Heat rally to eliminate Nets

Associated Press

MIAMI

LeBron James leaped onto a courtside table as the postgame celebration was starting, thumped his chest and punched the air.

Next stop: The Eastern Conference finals. Again.

James scored 29 points, Dwyane Wade added 28 and Ray Allen delivered two huge plays in the final seconds as the Heat rallied to beat the Brooklyn Nets 96-94 on Wednesday night, winning the second-round matchup 4-1.

It was the 10th straight series win for the two-time defending NBA champions.

“When we met the first day for prep we said the No. 1 key, overwhelmingly the No. 1 key in this series, was great mental stability,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “And you have to have that throughout the course of each game, each possession and obviously through the series. That’s what it was down the stretch ... incredible focus.”

Incredible defense, too, when it was needed most.

Down by eight with less than five minutes left, the Heat forced Brooklyn into nine straight missed shots while peeling off a 12-0 run to take the lead. Allen’s 3-pointer off an assist by Mario Chalmers with 32 seconds remaining was the go-ahead moment, and the Heat wouldn’t trail again.

Allen knocked the ball away from Joe Johnson on the game’s final play, time expired and the Heat advanced.

Spurs 104, Trail Blazers 82

SAN ANTONIO

Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard each scored 22 points, and the San Antonio Spurs overcame an injury to Tony Parker to close out the Western Conference semifinals.

Patty Mills scored 18 points and Tim Duncan had 16 points and eight rebounds for San Antonio, which had four blowout victories in the five-game series.

It’s the third straight conference finals appearance for San Antonio, which lost a heartbreaking seven-game series to the Miami Heat in last season’s NBA Finals.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 21 points for Portland,.