The Oklahoma City Thunder protected home court in their first-ever appearance in the NBA Finals by defeating the Miami Heat by a score of 105-94. Despite a strong first half of play by Miami, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and the OKC bench was simply too much for the Heat to handle in the final 24 minutes of play.
"I thought we showed a lot of toughness in the second half," said Thunder head coach Scott Brooks.
Durant led all scorers with 36 points on 12-for-20 shooting, and also made eight of his nine free throw attempts. Westbrook was nearly as dominant while going for 27 points, bringing down eight rebounds and dishing out 11 assists. James Harden Struggled for most of the night and only had five points, but it was Nick Collison who was the story for the Thunder. The veteran big man had eight points and 10 rebounds in just 21 minutes, many of which came in the fourth quarter.
LeBron James had a fine game with 30 points, although he was limited for most of the fourth quarter until late. Dwayne Wade had 19, but needed an inefficient 17 shots in order to do so. Chris Bosh came off the bench once again and played 34 minutes, scoring 10 points and bringing down five rebounds during his time on the court.
"We had some great fans and they really gave us some energy in that second half," said Brooks.
The Thunder and Heat will meet up on Thursday night for game two of this series.