SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - Minutes after the
Miami Heat were beaten in the NBA Finals in a Game Five rout, LeBron
James conceded the San Antonio Spurs were simply a better team.
"That's how team basketball should be played," James told
reporters after the 104-87 drubbing on Sunday that closed out the
series and gave the Spurs their fifth championship.
"You know, it's selfless. Guys move, cut, pass, you've got a shot,
you take it, but it's all for the team and it's never about the
individual. That's the brand of basketball.
"They were the much better team."
No one disputes that James is the best player in the world but the
four-time NBA Most Valuable Player had little help against San
Antonio.
He scored 31 points, had 10 rebounds and five assists on Sunday,
leading the Heat in each category while the other components of the
Heat's 'Big Three', Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, were ineffective.
Wade scored 11 points on four of 12 shooting, while Bosh totaled 13
points on six of 14.
Miami coach Erik Spoelstra even had James play point guard because
Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole were unproductive though the move
failed to generate any heat and even created some chaos at times.
"When you're in a series like this and it's not going your way, we
all get frustrated," said Spoelstra.
"But L.J. and I communicated the entire game because he had to play
the point guard for us.
"So we were trying to get on the same page about play calls and
making sure everybody was organized. We just came up short."
James said the Heat will need to get better to keep pace with the
Spurs.
San Antonio and Miami split the first two games of the series but
the Spurs blitzed the Heat in each of the next three to claim the
title.
"Obviously we would need to get better from every facet, every
position," he said. "It's just how the league works. The Spurs
continue to get better.
"They kept those three guys intact, but they continue to put guys
around them, high-basketball-IQ guys around them, high-energy guys
around them that fit into the system of what Pop (Spurs coach Gregg
Popovich) wanted to do."
James scored 17 points in the opening quarter on Sunday, more than
any of his team mates scored the entire game. Miami also held a
16-point first quarter lead at one point but it soon fizzled.
"Started off very well as a team," he said. "We had a great first
quarter.
But from that point on, they were the better team, and that's why
they're the champions in 2014."
