MIAMI -- LeBron James leaped onto a courtside table as the postgame celebration was starting, thumped his chest and punched the air. Next stop: The Eastern Conference finals. Again. James scored 29 points, Dwyane Wade added 28 and Ray Allen delivered two huge plays in the final seconds as the Heat rallied to beat the Brooklyn Nets 96-94 on Wednesday night, winning the second-round matchup 4-1. "Its always been like that for us," James said. "Its never easy. Its never easy for us." Sure looks easy, though. It was the 10th straight series win for the two-time defending NBA champions. "When we met the first day for prep we said the No. 1 key, overwhelmingly the No. 1 key in this series, was great mental stability," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "Thats what it was down the stretch ... incredible focus." Incredible defence, too, when it was needed most. Down by eight with less than five minutes left, the Heat forced Brooklyn into nine straight missed shots while peeling off a 12-0 run to take the lead. Allens 3-pointer off an assist by Mario Chalmers with 32 seconds remaining was the go-ahead moment, and the Heat wouldnt trail again. Allen disrupted Joe Johnsons dribble on the games final play, James then swatted the bouncing ball out of everyones reach, time expired -- and the Heat advanced. "Give the Heat credit," Nets coach Jason Kidd said. "They were attacking there in the fourth quarter. We were attacking. Both teams were attacking. They made plays, they made shots and we didnt." Chris Bosh scored 16 and Allen finished with 13 for Miami. Johnson had 34 points, Paul Pierce scored 19 and Deron Williams had 17 for the Nets. Its the sixth trip to the East title series in the last 10 seasons for Miami, which is bidding for a fourth straight trip to the NBA Finals -- something only the Lakers and Celtics franchises have accomplished. James is heading to the East finals for the sixth time in eight seasons, the first two of those trips coming with Cleveland in 2007 and 2009. The Heat will next face either fifth-seeded Washington or top-seeded Indiana. The Pacers lead that series 3-2, one win away from setting up a rematch with Miami that seemed like an absolute certainty for much of the season. "Obviously, we thought this was a game we should have won," Johnson said. Brooklyn led 49-42 at the half, with Miami missing 15 of its first 16 tries from 3-point range. The Nets closed the half on an 8-0 run and the lone bright spot in the opening 24 minutes for Miami was Wade, who had 20 points -- more than any other two players to that point combined -- on 7-for-12 shooting. "He has a way, right? Hes a playoff warrior," Spoelstra said. Eventually, barely, Miami broke through. But it took most of the second half to get there, since whenever Miami tried to put together a run Brooklyn found a way to keep things together. -- A layup from James late in the third got the Heat within three; a minute later, the margin was eight again. -- A free throw from James with 9:03 left cut Brooklyns lead to 77-73; less than a minute later, it was 82-73 after a 3-pointer by Pierce. -- A 3-pointer by Bosh made it a four-point game again; two Brooklyn possessions and zero Miami stops later, it was 86-78 after a sensational step-back jumper by Johnson. And when Johnson connected on another tough shot with 4:49 left, it was 91-83 and the Nets could sense that the night would be theirs. Then the Heat scored the next 12 points, and that was enough. Barely, but enough. "For us, it was just about getting stops," Wade said. "We knew offensively that we needed to execute, but we knew we werent going to win the game unless we got some stops." For the Nets, more than $180 million in salary and luxury tax was supposed to bring a championship. Instead, billionaire owner Mikhail Prokhorov got only a trip to the second round as his return on a massive investment. Brooklyn lost centre Brook Lopez to a broken foot after 17 games, struggled through the first two months of the season, then turned it on after Jan. 1. "We fought back and hung in there this year," Williams said. "A lot of people counted us out." Some big decisions -- mainly regarding the futures of Pierce and Kevin Garnett -- will have to be made by the Nets. Pierce will be a free agent; Garnett has a year left on his deal, though its been speculated he will consider retirement. Garnett left without comment. "Emotions are too fresh right now," Pierce said. Miamis future is more clear. The East finals await. NOTES: Wade had 12 points in the first quarter, his highest-scoring output from an opening period in his last 179 regular-season and playoff games. ... Both of Johnsons 30-point games in these playoffs came on the road. He had 32 at Toronto on April 30. USWNT Pro Shop .J. -- Pitcher Carl Pavano is retiring after 14 major league seasons. Stitched USWNT Jerseys . The two teams will play through the completion of the game starting at 5pm ct on Wednesday. The regularly scheduled Wednesday night matchup will follow that and will now be seven innings. https://www.cheapuswnt.com/. Louis, MO (SportsNetwork. USWNT Jerseys China .C. -- The Carolina Panthers announced Thursday theyve signed free agent wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery to a two-year contract, helping rebuild a depleted wide receiving corps. Wholesale USWNT Jerseys . The move will give Hentgen the "time needed to support his family and his fathers current health issues," the Blue Jays said in a release. Hentgen spent 10 of his 14 big-league seasons with the Blue Jays, winning a Cy Young Award in 1996.Olaf Kolzig was Washingtons gem in net for over a decade. So, he surely deserves a hot dog with customized condiments that spell out his name. The only explanation for this photo is that the team mistakenly scheduled Scott Lachance, and Pat Faloons card day on the same night the pair planned on attending the NHL awards. That or these two were way ahead of their time, pulling a move from Stepbrothers, knowing tuxedos are never too formal for any occasion. It must have took some solid negotiating skills to convince Steve Smith that posing for a hockey card while shirtless, holding a volleyball and wearing jorts was a good look. This picture seems better suited for the teams annual sizzlin studs calendar.Baseball players often get caught in this very unflattering situation. Sometimes when you gotta shift the cup, you gotta shift the cup. You just hope that it doesnt end up as image thats used on your card for the year. Someone at O-Pee-Chee was clearly having a laugh at Hanlons exxpense.ddddddddddddYou probably knew that Rick Vaive was captain of the Leafs in the 80s, but did you know he was also Bruce Lees body double during the 70s? Airbrushing was a common techniquew on older hockey cards, and sometimes they went a little too far with it. As exemplified by this card that could double as the DVD box cover of Hairspray.And in the next-generation of hockey cards, Upper Deck said let their be holograms. Unfortunately, the trading card giant shouldve opted for the introduction of light for a few of these cards, as the use of the hologram effect made some players barely visible. This seems better suited for pre-game Jumbotron trivia, than for a hockey card collectors binder.The third Blues Brother has arrived, and he brought his wicked wicked motion capture effect from he 90s with him. How much fun do hockey card graphic designers and photographers have? Judging by this card, and the rest of them; too much. (H/T: The Bad Hockey Card Blog) ' ' '