Heat Stave Off Late Rally, Hold On To Beat Thunder 104-94

Posted by Stephen Rhodes under NBA Game Recap

One would assume that if your team has been on a 7-game road trip, chances are that your team would be a bit on the tired side; certainly that was on the minds of the Miami Heat as they went into Sunday’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Ford Center. But then again, the Heat have Dwyane Wade on their roster, so that can make up for some of the lack of energy. Wade did his best impression of Superman – no, not Dwight Howard – as he poured in 32 points, helping Miami come off a successful road trip as they held off Oklahoma City 104-94.

Both teams played the first half relatively close as Miami outscored Oklahoma City 31-27 in the first quarter and 26-23 in the second quarter, taking a 57-50 lead into their locker room. Yakhouba Diawara, taking the place of injured Shawn Marion, hit a pair of 3-pointers as the Heat went on a 10-3 run that increased their lead to 75-61 halfway through the third quarter; Miami would go into the final period with a 84-73 lead.

Kevin Durant would hit consecutive treys to get the Thunder to within 86-81 with 9:45 remaining in the game, but Wade would respond with back-to-back jumpers and Mario Chalmers would drain a 3 to extend their lead to 93-85; Chalmers and Daequan Cook would then hit 3-pointers that extended Miami’s lead. Wade would ice the game for the Heat when he found Jamaal Magliore open for a dunk which made it 103-88.

Wade led all Miami scorers with 32 points, a rebound, 10 assists and 3 blocked shots while Diawara added 14 (including 4 treys) with 2 rebounds and an assist; Udonis Haslem recorded a double-double as he scored 11 with 15 rebounds. Oklahoma City was led by Durant with 31 points (including 3 three-pointers), 6 rebounds, 5 assists, a steal and a blocked shot while Jeff Green added 6 rebounds, a steal and a blocked shot. Miami (22-18) plays again on Wednesday when they host the Boston Celtics while Oklahoma City (8-34) travels to Oakland to face the Golden State Warriors – also on Wednesday.

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