Miami Heat edge out Oklahoma City Thunder 103-97 in a thriller: NBA Recap
Miami Heat and the Oklahoma City Thunder met each other at the American Airlines Arena for a rematch of last season's NBA Finals after a gruelling battle, Heat ended up on top.
LeBron James scored 29 points to lead the Heat, point guard Mario Chalmers scored 12 of his 20 points from the three point land while Dwyane Wade added 21 points and grabbed 5 rebounds.
The Heat were able to sneak in a win despite 33 points from Kevin Durant, who missed a three pointer at the closing stages of the game that would have tied the score at 100.
“It was on line. To be honest, I practice those off-balance shots all the time, especially from that deep. It looked good." He said.
The ball then went into the hands of Russell Westbrook who also made an attempt from downtown and Wade clearly made contact with his arm. But, much to Westbrook’s frustration no foul was called and Heat squeaked out a win.
Players from both sides gave it their all in the game with solid performances from all the star players including a double-double by Westbrook. James also hauled down 8 rebounds and handed out 9 assists. The most important one
came when both him and Wade were marked tightly down the stretch. He dished out the ball to Chris Bosh for the uncontested jam that gave Heat a three point lead with just 25.5 seconds on the clock.
It was an action packed thriller throughout. The game had everything; a fast start by the champions, single handed dunks on fast break points by two of world's best players, Westbrook and Wade both getting double technical fouls
in the heat of the moment, and Durant and James matching each other point for point down the stretch.
The score was tied on 79 early in the fourth quarter when the Heat went for a 7 nil spurt capped off by a Chalmers shot from behind the arc go in front. Durant dribbled and made a dunk in traffic to make it a one point game on
95-96 and another deuce by him left Thunder trailing 97-98 with 18.6 seconds on regulation but the Heat held off Thunder to win 103-97 in the end.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra was pleased with the win over the best Western Conference team.
"Regardless of what our script is coming into the game when you play this team, it is not going to go according to script. They are too good. They make great players and keep on coming at you. At the end of the day, you just have
to find a way. It wasn't our best fourth-quarter execution but we have been there enough now and it is just about making winning plays."
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