OKLAHOMA CITY, OK– Lebron James and Dwyane Wade combined for nearly 50 points as the Miami Heat turned away a late rally by the Oklahoma City Thunder to even the 2012 NBA Finals series at 1-1.
Chris Bosh had 16 points and 15 rebounds in his return to the starting lineup for the Heat, who snapped a four-game finals losing streak with their first victory since Game 3 against Dallas last year.
Kevin Durant scored 32 points for the Thunder, but missed a shot after appearing to be bumped with James that would have tied a game the Thunder trailed the entire way. Russell Westbrook finished with 27 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, but shot 10 of 25 from the field.
James Harden tried to keep the Thunder in it early and finished with 21 points, but this time the Thunder couldn’t come back from a double-digit deficit after spotting Miami a 17-point advantage during their worst first half of the season.
Oklahoma City got off to a poor start, falling to a 18-2 deficit early. All of Oklahoma City’s key players had a hard time getting shots to fall. That first quarter buried the Thunder in a deep hole. They missed 11 of their first 12 shots and fell behind 18-2 as the Heat ended the quarter with a 27-15 lead. It marked the only quarter in Game 2 in which Miami outscored OKC.
OKC started 1-for-12 (8.3 percent) … Miami started 3-for-10 (30 percent) … At the 5:30 mark in the second quarter, Westbrook (1-for-8) and Durant (1-for-6) were a combined 2-for-14 … Durant was 1-for-6 on 3-pointers at the end of the third quarter
The Thunder never had a lead in the contest and the deficit was hard to overcome. It was clear that the Miami Heat had learned quite a bit about the Thunder since losing to them on Tuesday. "They played attack basketball and got us on our heels. We have to play better from the very start.” OKC Coach Scott Brooks said, “We missed shots and gave them too many easy shots. They have three great players and all three had great games."
The loss ends what had amounted to a perfect home record for the Thunder at home in the playoffs, a streak that had run for 9 straight games. Now, the series shifts to South Beach for three games in the American Airlines Arena. Game three is set for Sunday at 7pm Tulsa time. The game will air on KTUL channel 8.