Paced by LeBron James, Miami Heat strike back at the Oklahoma City Thunder
After making a slow start to Game 4, Miami Heat came back strongly to start the second quarter with a 13-0 run. The impressive start to the period allowed Miami to turn a double digit deficit into a one possession game at the half,
49-46.
They outscored OKC 27-16 in the second quarter and had all the momentum on their side to close out the half. The play making from LeBron James was impressive. Not only did he score 10 points till the half, but was also responsible
for dishing out 8 assists.
Dwyane Wade who had the slowest start to the game out of the Big Three with only 3 points also came alive in the second quarter.
He chipped in 7 points to take his tally to 10 points for the game. In those seven points, Wade knocked down a three, his first in this year’s playoffs. Previously he had made two attempts, both of which were unsuccessful. Chris
Bosh could only get 2 points in the period.
Despite having a star studded line up, Miami had to use good performances from all of its role players to make a successful comeback. Mario Chalmers came alive in the second quarter to contribute 6 points and was pivotal in the
rally by making some very good plays.
James Jones came off the bench to knock down a triple whereas Norris Cole playing in his first ever NBA Finals also knocked down a trey to take his tally to 8 points for the game. He was 3 of 4 at the break.
One thing which was very obvious in the second quarter was that the pressure of playing in the NBA Finals seemed to catch up with the Thunder. They were unable to keep up their momentum and ball movement, hence allowing Miami an
easy route back in the game.
OKC missed their first five field goal attempts to start the second quarter, allowing Miami to cut the lead down to 1 at the 8:30 mark.
The remaining time in the first half saw both teams go neck to neck and had it not been for an 8 point effort by Russell Westbrook, OKC would not have been leading at the interval.
Kevin Durant only managed 4 points in the stanza while James Harden got the 4 remaining points for OKC.
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