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Billy White had 25 for the Hurricanes with Tyrone Watson adding 21.

In the end the Lightning responded to the pressure while the Hurricanes missed shots and free throws at key times.

The importance of this win was written all over Williamson’s face. He was as emotional as anyone has seen him.

“This was hard work,” Williamson said. “I told these guys when we were down 0-2 that it was hard work. I said, ‘Are you going to be ready to put in hard work or are you going to lay down?’ Everybody stepped up. Last year was sweet. We ran through everyone. But this was grunt work. This took a lot of everything – every ounce of energy in our body. Everybody was banged up, but they just stepped up.”

Hurricanes coach Mike Leslie could only compliment the Lightning for their performance.

“They executed better than we did offensively. They were making threes and we were making twos,” he said. “When you are talking about two teams that are so close together, it comes down to small details like that.

“If anybody was watching today, they would have to say this is just great basketball. All through the series both teams competed really hard and no ill feeling. It was highly competitive and highly entertaining with highly talented players.”

The Lightning had to survive a Game 7, something they didn’t do two years ago in Halifax when the Hurricanes won their first title.

This championship, though, was earned both through physical and emotional pain.

Williams had a smile wide enough to drive a truck through.