The Miami Heat enjoyed quite a number of iconic performances from former Heat superstar LeBron James during his stint with the team, and one performance that may be at the top of the list for many is his performance in Game 6 of the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics.
Going into the game, the Heat were down in the series, 3-2. They needed a win in enemy territory to turn the series back to the South Florida for a pivotal Game 7. During a recent episode of “The OGs” podcast, three of James’ teammates at the time looked back at his historic performance.
Udonis Haslem, Mike Miller and Shane Battier sat down for a wide-ranging conversation, and all three of the former NBA players seemed giddy to look back at that iconic performance.
The story began with Haslem recounting the time crunch that the entire Heat team felt after arriving at the stadium with just 40 minutes left before tip.
“We look at the time, and Dwyane [Wade] says, ‘We got 40 minutes,'” he began. “And Bron has this look on his face and he says, ‘Don’t worry about it.'”
Miller then picked up the story from his point of view.
“I looked at him right before we were going out, he’s like, ‘Killer, we gonna be fine,'” he remembered. “I’m like, ‘Oh my God.’ ‘Cause I’m telling you, to be as that confident going into that game. He told me, ‘I’m shooting every bullet in my gun. I’m taking the clip out, and I’m throwing that, and then I’m throwing the gun I have at ’em too.’ I said, ‘Gosh d—, he going to throw a lot at these guys today.”
It’s likely that Heat fans and Celtics fans remember what took place after that, though many Celtics fans would much rather forget it.
James put on a master-class performance that only a few players in the history of the NBA could even dream of replicating. In 45 minutes of playing time, James recorded 45 points, 15 rebounds and five assists. He went 19-of his-26 from the field and 2-of-4 from deep. The Heat took hold of the game early and never relented, winning 98-79 in a blowout win.
A few days later, the Heat won in similarly dominant fashion, beating the Celtics 101-88. They’d go on to win the title in the 2012 NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder.