Russell Westbrook finished just two rebounds shy of a triple-double on Tuesday.
OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma City Thunder used a big second half to down the Miami Heat 105-94 in Game 1 of the NBA Finals to take an early lead in the series. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook combined for 63 points in the victory.
Miami led by as many as 13 early on and took a lead of 54-47 into the locker room. Oklahoma City rallied to take a 74-73 lead after three quarters and gradually pulled away from the Heat in the fourth.
The Heat got a basket from Dwyane Wade and two free throws from LeBron James to cut a 10-point Oklahoma City lead down to six with 2:44 to play. The Thunder however, would find easy baskets and hit key free throws to secure the win.
Durant’s 36 points led all scorers while Westbrook finished just two rebounds shy of a triple-double with 8 rebounds and 11 assists to go with his 27 points. Serge Ibaka was the only other member of the Thunder in double-figures scoring with 10.
James led Miami with 30 points while Wade added 19. The Heat got stellar efforts from Shane Battier and Mario Chalmers, who scored 19 and 12 points respectively. Chris Bosh once again came off the Miami bench; Bosh finished with 10 points.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are now three wins from their first title since 1979 when they were the Seattle Supersonics. Oklahoma City will look to take a 2-0 series lead back to South Beach as the teams meet in Game 2 on Thursday night. The Heat have now lost four straight NBA Finals games and will look to salvage a split on Thursday.
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