‘Big Three’ of Miami Heat get their act together to fashion a 100-96 win against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 2 of the NBA Finals
On Thursday night at the Chesapeake Energy Arena, Miami Heat after a splendid start to the game, were finally able to put it to good use as they held on against a late charge from Oklahoma City Thunder to register a 100-96 win
in Game 2, tying up the series at 1-all.
LeBron James led the charge for Miami with a total of 32 points, most of which came while driving to the basket instead of relying on jumpers. Because of his intensity to attack the basket, he was able to get 12 free throw attempts
in the game and came out with flying colours by converting all of them.
"We had played too well in the first 36 minutes to try to let this one slip away from us," James said. "We just wanted to make one more, two more plays than they made and come out with a victory and we were able to do that."
Unlike the Game 1, tonight James had all the help he could get from the other two All-stars present in the line up. Dwyane Wade was in his groove early and ended the game with 24 points whereas Chris Bosh had double-double figures
of 16 points and 15 rebounds.
So rare was the performance from the ‘Big Three’ of Miami that it earned appreciation from fellow team-mates.
"It's been so long since we've had them all together," Shane Battier said. "They played like the All-Stars that they are and that's the effort that we need."
Battier himself was also very effective in the game as he was responsible for knocking down 5 of the 6 triples made in the game by the Miami team.
From the Thunder point of view, the start to the game was something they would want to forget very quickly. OKC failed to convert 11 of their 12 field goal attempts to start off and quickly found themselves to be trailing 18-2
in the opening period.
"That was the game. We can't start off down 18-2," Durant said after the game. "We can't go down that much, especially at home. We've got to correct it."
Kevin Durant put a first half performance of only 6 points but by time the night ended he had scored 32 with 16 of them coming in the last 12 minutes. However his efforts came up short as he missed jumper from the baseline with
9.9 seconds remaining when James got away with a controversial no-call which could have gone either way.
Russell Westbrook also was unable to get going before ending the game with 27 points on a 10 of 26 shooting performance but his poorest play may have come in the closing stages when he turned the ball over to Mario Chalmers.
James Harden who was responsible for keeping the Thunder in the game during the early stages ended the night with 21 points.
Game 3 of the series will see a change of scenery on Sunday night as the proceedings now shift their focus to American Airlines Arena in South Beach.
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