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BEIJING (AP) — A court in western China sentenced three people to death Monday for planning a deadly car ramming at Beijing's iconic Tiananmen Gate that was blamed on Muslim separatists, state media reported.

The three were accused of helping prepare for the Oct. 28 attack, in which a car plowed through tourists and ended up in a fiery crash in the heart of Beijing, killing two bystanders and the three attackers.

A court in the Xinjiang regional capital of Urumqi sentenced the three to death, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Five other people were given prison sentences, with four receiving terms of five to 20 years and one getting a life sentence. It was not clear what role those five had played in the attack.

The eight were arrested within days of the incident. A Chinese visitor and a tourist from the Philippines were killed in the attack, along with the vehicle's driver, his wife and mother-in-law, according to Chinese authorities.

The attack was the first to strike Beijing in recent years. It pointed to a new level of violence and lethal intent in the long-simmering insurgency against Chinese rule in the far northwestern region of Xinjiang waged by radicals among the native Turkic Uighur Muslim population.

The Tiananmen Gate attack was followed by similar incidents in Xinjiang, including one on May 22 in which men driving off-road vehicles and throwing explosives plowed through a crowded market in Urumqi, killing 39 people. Police said four suspects were killed at the scene and a fifth was caught that evening in an area about 250 kilometers (150 miles) south of Urumqi.

Beijing says unrest among Uighurs is caused by extremist groups with ties to Islamic terror groups abroad, but has shown little direct evidence.

Uighur activists say public resentment against Beijing is fueled by an influx of settlers from China's Han ethnic majority, economic disenfranchisement and onerous restrictions on Uighur religious and cultural practices.

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SAN ANTONIO (AP) — LeBron James went to the bench midway through the fourth quarter, took a seat and covered his eyes with his left hand.

His night was over.

His reign atop the NBA, also over.

The only thing James plays for is championships and this season, he didn't get a chance to grasp the Larry O'Brien Trophy. A 31-point, 10-rebound effort wasn't enough to get Miami past San Antonio, and the Heat fell to the Spurs 104-87 on Sunday night.

"It's a big disappointment," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "Feeling like this is an incredibly empty feeling."

So for the first time since June 21, 2012, the Heat are not NBA champions. This four-year run with James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh together has seen huge success — a league-best 283 wins, four straight trips to the NBA Finals to join only the Celtics and Lakers as franchises to pull off that feat, plus two NBA championships.

They've won 71 percent of their games in these four seasons.

Here's something that might sound surprising: The Spurs have been better over that stretch, winning 73 percent of the time.

"Obviously, we ran up against a better team this year," James said.

And now, ready or not, here comes the summer of possible Miami discontent.

James, Wade and Bosh can all opt out of their contracts and become free agents. They'll likely all tell the Heat their plans by June 29, or two days before the free-agency window opens. Shane Battier is retiring, his career ending after 13 seasons on Sunday night. Nearly everyone else, including Mario Chalmers — who came off the bench for the first time in three years Sunday — is a free agent.

The summer, that's a topic James hasn't wanted to discuss all season and one he shrugged off again Sunday.

The end of this season still hurt way too much, and will for a while.

"We went to four straight finals in four years," James said. "You know, we're not discrediting what we were able to accomplish."

Just about every spot on the roster could be up for grabs. Backup point guard Norris Cole is under contract for next season and little-used center Justin Hamilton has a partially guaranteed deal, though he expects to be in Miami.

There are huge questions. Wade missed about one-third of the regular season for maintenance and injuries, and clearly labored as the NBA Finals wound down. James had a monster finals, and the Heat still lost in five games — so now the biggest issue facing Miami will be how to get him the help he needs to vie for more titles.

That is, if James even stays. He has given no indication he's leaving. He hasn't said he's staying, either.

"It's been a hell of a ride these four years," Wade said. "When we decided to play together, we didn't say, 'OK, let's try for four years.' We said let's just play together and let's see what happens. ... We'd love to be 4 for 4. It just wasn't in the cards."

James announced before the game that he would change his typical approach, which was his way of saying that he was going to be more aggressive from the outset and not worry so much about getting teammates involved in the early minutes.

"Follow my lead," he told teammates before they took the floor.

It worked. For a while, anyway.

James had 17 points and six rebounds in the first quarter, plus a spectacular chase-down block on one end and a 30-footer to beat the shot clock at the other. Miami led 22-6 in the early going, holding the Spurs to their longest scoreless start of the season. Everything was looking like the Heat got to script the way the opening minutes would go.

And then, thud.

Like so many other times in these finals, the Spurs went on a run and just kept running. By midway through the second quarter, San Antonio had the lead. Early in the third, it reached double digits. Midway through the third, it was up to 21 — which, at that point, marked a staggering 37-point turnaround from the opening moments.

In the end, the Heat became the 32nd team unable to overcome a 3-1 deficit in the finals, even though there was no storyline that James would have savored more than being the team to buck that trend.

"Why not us?" James asked Saturday.

The Spurs were that good. That's why not.

"At some point during the summer," Spoelstra said, "I'm sure we'll all be able to step back and realize it was a heck of a year."

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero are dangerous scorers, but neither was getting many touches in the first half of Argentina's World Cup opener against Bosnia-Herzegovina.

With his team leading 1-0 at halftime because of an own goal, coach Alejandro Sabella ditched his cautious lineup, bringing Gonzalo Higuain off the bench to play up front with Aguero and Messi. Suddenly, the man many consider the world's best player finally looked like a star on the game's biggest stage.

"The first half was very difficult," said Messi, the Barcelona star who has usually played better for his club than he has for his country. "I was alone and Kun (forward Sergio Aguero) was alone just like I was."

After Sead Kolasinovic's own goal in the third minute, Bosnia — playing in its first World Cup — eased into the match and was the equal of the two-time World Cup champions.

"The early lineup took its toll on us," Sabella acknowledged. "It was an even game until we got going in the second half."

To start the half, Sabella put in Higuain for midfielder Maxi Rodriguez, and midfielder Fernando Gago replaced defender Hugo Campagnaro. That gave Messi support, allowing him to step back and find more space to roam and attack on the dribble.

"When Higuain came in the team lifted itself and began to create chances," Sabella said. "But we do have a few things to improve."

Sabella said he wanted to start conservatively out of respect for the skilled and tall Bosnians.

"There are always details you have to fine-tune as the match goes on," he said. "Taking both halves into consideration, I think we were OK. It was the first game, and those are difficult. But we must improve. At the beginning we had few attacking chances and hardly threatened the goal. So we made the changes."

The adjustments paid off almost immediately.

Messi started to make dangerous runs and struck in the 65th minute. Using a quick give-and-go with Higuain to get space, he cut left, avoided a defender's foot without losing balance and sent a low, left-footed shot off the post behind keeper Asmir Begovic.

The goal — only the second for Messi in three World Cups — gave Argentines packing the famed Maracana stadium a chance to celebrate — and relax. The Argentine fans were always loud, but at times shouted down by Brazilians cheering against their archrival — and for Bosnia.

"There were nerves and anxiety, so it was good to start with three points and a victory," Messi said. "It wasn't perfect, but we got the result."

Sabella was asked to rate his team on a 10-point scale.

"I would give it a six and say we have to improve," said. "And some of that is in my hands."

Bosnia coach Safet Susic also was quizzed about his tactics. He left dangerous forward Vedad Ibisevic on the bench until Messi scored. Ibisevic came on four minutes later and scored Bosnia's lone goal in the 85th.

"I don't regret what I did," Susic said. "I told him (Ibisevic) that playing against Argentina I cannot play two attackers. And besides in the midfield we have very offensive-minded players. Playing two strikers (from the start) would have been very risky."

Argentina plays Iran on Saturday in Group F, and Bosnia plays Nigeria.

The match was the first World Cup game at the Maracana since Brazil lost to Uruguay in the final round of the 1950 tournament, which remains a deep wound in Brazilian football history. The July 13 World Cup final will also be held at the Maracana.

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Stephen Wade on Twitter: http://twitter.com/StephenWadeAP