The game started with missed mid-range jumpers by Westbook, then James. Battier made a 3-pointer which served as the first basket of the 2012 NBA Finals and put the Heat up 3-0. Miami didn't look back and kept the lead for the rest of the quarter. At the end of the first, the Heat led 29-22.
Oklahoma City scored the first points of the second quarter with a dunk by Nick Collison, but the Heat responded with a 8-0 run and went up 37-24. Miami kept a comfortable lead over the Thunder for the rest of the quarter and led 54-47 at the end of the first half.
At halftime, LeBron had 14 points, Shane Battier had 13 points, Chalmers had 10 points and 5 assists, Dwyane Wade had 6 points and 5 assists, Udonis Haslem had 4 points and 9 rebounds, and Chris Bosh had 7 points off the bench. For the Thunder, Durant had 13 points, Serge Ibaka had 10 points, and Westbrook had 9 points and 6 assists.
The Thunder went on a 13-6 run to start the second half and tied the game up 60-60. Back-to-back layups by LeBron put the Heat up 64-60, but the Thunder came back and went up 74-73 at the end of the third quarter.
Oklahoma City started the fourth quarter on a 6-1 run and went up 80-74 before a 3-point play by Wade cut the lead to 3. The Thunder later went on a 9-2 run to go up by 10 and led 93-83. A 3-point play by LeBron cut the lead to 5, but OKC pulled away. A dunk by Collison with 29.3 seconds left in the quarter served as the dagger and put the Thunder up 103-92 (their largest lead of the game). The final score was 105-94 with the Thunder coming out on top.
Player of the Game: Kevin Durant (36 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 12-20 field goals, 4-8 three-pointers, 8-9 free throws)
Here are the top 10 early Finals MVP candidates based on Game 1:
1. Kevin Durant
2. Russell Westbrook - 27 points, 11 assists, 8 rebounds
3. LeBron James - 30 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals
4. Dwyane Wade - 19 points, 8 assists, 4 rebounds, 5-5 free throws
5. Nick Collison - 8 points, 10 rebounds, 4-5 field goals
6. Mario Chalmers - 12 points, 6 assists, 5-7 field goals, 2-4 three-pointers
7. Shane Battier - 17 points, 4 rebounds, 6-9 field goals, 4-6 three-pointers
8. Kendrick Perkins - 4 points, 7 rebounds, 2-2 field goals
9. Derek Fisher - 6 points, 3 rebounds, 3-5 field goals
10. James Harden - 5 points, 3 assists, 1-2 three-pointers
I'll bet that one of those ten guys will be named the Finals MVP at the end of the series, but as of right now it looks like it will probably be Durant or Westbrook.
Here are some keys to the game and observations:
-The Heat led 39-26 in the second quarter (a 13-point lead), but were outscored by the Thunder 79-55 for the remainder of the game.
-Wade and LeBron both shot under 50% from the field and from 3.
-Ibaka went scoreless after scoring 10 points in the first half.
-Westbrook almost had a triple-double, but shot a mediocre 10-for-24 from the field and missed all 4 of his 3-point-attempts.
-Deaquan Cook, who played his first 3 seasons with the Heat, played an ineffective 3 minutes for the Thunder. He missed 2 free throws and finished with zeros in every statistical category.
-For the Heat, Joel Anthony was also ineffective and had a trillion in 2 minutes of play.
(Photo Courtesy: http://sports.yahoo.com/photos/nba-finals-heat-vs-thunder-game-1-1339560764-slideshow/oklahoma-city-thunders-durant-celebrates-three-point-basket-photo-032748066.html)
Have any thoughts on the Thunder beating the Heat to go up 1-0 in the Finals? Think Eddy Curry will end up being the Finals MVP? Leave a comment below and tell me what you think.
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