Thunder on a roll as Heat fail to fire
Steven Adams’ Oklahoma City Thunder extended the NBA’s longest current winning streak to seven games by beating the Miami Heat 118-102.
Adams added 13 points and seven rebounds for the Thunder in Miami as Oklahoma City beat the Heat for the sixth straight time, and became the second team to have two separate winning streaks of at least seven games this season. Golden State is the other, with streaks of 11 and eight games.
Adams’ Oklahoma team-mate Paul George scored 43 points and had a career-high 10 3-pointers; Dennis Schroder scored 24 of his 28 points in the second quarter.
Russell Westbrook got his fifth straight triple-double and 18th of the season, finishing with 14 points, 12 rebounds and 14 assists.
Kelly Olynyk scored 21 for Miami, which fell to the No 8 spot in the Eastern Conference. Josh Richardson scored 18 and Hassan Whiteside finished with 12 points and 16 rebounds for the Heat.
Heat guard Dwyane Wade was announced as an All-Star earlier in the day for the 13th time, after NBA Commissioner Adam Silver decided Wade and Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki merited becoming special additions to the player pool for the February 17 game in Charlotte. Fans roared when Wade entered the game and was introduced as an All-Star.
They didn’t have much else to cheer about.
George finished 14 of 23 from the field and 10 for 16 from 3-point range – setting a franchise record for 3s in a game. He had 16 points in the first quarter to get the Thunder going and 12 more in the fourth to finish things off.
Schroder went 9 for 9 in the second quarter, matching the best shooting performance any NBA player has had in a quarter since Klay Thompson’s 13-for-13 for Golden State against Chicago on January 13, 2015. It also was the most points ever scored against the Heat in a second quarter, helping take Oklahoma City to a 72-53 lead at the break.
Through the first 22 minutes, Schroder and George alone combined to outscore the Heat 45-43. And Miami never got closer than 15 in the second half.
Not that it was a shock he made the team, but Westbrook said he was still pleased to be selected as an All-Star. He got in as a reserve, picked by the league’s coaches.
The Thunder visit Boston tomorrow.
AP