The Oklahoma City Thunder have do it again. They came from behind in a playoff game and beat the Miami Heat 105-94 in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
Kevin Durant added another great second half performance to his playoff list. This time, he scored 17 in the fourth quarter after totaling 19 in the first three quarters. He finished the game with 36 points.
Durant scored the points and Thabo Sefolosha played defense. After LeBron James scored 14 in the first half, Coach Scott Brooks assigned Sefolosha to guard James.
The stat sheet only shows two steals and a blocked shot, but Sefolosha forced James to take uncomfortable shots and prevented him from driving to the basket.
The tough defense led the Thunder to outscore the Heat 24-4 in fastbreak points. Russell Westbrook, who scored 27, took the opportunity to cause havoc for the Heat's defense.
He created passing lines, got players open looks and drew fouls. Westbrook went on to score 18 of his 27 points in the second half.
With Durant, Sefolosha and Westbrook, the Thunder were able to rally past a Heat team that was scorching hot from the floor in the first quarter, especially from the perimeter.
Shane Battier led the team in scoring after the first quarter, with nine points, which all came from the triplet of threes he hit. He finished the night with five threes and 17 points. With his early outburst, the Heat were able to control the score and led by as many as 13 in the game.
Little by little in the second quarter, the Thunder chipped away at the double digit lead.
By the half, the Heat were only up by seven points and there was a feeling that the Thunder were going to walk away with the win. Durant was fairly dormant in the first half and the Thunder were not down by much.
In the second half, Durant and Westbrook combined for 41 points, more than the entire Heat, which scored only 40.
James had a typical performance, 30 points, nine rebounds and four steals. Wade had a typical disappointing performance going just 7-19 from the floor finishing with 19 points.
Wade, along with the rest of the Heat squad, settled for too many outside shots in the second half and by this time they were cold from mid-range.
They fall behind 0-1 in the series as the Thunder remain undefeated in Chesapeake Energy Arena. The Thunder are 9-0 at home in the playoffs.
Game 2 is on Thursday. Will the Heat stop the streak or will the Thunder take a 2-0 lead before they get to Miami?
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