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Heat post biggest Game 7 blowout this deep into playoffs in 18 years

Miami Heat's James runs downcourt after scoring against the Indiana Pacers during Game 7 of their NBA Eastern Conference final basketball playoff in Miami

Miami Heat’s LeBron James runs downcourt after scoring against the Indiana Pacers during Game 7 of their NBA Eastern Conference final basketball playoff in Miami, Florida June 3, 2013. REUTERS/Joe Skipper (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BASKETBALL)

REUTERS

The Miami Heat’s 99-76 win over the Indiana Pacers in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals tonight – a 23-point margin – was the biggest Game 7 win in the conference finals or Finals since the Magic beat the Pacers by 24 in 1995.

The only other Game 7 win this deep into the playoffs by a larger margin came in 1948, when the Philadelphia Warriors beat the St. Louis Bombers in the Basketball Association of America Semifinals.

Miami’s 23-point win is also the largest margin in any Game 7 since the Celtics beat the Hawks by 34 in 2008. Tonight was the ninth-biggest Game 7 win of all time.

How did the Heat win by so many? It helped that LeBron James turned in a historic performance.

LeBron’s 32 points were the most by a single player in a Game 7 since Kevin Durant scored 39 in 2011 against the Grizzlies. Nobody had matched LeBron’s line of 32 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals in a Game 7 since James Worthy in 1988 against the Pistons.