Kevin Durant delivered in the fourth quarter, LeBron James could never have in the past year.
So forget about those fluctuations at the start of the finals. Durant and Young Thunder showed that they had figured out how to finish.
Durant scored 17 of his 36 points in another nightmarish deadline for James and his team, leading the storm that overwhelmed the heat and gave Oklahoma City 105-94 victory over Miami in Game 1 on Tuesday night.
"That's what they do, they keep coming," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "They were relentless."
Teaming up with Russell Westbrook beat the heat in the second half on their own, Durant struck first in the head-to-head match with James, who had seven points in the final quarter and was powerless to stop a three-time scoring in the Champions League.
"Well, these guys, they came out on fire. They passed the ball well, knocking down shots. We just wanted to keep playing," said Duran. "It's a long game, and every time our coach just said," Play harder, play harder, and that's what we did. "
Westbrook turned a poor start to shoot to finish with 27 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds for the Thunder, manipulation of the strong finish of the third period that gave the Thunder lead for good.
Durant took over from there.
Scoring in almost every way possible, Durant finished 12 of 20 from the field and added eight rebounds. He and Westbrook overtook Heat 41-40 in the last two periods, shows that maybe this time it will be an offense that wins championships.
James finished with 30 points, his most in any of their final 11 games, but there was only one basket in the first 8:15 of the fourth, when the Thunder took control of the game, they trailed for all but the final few seconds of the first three quarters.
James averaged just three points in the fourth quarter of six games in the heat loss in Dallas last year, taking almost all the heat for the final denial of Miami. He was good at it, Durant was simply better.
And when the fans chanted "MVP! MVP!" In the end, they did not talk about James, the guy who won the regular season award.
They were referring to Durant, who with James in the race for the first ring - and possibly the title of best player in the game.
Game 2 on Thursday night in Oklahoma City.
Dwyane Wade had 19 points but shot just 7 of 19 heat, while Shane Battier provided the rare crime, scoring 17 points, his highest of the Match.
Referring to a small queue at the end of the third quarter, Thunder improved to 9-0 at home postseason. Defensive ace Thabo Sefolosha helped defend during the return of James Thunder, Durant relieving the burden that he could concentrate on its evaluation.
And now no one does it better.
Spoelstra said his team pushed to seven games against Boston in a grueling conference finals heat, finally won on Saturday, chose a fast turnaround. But maybe they ran out of gas against the young Thunder, whose main players are all 23 or younger, and look as if they could continue to play all night.
"Frankly, I think we just came out with much more intensity on the defensive end. Made them feel a little bit to us," Westbrook said of the second half, when the thunder overtook warmth, 58-40.
James and Wade are both bent over, hands on his knees during a stop at seven minutes to go. Durant kept pouring it on the court to throw the race fast-break dunk, and then add a 3-pointer that pushed it to 87-81 with 6 ½ minutes to go.
Heat is within four points, but Durant hit two quick baskets and Westbrook added another 10 points with 3:35 to go.
"They just made more plays than us," Wade said. "They got a couple of offensive rebounds hurt us so. There are a couple of open shots, and from that moment we were like playing from behind."
It was a rapid growth in relation to the upper part for the Thunder, who started 3-29 in 2008-09, his first season here after moving from Seattle. Fans clearly covers the "arrival in Oklahoma City, where cars, buildings and even fans of the final hair, seemed to be painted with some form of orange or blue.
Fans stood up to the first basket of the Thunder did not have to wait long to knock Durant base jumper 70 seconds in. He took his first three shots, including two 3-pointers, but his teammates were not included in the first six attempts in the early fall in the hole.
Durant did what they were good at the end.
And the superstars have tried to downplay their individual game, Durant insists it was about the team and James firmly believes that he does not care about the best player in the game argument.
It was the supporting cast, James, "who have stepped up more to start, heat stroke five of their six 3-point attempts in the jump 29-22 lead after one quarter. Spoelstra had Chris Bosh as a reserve, a role he played after returning from a nine-game absence with a strained lower abdominal muscle. Smart solutions, Battier hit his first three 3-point attempts in the first minute to ignite a strong start in Miami.
Durant took only one shot in the second quarter, and it was not until nine minutes had passed. By the time the heat of lead was built more than 13 points, holding it in or near double digits most of the period before the Thunder cut it 54-47 at halftime.
It seems every fan was dressed in a blue shirt hung on the chairs before the game - an exception rapper Lil Wayne, who distinguished himself in the Western Conference finals, when he posted on Twitter, that the thunder would not allow him in their arena, the team said only that he needed to buy ticket if he wants to come. He, he and his guest, as in black.
Blue sea around the yard looked like a scene in the last year in Dallas, where James had fought so hard when it mattered most. He said he let his team down, promising he will have no regrets about his performance at this time.
Unfortunately, the result was all too familiar with the heat.
James said quickly after the Oklahoma City tied the game for the first time at 60-all midway through the third, banking in a shot and meals during the downtime and quick four points. Heat pushed the lead to five, but the Thunder came, finally pulling ahead for the first time that Westbrook rushed into the lane and was fouled while scoring with 16.4 seconds left, making 74-73 free throw.
Baskets by Durant and Sefolosha opened the fourth pushed it to five points, and the heat was never recovered.
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