Heat’s Big 3 reflect on journey to 4th straight Finals

MIAMI — With their trip to the NBA Finals booked, the Heat had a brief hiatus to refresh and reflect on what they have done this season, as well as how far they have come since Year 1 of Pat Riley’s extravagant experiment.

Miami blasted through the Celtics and Bulls to reach the Finals in 2011, working out details on the fly, before falling to Dallas in the most exasperating playoff series in franchise history. After pounding the Pacers by 25 points Friday to win the Eastern Conference Finals for the fourth time in a row, Dwyane Wade struggled to grasp the overwhelming progress his team has made since picking up LeBron James and Chris Bosh four years ago.

“I just remember being kind of a young team and still figuring it out,” said Wade, who at 32 qualifies as the big brother of Miami’s indomitable triumvirate. “Still figuring out at the end of a game where the ball was going, how it was going to get there and what we were doing defensively.

“We were still kids, it seemed like — and now just being more prepared for this moment, seizing a moment like tonight. We knew we were going to impose our will.”

James was asked for his thoughts on the journey and smiled. He nodded toward Wade and said, “He got it.”

This has been a vastly different route than the Heat have ever taken, but they are back where they thought they would be on an annual basis. They got two days off to revel in the achievement of being the fourth team in NBA history to reach four consecutive Finals and started preparing for the last stage of their championship drive Monday.

The Heat will get a rematch with San Antonio and open the Finals on the road Thursday. They are looking to pull off the first three-peat since the Lakers of 2000-02.

The Spurs have a grudge gnawing at them as they look to take another swing at Miami, which ripped the 2013 trophy from San Antonio’s grip with Ray Allen’s legendary shot in Game 6 and a hardfought victory in Game 7.

“We know what that feels like,” Bosh said, still bothered by losing the 2011 title to Dallas. “It’s extra motivation for those guys. We understand that. It’s just something we have to deal with, and we know that they’re going to be very passionate.”

Imagine that. Long ripped for carrying Toronto to merely two playoff appearances in seven years and never getting past the first round, Bosh is now fighting off those who seek revenge for the damage he inflicted while winning two championships. No wonder he already announced he will stay with Miami and bypass the option to test free agency this summer.

Wade was a bona fide champion for what he did in 2006, scoring 34.7 points per game to lead Miami to a title over the Mavericks, but constantly was frustrated in his effort to get back to that level. He was bounced from the playoffs in the first round three of the next four seasons — and those were the good years. He played for a 15-win Heat team in 2007-08.

Four more wins would put Wade, as well as Udonis Haslem, in an elite club of players to win at least four titles. Membership currently stands at 35.

And then there is James. This four-year streak with Miami means he has reached the Finals five times in 11 seasons since leaping into the NBA at age 18. He so badly pummeled the Pacers into submission that coach Frank Vogel called him the “Michael Jordan of our era.”

Seems like his career worked out just fine after a choppy start in Cleveland. Remember his lone Finals appearance there? The one where his fellow starters were Drew Gooden, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Larry Hughes and Sasha Pavlovic? The Spurs devoured that team like a wood chipper in their four-game sweep.

James resented that for years and probably still does, but now he is the conqueror who made their lives miserable last June, as well as Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook’s the summer before that.

That was the point of joining forces with Wade and Bosh down here. The price of that move was negligible. Each victory reaffirms The Decision as the best decision of James’ professional life.

All three were criticized for taking a shortcut to the top. Their individual stats slipped. They do not care. They are playing in near-perfect synchronization with machine-like efficiency. They are at the center of a new dynasty and enjoying every minute of it.

“We’ve worked as a unit,” Wade said. “We sacrificed as individuals to be in this moment, in this position, so we understand where we’re at right now.

“But it’s still crazy.”