LeBron James was cool after overheating in the opener as the Miami Heat bounced back to even the NBA Finals.
James dropped in 35 points, and Chris Bosh added 18, including a go-ahead triple down the stretch, as the visiting Heat beat the San Antonio Spurs 98-96 on Sunday to square the championship series at one game apiece.
A dehydrated James was forced out of Thursday’s 110-95 game with a left leg cramps with 3 minutes, 59 seconds left as temperatures soared to 90 degrees in sauna-like court conditions at the AT&T Center because of a malfunctioning air-conditioning system in a rematch of last year’s finals.
James had plenty of time to recover, and the two-time finals Most Valuable Player rebounded on Sunday in comfortable temperatures.
“I didn’t try to think about it too much,” said James, who also pulled down 10 rebounds. “What happened on Thursday was Thursday. I was just thinking how I’m going to help my team succeed. I wanted to impose my will any way I could.”
Heat coach Erick Spoelstra didn’t know what to expect from James but was delighted with his effort that included 22 second-half points.
“He’s the best player in the game,” Spoelstra said “He’ll have a response. ... He has an incredible way of putting his fingerprints on the game in a lot of areas.”
Dwyane Wade and Rashard Lewis netted 14 points apiece for the two-time defending champions.
“Obviously, LeBron had it going,” Wade said. “Tonight, we figured out how to win the game at the end.”
Frenchman Tony Parker scored 21 points, Argentine Manu Ginobili added 19 off the bench and Tim Duncan had 18 with 15 rebounds for the Spurs, who surrendered home-court advantage.
The Spurs led 87-85 midway through the fourth quarter but failed to add to it as Parker and Duncan each missed a pair of free throws.
James hit a three-pointer and two free throws to give the Heat a 90-87 advantage before the Spurs knotted it on a Boris Diaw triple.
After Miami’s Chris Andersen broke the tie with a layup, Parker splashed in a 3-pointer, putting the Spurs ahead 93-92 at the 2:27 mark.
James then drew two defenders in the lane and spotted Bosh in the right corner for a wide-open triple that gave the Heat the lead for good at 95-93 with one minute, 18 seconds remaining.
Ginobili’s pass inside intended for Duncan flew out of bounds, and James split a pair of free throws for a 96-93 Heat lead.
After Ginobili missed a jumper, Bosh found a wide-open Wade with a bounce pass for the game-sealing layup with 9.4 ticks to go.
Ginobili made a meaningless three-pointer at the buzzer, and the Spurs’ had their nine-game home playoff streak snapped.
