Miami Heat hold off Oklahoma City Thunder for a 3-1 series lead in the NBA Finals – Part 2
The Oklahoma City Thunder, after showing great poise in the Conference Finals against the San Antonio Spurs to win close games, displayed inexperience and cracked under pressure as they missed shots and committed turnovers on key
possessions. After being tied with a few minutes left in the game, they gave away the game with a mediocre closing.
"We're excited about the opportunity to have a chance to play for (the title). We know at the same time that we have to stay the course and there'll be an incredible amount of noise on the outside and we have to focus on staying
in the moment,” said Miami Head Coach Erik Spoelstra.
LeBron James finished with 26 points, 9 rebounds and 12 assists, almost a triple double. He was 10 of 20 from the field. Dwyane Wade had 25 points and 5 rebounds, going 8 of 19 from the field and 7 of 9 from the foul line.
Mario Chalmers was the star for the night for Miami, and his brilliance gave Miami the edge they needed to take a 3-1 lead in the series. Chalmers had big time plays in the final period, and finished with 25 points, going 9 of
15 from the field including 3 of 9 from the distance. Chris Bosh ended the night with 13 points and 9 rebounds.
Russell Westbrook had 43 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists on one of the best nights of his professional career, but still could not guarantee a win for the team. He went 20 of 32 from the field and had only 3 free throws in his
43 points tally. He committed a major blunder deep in the period when he fouled Mario Chalmers, when Miami only had 5 seconds to shoot the ball. He then lost the ball on the last Oklahoma possession to cap off his brilliant night with nothing but disappointment.
Kevin Durant scored 28 points while going 9 of 19 from the field and 9 of 9 from the foul line. However, he only had 2 rebounds for the night which put the Thunder at a rebounding disadvantage against the Heat, and was also missing
from the fourth quarter where he usually takes over.
James Harden played almost 37 minutes but had only 8 points and 10 rebounds in the game, going 2 of 10 from the field including a 1 of 5 shooting performance from the distance. He is yet to make an impact in this series and is
being missed badly by his team.
Miami shot 48.1% from the field while the Thunder went 48.8%. The Heat were 18 of 25 from the foul line whereas the Thunder went 15 of 16. Oklahoma City were outrebounded 40-35 by the Heat and Miami had 6 more assists at 19. Both
teams did a good job of handling the ball but Oklahoma had 2 turnovers in the final minutes of the game that cost them dearly.
“It's not disappointing, it just happens that way. Russell had a great game. We were going. We were going with him and he was making terrific plays at the basket. ... Like I said, unfortunately we didn't make a couple plays down
the stretch that we could have won the game,” said Thunder Head Coach Scott Brooks.
Game 5 will be played on Thursday night at the American Airlines Arena where Miami will have the chance of closing the series at home and winning their 2nd NBA title in 6 years. They last won the championship in 2006.
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