Oklahoma City just couldn’t find a way to stop the three-point shot for the Miami Heat tonight. First it was Dwayne Wade, then it was Mario Chalmers, then it was Shane Battier. No one could be stopped from three-point line. The Heat used two big quarters to pull away from the Thunder and win the NBA’s World Championship 126-101. Kevin Durant did all he could as he finished with 32 points, 11 Rebounds.
Both defenses came out really gritty earlier, defending and rotating well. They were combined for 3-for-14 early on. Oklahoma City led early in the quarter at 8-6. The Thunder would never see the lead again. Miami hit a three, after they had tied it up, giving the Heat the 11-8 lead. They would push it to as much as 25-17 late in the quarter. Oklahoma City would make a run, getting the lead down to 31-26 after the first quarter.
The Thunder tried to make a run of it, cutting the early lead to 34-32 with 10:48 off a Derek Fisher three-point shot. Miami went on a 19-4 run over the span of 6 minutes 7 seconds. Next thing you know, Oklahoma City was down 53-36 and on the brink of elimination.
Then Oklahoma City made a run. They closed out the half behind 13-6 run. The thunder cut the lead down to 59-49 going into halftime.
The second half started out hot for the Thunder. Especially with the Durant three-point shot out of the locker room. Oklahoma City fired out quickly, cut the lead down to five points. Miami quickly pushed the lead back to 11. Oklahoma City cut it to 72-63 with 6:46 remaining the the third quarter. From that point forward, the Heat outscored Oklahoma City 23-9.
While this wasn’t the ending that we all wanted, Oklahoma City fought hard in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Heat reserves for the most part in the fourth by nine points, scoring 35 points in the fourth. It’s the first time Oklahoma City has lost when they’ve scored over 100 points this playoffs.
Post Game Grades
Make Some Threes: C
Oklahoma City hit a lot of threes when they didn’t matter. They were 7-for-11 in the fourth quarter, making them 4-for-17 before that. It also includes the clunkers they were throwing up late in the third quarter. Early in the first half, and kept them out of the game with all their misses. Was key in the loss. Harden was 3-for-8, and two of those were in garbage time. Meh.
Offensive Rebounds: C
Well, they limited the Heat to just 8 offensive rebounds, but it seemed like any time Oklahoma City got a stop, Miami found a way to grab that offensive rebound that stifled any momentum. That’s all I can really say about that, I guess.
James Harden: D
Harden played well.. in garbage time. The first half was still the same Beard we saw in the Finals. I’m curious to how much that hand injury really effected him. He finally started finding his stroke late in the second half, and it didn’t matter by this point.
Photo Credits: (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
Update: Team will be back Friday, June 22nd about 1:30-2pm at Will Rogers Airport. That’s 6405 S. Meridian Ave. Hangers 2 and 3. Trust me, crowd will be visible. Won’t be able to miss it.
