Miami Heat rule the first quarter again; Oklahoma City Thunder not far behind
Throughout the NBA Finals this year, Miami Heat have been able to get off to a good start. Same was the case in Game 3 on Sunday.
The opening stages of Game-3 saw the Heat race to a 10-4 lead early. Miami never relinquished the lead after that and were ahead by 26-20 at the end of the first quarter.
Miami`s attack was paced by LeBron James who got off to another impressive start. He was able rack up 10 points to go along with 5 rebounds after the first twelve minutes.
Another factor that was working in favour of the Heat was the way Dwyane Wade came out in the game. He was responsible for 8 of the 26 points scored by Miami, scoring 4 of his own and also dishing out a same number of assists (4).
Chris Bosh opened the scoring for Miami in the game by getting an easy dunk at the 11:09 mark on Wade`s first assist. Bosh played very well in the opening period by managing 6 points.
Two players came off the bench for Heat in the first period to open their scoring accounts. Mike Miller scored 4 and Udonis Haslem managed 2 points.
On the other hand, the struggle to get going early continued for OKC, who quickly found themselves chasing Miami. After scoring their first 4 points in under 2 minutes, they went scoreless in the next three.
From 10:20 till the 7:03 mark, Thunder missed all their 5 field goal attempts and also turned the ball over once. Kevin Durant could not perform the way he was expected to and was responsible for getting both turnovers committed
in the period. However, he was able to get 6 points in the first twelve minutes.
Russell Westbrook lent him a helping hand by chipping in 6 points of his own. Kendrick Perkins managed to add 4 points to the score while Serge Ibaka and Thabo Sefolosha chipped in with 2 points each.
Another sore factor for the Thunder in the opening period was Nick Collison`s foul trouble who is mainly brought into games for his rebounding and defending capabilities.
He committed two fouls in the frame while guarding Miller on the first and Haslem on the second. Both Miami players made the best of this opportunity and knocked down both free throws to give the Heat 4 easy points.
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