Miami Heat crowned NBA Champions, Silence the Thunder 121-106 in Game 5 – Part 1
LeBron James has finally achieved his goal of winning an NBA championship. After being criticised and scrutinized since the day he entered the NBA straight from high school, LeBron has finally proved his critics wrong by handling
the pressure that comes with the NBA Finals.
The Miami Heat defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder in game 5 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night to take the series 4-1 and win the 2nd NBA title in franchise history.
The Heat handed the Thunder a 121-106 defeat and looked in control for most of the game. LeBron James finished with a triple double on probably the biggest night of his professional career until now, scoring 26 points, 11 rebounds
and an amazing 13 assists.
The Oklahoma City Thunder looked like the team to beat a week ago when they had just won the Western Conference Championship by defeating the San Antonio Spurs 4-2, and had won game 1 of the NBA Finals. However, the Heat won four
straight after that, including Thursday night’s victory.
The Thunder showed inexperience in the Finals, failing to close games when they had chances to seal victories.
Kevin Durant had 32 points and 11 rebounds for Oklahoma City but other members of the team failed to provide the kind of support that was needed to compete with the Heat, who were rolling from the get go.
Both teams came out aggressive, with a total of 57 points scored in the first period alone. Back to back three pointers by Mike Miller had Miami up 28-19 with under two minutes left in the period. However, the Thunder closed the
period with an offensive surge to trail Miami 26-31 at the close.
Miami took over the game in the 2nd period with a 15-2 run that saw their lead extend from 4 to 17. Oklahoma City missed five consecutive field goals and committed two turnovers during that period to trail the Heat 36-53
with 4:41 left in the first half. They however had a late 13-6 charge to cut the deficit as Miami went into halftime leading 59-49.
The Thunder came out in the 2nd half charged up, and Durant opened the scoring with a three pointer. That was followed by two free throws by Serge Ibaka and the lead was down to five points. That however marked the beginning
of the end for OKC.
Back to back three pointers by Mario Chalmers and Shane Battier had the Heat up 67-56 again. The final blow to the Thunder’s quest of a championship came when Miami sprinted to a 16-0 run, capped by three pointers by Chris Bosh
and Mike Miller. That run saw the Heat extend their lead to 88-63, a 25 point advantage. Miami went into the final quarter leading 95-71.
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