Oakland, CA – Oakland, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - LeBron James one-upped fellow All-Star Stephen Curry just before the buzzer Wednesday with a stepback, fallaway 3- pointer to give the Miami Heat a thrilling 111-110 win over the Golden State Warriors.
The Warriors battled back from a 21-point second-half deficit and held two leads in the final 1:22, the second coming when Curry beat Mario Chalmers off the dribble and banked in a runner while getting fouled with 14.6 seconds remaining.
Curry drained the additional free throw for a 110-108 advantage, and Miami simply gave the ball to James instead of calling a timeout. James dribbled away the clock and tried to shake Andre Iguodala at the top of the key. Iguodala played textbook defense and had a hand in James' face as the four- time MVP stepped back to his left and fired a rainbow that hit nothing but the bottom of the net with 0.2 seconds remaining.
"I always want to come through for (my teammates)," James said. "Obviously I'm not going to be successful every time, but to be able to deliver for them tonight meant everything."
The Warriors did not have enough time to get a shot off, and James and his teammates celebrated Miami's fifth win in the past six games heading into the All-Star break.
"When you think about it and look at the play it was great defense with a great contest," Warriors head coach Mark Jackson said. "At the end of the day we witnessed greatness. A special player and an all-time great who made a big time shot."
James dropped in 36 points, pulled down 13 rebounds and also dished out nine assists for a Heat club that again played without Dwyane Wade. Chris Bosh donated 19 points and Michael Beasley added 16 to the winning cause.
Curry poured in 29 points on 8-of-14 shooting, David Lee recorded a double- double with 21 points and 11 boards and Klay Thompson netted 17 points in the loss, Golden State's third in the last five games.
Curry and Thompson keyed a 28-9 Warriors run over the final 7 1/2 minutes of the third quarter to all but erase a 21-point hole, as Curry's 3-pointer in the closing seconds had Golden State within 84-82.
Curry opened the fourth-quarter scoring with another triple, and it went back- and-forth until the final buzzer.
After Iguodala hit an elbow jumper to give Golden State a 105-104 advantage with 1:22 to go, James came down and countered with a 3-pointer from roughly the same spot where he would later win it.
Another elbow jumper by Curry tied it before James' 1-for-2 showing at the foul line with 25.3 seconds to go preceded Curry's go-ahead three-point play.
James finished his 11-point opening quarter with a 3-pointer to give the Heat a 28-20 advantage.
The Heat stretched the lead to 14 late in the second frame, then countered a 10-0 Warriors run with a 9-2 stretch over the final two minutes to go into the break with a 57-46 cushion.
Bosh gave Miami its biggest lead at 21, 75-54, with a three-point play a little over four minutes into the second half.
Game Notes
James recorded his 100th double-double as a member of the Heat .. Chalmers finished with 12 points and seven assists ... Miami's Shane Battier received five stitches over his left eye and stayed in the game ... Wade sat out with a sore left foot ... Miami shot 53.8 percent from the field.
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