Authorities Prepare for Miami Heat Game 7

Street closures, crowd control the focus for authorities if Heat take title

The Heat face a tough challenge in Thursday night's Game 7 matchup in the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs, but local police are already planning on Miami taking the title.

"Here in the City of Miami we're always ready for these type of celebrations, all our games are fully staffed, uniformed personnel, undercover officers for illegal vending issues," Miami Police spokesman Sgt. Freddie Cruz said.

Cruz said Miami Police are preparing for crowd control should the Heat win, not just at AmericanAirlines Arena but throughout the city.

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"If you want to come out and celebrate, we don't want to be the party poopers but we're asking everybody to celebrate in order," Cruz said.

Part of that means cooperating with police officers and other security workers, something Cruz said didn't quite happen during Tuesday night's Game 6, when fans who left the game early tried to get back into the arena after the Heat forced overtime.

"As we saw [Tuesday], many people wanted to exit at the same time then try to come back in at the same time and that created a little bit of a disorder," Cruz said. "Luckily we had everything under control, there were no injuries."

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In addition to crowd control, police will be shutting down some roads near the arena and diverting traffic at about 10:15 p.m.

Road closures will commence at Biscayne Boulevard from Northeast 3rd Street to Northeast 14th Street in the northbound and southbound direction. All traffic will be flushed westbound. Traffic will not be allowed east of Northeast 2nd Avenue from 3rd Street to Northeast 14th Street. The Brickell Bridge will be closed in the northbound direction. Port Boulevard will remain open at all times.

Only persons who work and live will be allowed to enter the road closures and motorists are encouraged to take alternate routes. Roads are expected to reopen around 1 a.m. Friday.

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"There is going to be a little bit of traffic coming in and leaving downtown," Cruz said. "Bring your patience with you, take it easy, relax, let's celebrate in order."

In Hialeah, police are preparing for post victory celebrations on W. 49th Street, where fans have gathered in the past to celebrate. The street will remain open to car and pedestrian traffic but the traffic flow will be controlled and police will be out to keep pedestrians out of the roadway.

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