Oklahoma City Thunder 74 vs. Miami Heat 73 – NBA Finals Game 1: Third Quarter Breakdown
After a lacklustre first half, the Oklahoma City Thunder finally got going in the third quarter.
And to no surprise it was their talisman Kevin Durant who started it all. After having a nightmare second quarter in which he managed to score only 2 points, KD sank a three pointer to start the third quarter and nearly five minutes
later a reverse layup by Thabo Sofolosha put the Thunder at par with the Miami Heat at 60-all.
The momentum had shifted towards the Thunder by then but LeBron James tried to turn the tied with back to back driving layups, the first one on a dish by Dwyane Wade and the second courtesy of his own brilliance.
Kendrick Perkins responded with his first scoring shot for OKC, but a pair of free throws from Wade made it 66-62 with 4:52 remaining in the frame.
Both teams missed a couple opportunities to make baskets in the passage that followed, before Westbrook made two free throws to make it a two point game again. James set up Shane Battier for his fourth and final three - pointer
on the next Miami trip and after Perkins made a deuce, LeBron answered with a dunk, drawing a foul on Durant in the process. The star small forward however missed the free throw to start a barren run in which Miami missed five field goal attempts.
Thunder capitalized on the situation and once again made a strong finish to the quarter, this time with a 7-2 run.
The third quarter belonged to Russell Westbrook. The point guard overcame his first half woes and took over the period with 11 points, Not only that, he opened up a lot of scoring opportunities for his team-mates, who slowly but
surely had started their march toward the win. Durant managed six points in the frame while Thabo Sefolosha had 5 and Perkins 4.
Heat were paced by LeBron, who scored 9 points. Wade had 6, but except 4 more points form Battier, Miami had no contribution from any other player. Miami were outscored 27-19 in the penultimate frame.
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