entire series as well. Battier, who helped launch the Heat's 4-game winning streak in the Finals finished 15-26 from behind the arc, or 58 percent.
When the final horn sounded in Game 5, the Heat finished the five-game series with a NBA Finals record for most 3-point shots made in a five-game Finals series with 42, breaking Orlando's mark of 38 against the Los Angeles Lakers in 2009.
