James’ 29 ignite Heat
OKC’S Durant finishes with 33 in loss
MIAMI — Before the game, the Oklahoma City Thunder made it clear they had yet to forget last year’s loss to the Miami Heat in theNBA Finals.
The confetti and the celebration were still fresh in their minds. On Tuesday, the Heat gave them a refresher of what it’s like to lose at AmericanAirlines Arena. LeBron James scored 29 points and Mario Chalmers broke free from a recent shooting slump in the Heat’s 103-97 victory.
“Regardless of what our script is coming into the game when you play this team, it is not going to go according to script,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “They are too good. They make great players and keep on coming at you. At the end of the day, you just have to find away. It wasn’t our best fourth-quarter execution but we have been there enough now and it is just about making winning plays.”
The Heat have won five straight against the Thunder, dating to last season. James was his usual self, also adding nine assists and eight rebounds.
None of the assists were more important than when he hit center Chris Bosh for an easy dunk that put the Heat ahead 98-95 with 25.5 seconds left.
“That is just a part of being a good team and staying together,” Bosh said. “You don’t have to run any fancy plays. You don’t have to do anything complicated. You just read the situation.”
The play helped James narrowly get the better of Oklahoma City standout Kevin Durant, who overcame a slow start to finish with 33 points. After the Bosh dunk, Durant hit a tough jumpshot over James. Ray Allen then made two free throws to make it a 3-point game before Durant and Russell Westbrook both missed 3- pointers to end the Thunder’s chances.
“It was on line,” Durant said of his last shot. “To be honest, I practice those offbalance shots all the time, especially from that deep. It looked good.”
The Heat, winners of five consecutive games, started strong behind the play of James and Chalmers. They grabbed an early 15-3 lead, keyed by Chalmers scoring 12 of his season-high 20 points in the first half.
For Chalmers, it was reminiscent of his performance in Game 4 of last year’s Finals when he scored 25 points in a momentum-swaying victory in the series. He hit a running jumper that made it 26-16 with 2:22 left in the first quarter.
“They had different guys guarding him,” guard Dwyane Wade said of Chalmers. “Mario found himself open. He is very aggressive. That is the Mario Chalmers we like to see. He was very aggressive from the start. He made shots and he took them. That is what he has to continue to do.
Still, the Thunder kept things close because of their advantage at the free throw line. Despite shooting 42 percent, they were 32 of 38 from the foul line. After trailing most of the half, the Thunder pulled even at 39 on Kevin Martin’s layup with 7:33 remaining in the second quarter.
The remarkable part of the Thunder keeping it tight was they did it while Durant was struggling. Once he got going, they were able to surge ahead. He scored consecutive baskets, including a 3-point play, to give Oklahoma City its first lead at 58-56 with 7:05 left in the third quarter.
It wasn’t until early in the fourth quarter before the Heat could create any real separation between the teams. That came courtesy of Chalmers. He scored five consecutive points, including a 3-pointer that made it 86-79 with 8:59 remaining. Still, the Thunder refused to go away. Durant scored three straight points to cut the lead to 96-95 with 44.1 seconds left.
“They are absolutely relentless,” Spoelstra said. “You can not relax for a single possession against them.”