Miami Heat crowned NBA Champions, Silence the Thunder 121-106 in Game 5 – Part 2
Mike Miller opened the final period for Miami with back to back three pointers to put them up 101-74. The Oklahoma City Thunder failed to climb out of the hole they had dug themselves in.
Both Thunder and the Miami Heat had their main players on the bench before the final whistle was blown, knowing that the game was a wrap.
LeBron James and Dwyane Wade started celebrating on the bench after exchanging hugs, before the game clock ran out. Miami eventually won 121-106 and James made his way towards Kevin Durant immediately after to hug him and exchange
a few words with the MVP runner up.
Miami was clearly the better team on the night and the Thunder were simply no match for them. They had everybody on their roster chip in on their big day. It was a game every team would dream of having, with 4 players scoring 20
plus points and 6 players in double figures.
James led the way with 26 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists. He was happy to pass the ball to open shooters as the Thunder gave full attention to him on defence. He was 9 of 19 from the field and 8 of 9 from the foul line. Chris
Bosh had 24 points and 7 rebounds, going 9 of 14 from the field and 5 of 5 from the foul line. Dwyane Wade finished with 20 points and 8 rebounds.
Mike Miller was the star of the day, scoring 23 points while going an amazing 7 of 8 from the distance. His performance was one of the biggest reasons why Miami were able to clinch game 5. Mario Chalmers had 10 points and 7 assists
while Shane Battier finished with 11 points and 4 rebounds.
"Tonight was that opportunity. A lot of us dreamed of these situations. For me, coming from South Dakota and having an opportunity to play in two NBA Finals now is a dream come true. I wasn't going to miss that for anything in
the world,” said Miller after the game.
Durant had 32 points for the Thunder and went 13 of 24 from the field. But the help did not come from the rest of the Thunder players. Russell Westbrook finished with 19 points after scoring 43 in the game 4 loss to the Heat. He
was 4 of 20 from the field for the night. James Harden had been absent for much of the NBA Finals, and finished with 19 points and 5 assists in game 5, going 5 of 11 from the field. Kendrick Perkins only had 2 points and 4 rebounds.
"It hurts. It’s hard, man. We're all brothers on this team, and it just hurt to go out like this. We made it to the Finals, which was cool for us but we didn't just want to make it there. Unfortunately, we lost, so it's tough,”
said an emotional Kevin Durant after the game.
Miami overwhelmed the Thunder, shooting 51.9% from the field and an amazing 14 of 26 from the distance. Oklahoma City could not match the Heat’s hot shooting, going 41.4% from the field and 11 of 28 from the distance. Miami also
had a 25-19 advantage in assists.
The Thunder now go into the offseason with the aim of improving on the weaknesses highlighted in the NBA Finals. It was only three years ago that the Thunder finished the regular season with a losing record after shifting to Oklahoma
City in 2008. They have come a long way since and have surprised everyone with their intensity and passion. With their core all under 23, they are set to become a Western Conference power house in the years to come.
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