Oklahoma City Thunder 22 vs. Miami Heat 29 – NBA Finals Game 1: First Quarter Breakdown
The Oklahoma City Thunder managed to draw the first blood in the Game 1 of the NBA Finals Series here in Oklahoma City, but the way the game started, Miami Heat were looking odd on favourites.
Shane Battier started the proceeding on the night with a long range effort and that soon became a theme. Russell Westbrook missed on the first two Thunder possessions and a Durant turnaround jumper was the only shot OKC could offer
in front of a 10 point opening burst from Heat.
Batter had two three pointers in that run, which was capped by a two handed dunk from Udonis Haslem.
The OKC crowd which had stormed the Chesapeake Energy Arena with their chants was quite all of sudden, but the blues found their voice again when Kevin Durant drilled back-to-back three pointer to make it a two point game, 8-10.
Miami responded quickly. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade made two jumpers on both sides of a missed three by Westbrook and after Serge Ibaka pulled off a dunk, Battier replied with a three, followed by another one from Mario Chalmers
to make it 20-10.
OKC tried to pull back but every effort they made was countered by an even better from the red hot Heat, who were shooting above 60 percent in the frame. OKC however did manage to pull back in the last couple of minutes as they
outscored Miami 6-2 to make it 22-29.
Miami had a good balance on the offensive end in the period. With James and Wade managing only 4 points, Chalmers and Battier stepped up to the occasion big time, chipping in with 8 and 9 point respectively.
Chris Bosh entered the game off the bench late in the quarter and ended it with two points.
For OKC, Kevin Durant was huge. He scored the first eight points for his team and ended the frame with 11 points. Russell Westbrook failed to make open shots, but still kept on taking them rather than finding other. He managed
only three points. James Harden was also guarded well. He finished off with 2 points to the frame.
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