Heat Escape Nearly 17-Point Blown Lead To Head Back Home With Series Tied.
Tuesday night, the games were back on in which the 3 time MVP faced the 3 time scoring champion in a much needed win for Miami to steal home court in the Finals for the time being. To increase offense and get Dwyane Wade going early, Heat coach Eric Spoulstra inserted Chris Bosh into the starting lineup in place for Udonis Haslem. The sea of blue was louder than ever for their hometown Thunder to take the commanding 2-0 series lead, but Miami came out strong with hopes to quiet the loudest arena. The Heat came out and jumped to a quick 20-5 lead led by the big 3 along with and a pair of treys from Shane Battier. Battier was 5-7 from long distance continuing his hot streak from his four 3-pointer game 1. The scoring champ Kevin Durant got into early foul trouble by quarters end picking up his 2nd from a Dwyane Wade shot but coach Scott Brooks decided to keep his star player in the game. Going into the 2nd quarter, James Harden who only scored 5 points in game 1, would be a big contributor as he scored 17 points in the first half to make up for Kevin Durant’s lack of scoring with foul trouble. The Thunder cut the lead down to 10 by the 3 min. mark but on the next ensuing possession Chris Bosh came up with a big offensive board and a score to put his team back up over 10. Bosh had a double-double in the first half, 5 boards more than what he finished with in game 1. Into the 2nd half we go, Kevin Durant finally started heating up in the game scoring 10 of OKC’s 24 points that quarter. LBJ also took over in the third for his team scoring 12 of his team’s 23 third quarter points. The game plan for King James in game 3 was to pound the ball in the paint and he did so going to the line making 6 freebies in the period. Miami tied their biggest game of the lead at 15 with another Shane Battier 3-pointer midway thru the period; but OKC managed to cut the lead down to 11 before the start of the 4th. In the 4th Kevin Durant who was already in foul trouble picked up his 5th foul in the first minute and half of the quarter. This put OKC once again in a tough situation but Scotty still kept his star player on the court. With a made 3 and a monstrous slam dunk over Battier by Durant, the Thunder were within single digits at 82-74. With a made 3 and a monstrous slam dunk over Battier by Durant, the Thunder were within single digits. With the lead cut to 4 from a Russell Westbrook and1, Shane Battier had the biggest shot of the night as he hit a late shot clock non-glass called 3-pointer to put Miami back up 7. Only up 3 once again with another unnecessary turnover, LeBron James took the late 4th quarter game into his own hands hitting a late fading bank shot to put his team back up 5. Miami were up 7 and we thought the game was over until a big turnover by Wade allowed the Thunder to cut the lead down to 2 with 40 seconds left. Down by a deuce with 15 seconds left, Kevin Durant took a baseline drive to the rim on James but but to no avail got a no call. Bron hit the pair of freebies from the stripe and the game was over.
The MVP, LBJ was a perfect 12-12 from the stripe as he with 32 points, 8 boards and 5 dimes; while D-Wade finished with 24 points, 6 boards and 5 dimes. Chris Bosh who had a below average game 1 came up big for Miami as he finished with 16 points and 15 boards, more than the OKC starters combined. Last but not least, Shane Battier finished the game with 17 points shooting 5-7 from long range as his hot streak from game 1 continued. Kevin Durant matched James in scoring 32 points (16 in the 4th) but only had 3 boards and 1 dime. Russell Westbrook took 4 more shots than Durant and made 2 less but managed to finish with 27 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assist; while James Harden was the only other Thunder player in double digits scoring 21 points in 7-11 from shooting. The series now heads back to South Beach and the pressure that was once on OKC but now it’s back on the Heat to win the next 2 games if they want to have a shot at winning this series. For Miami, their 3’s are falling and LeBron’s finally not afraid to take it to the rim and shoot free throws proving so last night. Oklahoma City has been known for playing the catch-up game the past two series as they would also fall to an early deficit against the San Antonio Spurs as well. The Thunder will have to make major adjustments in their game-plan as well as shortening Kendrick Perkins minutes who’s offensively challenged making the Miami Heat’s small lineup less vulnerable near the rim. He’s currently averaging 8 points and 8 boards this series so far; so don’t be surprised if Scott Brooks inserts James Harden into the starting lineup moving Kevin Durant to 4 spot to match-up with LeBron.
Game 3 is scheduled Sunday on ABC with a tip-off set for 8:00 pm (ET).
Win Or Go Home.
Series Tied 1-1
Game 1: Oklahoma City 105, Miami 94
Game 2: Miami 100, Oklahoma City 96
Game 3: at MIA, Sun. June 17, 8 p.m., ABC
Game 4: at MIA, Tue. June 19, 9 p.m., ABC
Game 5: at MIA, Thu. June 21, 9 p.m., ABC
Game 6: at OKC, Sun. June 24, 8 p.m., ABC
Game 7: at OKC, Tue. June 26, 9 p.m., ABC (If Necessary)
Bonus: LeBron After Game 2