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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
LeBron OK with boos
MIAMI -- Just about everything is better for teams at home. The crowds are nicer. The rims are friendlier. The surroundings are more comfortable.
LeBron James would rather not think of it in those terms.
As James and the Heat's opened their final homestand of the season Sunday night -- the middle three games of the NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder -- Miami got to bask in the adoration of 20,000 or so fans, unlike the hostile setting on the road.
James likes that, of course. He just doesn't mind the latter, either.
"A game, especially a playoff game, I'm kind of even-keeled, honestly," James said Sunday. "One thing on the road for me, I'm able to use everything that's against us to our advantage, to my advantage, as far as the crowd and the city that you're in and everyone going against you. Here at home, you have a little bit more comfort, but I try not to think about it because I don't want to be comfortable."
Among active players with more than 25 NBA post-season games, James' teams have a combined record of 26-30 (.464) in playoff games away from home. Only four players on that list have better winning percentages -- and they're all members of the San Antonio Spurs, starting with Tim Duncan (whose teams have a .495 winning percentage in playoff games), Manu Ginobili (.493), Stephen Jackson (.486) and Tony Parker (.473).
-- The Associated Press
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition June 18, 2012 C6
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