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NBA Finals Game 2: "A Game of Resemblance"

By: Jeff Meadows

Oklahoma City, OK-Game 1 ended with OKC coming from 13 down to shock the HEAT and while game 2 almost ended in similar fashion the MIAMI HEAT, despite a late end of the fourth quarter run by Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant and the rest of the THUNDER, the MIAMI HEAT were able to pull out a nerve wrecking six point, 100-96 victory.

In the first half, the MIAMI HEAT once again controlled the game from the onset jumping out to a 17 point, 25-8 lead early in the first quarter behind the play of their NBA MVP (F) LeBron James who seemed to just pick up from where he left off in game 1's first half. In the second quarter OKC would hold steady by not allowing the HEAT to extend their lead as the THUNDER would go into the half down 12, 55-43.

A REPEAT OF GAME 1'S SECOND HALF?

The THUNDER picked up their intensity as they would go on a quick 7 point run behind the play of the NBA's "6th Man of the Year" 6'5 (G) James Harden which cut MIAMI'S lead down to a 5 point, 57-52 lead.

ONCE AGAIN OKC COMES ALIVE IN THE FOURTH

The fourth quarter was filled with tons of excitement and breath taking possessions as OKC turned things "all the way up" as they would cut the lead down to a 3 point, 94-91 led but on the ensuing possession the NBA's MVP LeBron James would hit an extremely difficult running bank shot pushing MIAMI's lead back up to a 5 point, 96-91 lead with 53.8 left in regulation and with 53.8 remaining, HEAT (P) Chris Bosh delivered a thunderous two hand slam off of a Dwayne Wade assist which seemed to all but seal the deal for the HEAT, so it seemed. With 50.5 All-NBA (WG) Kevin Durant scored on a lay up cutting MIAMI's lead down to 98-93. Fast forward to a D'Wade turnover, a Kevin Durant 3 which cut MIAMI's lead to a 2 point, 98-96 lead and with 11.3 remaining and with OKC in possession of the ball, the stage was set for a "nail biting finish". With 9.9 remaining in regulation THUNDER (WG) Kevin Durant drove baseline with HEAT (F) Lebron James guarding him but before Durant could get to his sweat spot on the baseline HEAT (F) LeBron James beat Durant to the spot and bodied him up, causing Durant to miss the potential game-tying shot which James rebounded and was fouled immediately by THUNDER guard Russell Westbrook sending James to the free throw line where James made both free throws, sealing a 100-96 game 2 victory for the MIAMI HEAT. Lebron James led the way for the HEAT scoring 32 pts 8rebounds and 6 assist followed by Dwayne Wades all scorers with 24pts 6 rebounds and 5 assist. Kevin Durant led the THUNDER with 32pts 3 rebounds and 1 assist THUNDER guard Russell Westbrook tallied up 27pts 8 rebounds and 7 assist.

KEYS TO MIAMI'S GAME 2 VICTORY

Like I stated in our NBA Finals pre article that as long as LeBron and D'Wade play to their potential the HEAT would be victorious which they were. An added bonus for the HEAT was LeBron got to the free throw line six times where he went 12 for 12. When LeBron is doing that, the HEAT will more times than not be on the winning side of things. HEAT (F) first year acquisition Shane Battier has played big in both Finals games going for in game 1 and 19pts in game 2. After missing 9 games in this years play offs HEAT (P) Chris Bosh played a stellar game scoring pts and grabbing 16 rebounds. Bosh created match up problems all evening for THUNDER as he nailed mid and long range shots as well as strong inside play.

WHAT THE THUNDER MUST DO TO DERAIL THE HEAT

When the HEAT performs the way they did tonight, there's nothing that the THUNDER or anyone else can do about it. NBA's 6th Man of the Year James Harden had a much better game 2, scoring 21 points for the THUNDER after only scoring just 5 points in game 1. Russell Westbrook continues to play well, scoring 27 points 8 rebounds and 11 assist and in game 2, Westbrook had similar numbers to his game 1 stats, scoring 27 points 8 rebounds and 7 assist. OKC's All-NBA 6'11 (WG) Kevin Durant has been playing just as good as anyone not just in the Play-offs but the entire season. Durant averaged 28 points 8 rebounds and 3 assist during the regular season and the Finals Durant is averaging a mere 33 points per outing.

QUARTER BY QUARTER SCORING

MIA (27) (28) (23) (22) 100

OKC (15) (28) (24) (29) 96

PLAYER STATS

L. James (32) (8) (5)

S. Battier (17) (1) (1)

C. Bosh (16) (15) (1)

D. Wade (24) (6) (5)

M. Chalmers (3) (4) (1)

U. Haslem (2) (4) (0)

J. Jones (2) (0) (0)

N. Cole (2) (1) (0)

M. Miller (2) (1) (0)

K. Durant (32) (3) (1)

S. Ibaka (7) (4) (1)

K. Perkins (4) (8) (0)

T. Sefolosha (3) (5) (2)

R. Westbrook (27) (8) (7)

J. Harden (21) (4) (2)

N. Collison (0) (3) (1)

D. Fisher (2) (1) (0)

Stay logged on to HoopsReport for our SPECIAL EDITION COVERAGE of the 2012 NBA Finals.

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POSTED: 6-14-2012

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