Oklahoma City Thunder 105 vs. Miami Heat 94 – NBA Finals Game 1: Fourth Quarter Breakdown
Coming into the NBA Finals, Kevin Durant has established the reputation as the best closer in NBA.
Miami Heat had seen the Oklahoma City Thunder star do that in videos so far, but on Tuesday, they got a firsthand experience of how good of a clutch player KD has actually become.
Durant was simply unstoppable and after accumulating just 19 points in the first three frame, the star small forward erupted with a 17 point fourth quarter to cool of the Heat.
With his team leading by 74-73, Durant started with a putback layup and then scored 5 of the next seven Thunder field goals to snatch a definite advantage for his team at 91-83. A Russell Westbrook pull-up jumper with 3:35 remaining
on the clock made it a ten point game and at that point it seemed that the Thunder will blow away.
LeBron James and Dwyane Wade however tried to bring the Heat back and combined for a 9-4 run to cut the deficit to 5, 92-97.
Nick Collison replied back with a dunk and after Bosh missed a long range shot on the next Miami possession the result was never in doubt. Oklahoma City ended the final 12 minutes with an 8-2 run to take a 1-0 lead in the Finals
and maintain their winning record at home. They are now 9-0 in the games played at the Chesapeake Energy Arena these playoffs.
OKC shot 51.9 percent from the floor in the game and turned up the Heat in the second quarter. Miami’s bench, after a good first half, simple disappeared on the offense and left LeBron and Wade to do everything.
Chris Bosh was the biggest disappointment of the night. He played nearly 34 minutes but only managed to score 10 points.
LeBron James ended the night with 30 points, but with Wade going 7-of-19 for 19 points, Heat never stood a chance against the offensive battery of the Thunder. Miami will have to play like a team if they are to take away anything
for this Thunder side in this series.
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