Oklahoma City Thunder own the fourth quarter to defeat Miami Heat in Game 1 of NBA Finals: Part 3
LeBron James had 9 rebounds to go with his team high 30 points for Miami Heat. He went 11 of 24 from the field and lost the contest to Kevin Durant in both points and field goal average.
Dwyane Wade had 19 points and 8 assists, going 7 of 19 from the field. The Heat had a good contribution from their supporting cast, whose importance was highlighted before the series commenced. They did their job as Shane Battier
scored 17 points including three shots from the distance in the first period that gave Miami an early advantage.
Mario Chalmers added 12 points and 6 assists, going 5 of 7 from the field. Chris Bosh was played off the bench by Erik Spoelstra and the strategy did not work for the Heat on Tuesday night as Bosh managed 10 points and 5 rebounds,
going 4 of 11 from the field and never seemed in good rhythm.
All in all, 3 players had double digit points apart from James and Wade and on a night when the Heat needed a blockbuster performance, it was James and Wade who did not get the job done.
"This one's behind us, they pounded us in all the muscle areas. When we're not defending we don't get opportunities. We were thinking we were putting ourselves in a position to win and then they just went away from us,” said Miami
coach Erik Spoelstra after the game.
Oklahoma City shot 51.9% for the game and despite going 1 of 6 to start the game, still shot 55.6% in the first half. Durant was 6 of 10 from the field in the fourth quarter. The Thunder were 20 of 27 from the foul line but only
5 of 17 from the distance. Miami shot 46.2% from the field and 8 of 19 from the distance in comparison. Oklahoma City also outnumbered the Heat 43-35 in rebounds and kept their turnovers to 10, the same as Miami.
"I guess being in The Finals we were kinda nervous (at the start) it took a little while to get the jitters out of us and settled down,” said Durant after the game.
Teams that win game 1 of the NBA Finals go on to win the series 72.7% of the time. The Oklahoma City will be looking to do just that and would ideally want to win game 2 at home as well, before the series moves to Miami for the
next three games. Game 2 will be played on Thursday night.
"We had a good game plan to start the game but that third quarter really hurt us. They made shots and we missed shots. They made more plays, especially offensively,” said James after the game, who despite his personal effort was
unable to go one up against the Thunder.
Miami now look to win game before moving back to the American Airlines Arena. But it will not be an easy task as the Thunder are 9-0 at home in the post season and have arguably the best crowd in the entire NBA.
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