Stars und Sternchen! » The Heat are finals-bound -- for the

MIAMI -- Erik Spoelstra said he mentioned how daunting the task would be only once. Back in September, when the Miami Heat assembled to begin training camp, Spoelstra addressed his team about furthering its championship legacy and how rare it is for a team to find its way to the NBA Finals in four consecutive seasons. "Weve never brought it up since then," Spoelstra said. Itll get brought up now. The seed the Heat coach planted in the Bahamas at that training camp took root. The Heat are finals-bound -- for the fourth straight time. The sputtering stretches of play in March and April, surrendering the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs to Indiana, winning 12 fewer games in this regular season than a year ago, they all seem moot and meaningless now. The Heat have a chance at a third consecutive NBA title, with the finals starting Thursday night against San Antonio in a title-series rematch. "Its amazing to make it to one finals," Heat forward Shane Battier said. "To do it four times in a row for some of these guys, its a tremendous, tremendous accomplishment and it speaks volumes to the dedication, luck, and perseverance that you need to do it." Spoelstra spoke of that luck factor when he gathered his team for a locker-room huddle moments after the celebration started Friday night, after Miami wrapped up its fourth straight East crown with a 117-92 win over Indiana to win the series in six games. His words were interrupted twice by LeBron James, which nobody minded. "We dont take this for granted," Spoelstra said. "No, sir," James added, nodding. "We do not take it for granted," Spoelstra repeated. "No way," James interjected. "How tough it actually is and how many things have to go our way," Spoelstra continued. "Four times, you guys who havent been here with us the whole time, you guys inherit everything that weve experienced." Only six current Heat players appeared in the 2011 post-season, Miamis first of the "Big 3" era and the last in which it actually lost a series. James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Mario Chalmers, James Jones and Udonis Haslem are the last holdovers. Battier and Norris Cole arrived after the 2011 finals loss. Ray Allen, Chris Andersen and Rashard Lewis -- all playing huge roles these days for Miami -- came after the first title run of this Heat era in 2012. The core of last seasons title squad, with the exception of amnestied Mike Miller, was back to try it again this time around. Even with all that talent, with that championship experience, Spoelstra knew a tone had to be immediately set when the season began. "What I was really encouraged about was our attendance and commitment in training camp in the Bahamas," Spoelstra said. "Right from there, and we communicated during the summer that, if were real about this, about how difficult that journey is, that you cannot shortcut, that we would show it immediately in training camp." Theyre still showing it now. Miami is 12-3 in these playoffs, 8-0 at home, and has won a road game in 15 straight post-season series. The Heat will need to extend that streak to win the NBA Finals; the Spurs will hold home-court advantage. "Obviously, going through the weeks and weeks and weeks and grinding months of a regular season, it was a toll on all of us," James said. "But I felt like down the stretch, if we could get healthy, we could get everyone in uniform and have our full strength, it didnt matter what seed we were. I felt like we can represent the Eastern Conference again in the finals if we had the health, and we were able to accomplish that." At times, like Friday night, they make winning look easy. Collectively, they insist its much harder than it appears. "You still have to go out and do it every single night," Allen said. "Its the toughest thing Ive ever done and I guarantee the guys in this locker room would say the same thing." Only the Lakers and Celtics have appeared in four straight finals, with Boston (1984-87) the last to do so. Wade was 5 when that run ended, James was 2, and Cole, Michael Beasley and Greg Oden hadnt even been born. Now the Heat are in that club. And regarding what Spoelstra said in that first-day conversation, the point of his words then has become perfectly clear to his team now. "Having a chance to win is always a special thing," Bosh said. "We always talk about not taking it for granted from Day One. We know its a very long season. It has its rewards in the end if we stick together and do what were supposed to do. But it hasnt really hit us yet. I would rather it hit me in two weeks." San Francisco 49ers Jalen Hurd Jersey . Berkman almost left the game last off-season before signing with the Texas Rangers. He then had another injury-plagued season and was limited to 73 games. San Francisco 49ers Jerseys China . The Oilers jumped into the free agent market early by signing defencemen Keith Aulie (six-foot-six, 228 pounds) and Mark Fayne (6-3, 210 pounds) and left-winger Benoit Pouliot (6-3, 197-pounds). Two days earlier MacTavish traded lightweight forward Sam Gagner to Tampa Bay for 6-3, 203-pound right winger Ted Purcell. http://www.cheap49ers.com/ . Dane Dobbie and Shawn Evans each had two goals and two assists for the Roughnecks (8-5), who outscored Minnesota 6-2 in the fourth quarter after being tied through 45 minutes. Curtis Dickson scored once and set up three more for Calgary and Dan MacRae, Geoff Snider, Tor Reinholdt, Karsen Leung and Matthew Dinsdale. San Francisco 49ers Nick Bosa Jersey . Hamelin overcame a weak start to win bronze in the 500-metre race behind winner Wu Dajing of China and American J.R. Celski on Saturday at the world short track speed skating championship. Authentic San Francisco 49ers Jerseys .C. -- Clemson celebrated a senior class Saturday that brought the program back as a national contender.MILWAUKEE -- A night after the Milwaukee Brewers bullpen squandered a game in the ninth inning, the relief corps nailed down a win over the New York Mets. Four relievers held the Mets scoreless over the final 3 1-3 innings, and the Brewers beat the Mets 5-2 on Saturday night. Brewers closer Francisco Rodriguez, who blew a save chance and took the loss against the Mets on Friday night, recorded his 30th save in 34 chances. He gave up a one-out double in the ninth but recorded two strikeouts in the inning. "It was a heart-breaker last night, and I wanted to get back out there as soon as possible," Rodriguez said. "One day this game can put you on top and the next day it can put you in the ground. You have to have a short memory about it." Milwaukee starter Wily Peralta earned his team-leading 12th win but struggled with his command. Peralta (12-6) laboured through 5 2-3 innings, giving up six hits and two runs. He walked three batters and struck out two. He threw 103 pitches and didnt show the command he had in his previous outing on Monday against Cincinnati, when he surrendered three hits and one run in seven innings. "He wasnt on his game," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. "The great thing is that he got through the game and kept the run total down and got us innings. I thought he battled every inning." Peralta said he struggled with command of his fastball. "When you have your best its really easy to go through the lineup but when you dont have your best you have to make one pitch at a time to keep your team in the game," he said. Even on an off night, Peralta is difficult to hit, Mets manager Terry Collins said. "His command was off for sure but when youre throwing 97 or 98 miles per hour, thats not easy to hit," Collins said. "We got some guys in good situations but we just couldnt mount anything." Mark Reyynolds homered and Jonathan Lucroy, Ryan Braun and Khris Davis added run-scoring hits for NL Central Division-leading Milwaukee.dddddddddddd Jonathon Niese (5-6) took the loss, giving up five hits and three runs in five innings. He walked two batters and struck out four. "I thought today I was hitting the spots for the most part," Niese said. "Obviously, the mistakes that I made cost me." The Mets took a 1-0 lead when Curtis Granderson, mired in an 0-for-18 slump, led off the third with a double to centre. He moved to third on a groundout and scored on Lucas Dudas soft single to centre. In his next at-bat, leading off the fifth, Granderson hit a line drive home run down the right-field line to make it 2-0. The Brewers got on the board in the fifth when Jean Segura reached on a fielders choice, stole second, advanced to third on a fly out by Peralta and scored on a wild pitch by Niese. Milwaukee grabbed the lead later in the inning when Lucroy blasted a double to deep centre with two outs, scoring Carlos Gomez, who had singled. Braun followed with an RBI single to give the Brewers a 3-2 edge. Reynolds extended Milwaukees lead to two runs in the sixth with a 420-foot home run to centre off Carlos Torres. The Brewers made it 5-2 in the eighth on Davis RBI double. NOTES: The Mets placed RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka on the 15-day DL with right elbow inflammation. Matsuzaka returned to New York on Friday for an MRI. The team recalled pitcher Buddy Carlyle from Triple-A Las Vegas. ... The Brewers honoured Negro League players Ted Toles Jr. and Nathan "Sonny" Weston during a pregame ceremony. ... Niese batted eighth despite entering the game with an .036 batting average. Outfielder Eric Young Jr. batted ninth. ... Milwaukees Jimmy Nelson (1-1) faces New Yorks Jacob deGrom (4-5) in the series finale on Sunday. 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