LeBron James shines yet again as Miami Heat take a 2-1 lead in the NBA Finals – NBA Recap Part 1
LeBron James continued to shine in the NBA Finals as the Miami Heat defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 91-85 in game 3 here at the American Airlines Arena.
After scoring 30 and 32 in the first two games, James finished with 29 points and 14 rebounds in game 3 and led his team to their second straight victory over the Thunder by holding off a late rally that we have come to expect
from the Thunder now.
With the victory, Miami now leads the series 2-1 heading into the Game 4 in Miami. They were in the same position last year against the Dallas Mavericks but went on to lose the NBA Finals in six games.
James had a great playoff run that time as well but struggled in the series against Dallas as Miami saw their dreams of an NBA title crushed by Dirk Nowitzki. However, James is looking more consistent this year and finished with
20 points or more for the 20th time this postseason.
Kevin Durant had 25 points and 6 rebounds for the Thunder, but sat out in the third quarter just as the Thunder were gaining momentum after he was called for his 4th personal foul.
"We carry that pain with us. We think about it every day and that really helps us to succeed in this series,” said Miami forward Chris Bosh after the game referring to last year’s loss in the NBA Finals.
Unlike the first two games where Miami raced away with a big lead in the 1st quarter, the first period of Game 3 was much more strongly contested by the Thunder, with no team having an outright advantage.
After Durant connected on a floating jump shot with 28 seconds left, Udonis Haslem was fouled by Nick Collison and scored both shots from the free throw to give Miami a 26-20 lead at the end of the period.
A turnaround jumper by Durant at the 6:50 mark in the second period tied the game at 31. Miami and Oklahoma City exchanged leads on a number of occasions after that. With Miami up 47-43 and 22 seconds left on the clock, Westbrook
hit a crunch three to have the Thunder trailing the Heat by only 1 point at half time.
Miami scored the first two points off free throws by Dwyane Wade to put them up 49-46 to start the third period. However, Oklahoma City fought back and took control of the game early in the period. They went on a 14-2 run to take
a 60-51 lead, with Durant scoring 8 of those 14 points.
The Thunder finally seemed to be executing their offense well and Durant was finding his rhythm. But things changed almost a minute later when Durant was fouled while defending Wade as he drove into the lane. That earned Durant
his 4th foul of the night and Coach Scott Brooks pulled him out.
Less than a minute later, Brooks pulled out Russell Westbrook, who had a sequence of selfish and fruitless plays. At that point, OKC were leading 60-54.
Miami took advantage of the absence of Durant and Westbrook to climb back into the game. Shane Battier and James Jones were both fouled one after the other while attempting three point shots and both of them scored all their free
throws to give Miami six easy points. James then hit a three pointer to end the half and gave Miami a 69-67 lead going into the final period.
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