The final score read 91-85, declaring the victory for the Heat. The Thunder had kept the score close, until Miami pulled away and kept this lead during the third quarter. Kevin Durant was able to help his team gain a nine point lead, but the steam died down for him and his team.
Lebron James and his team were able to play well as a team and not let the Thunder dominate rebounds. Neither of the two teams were dominant until the fourth quarter came around and Miami was able to stay more aggressive when the two teams played man- to-man.
OKC managed to cut in to the lead, but Miami was consistent on keeping their turnovers low. The Heat were able to score baskets on their offensive drives, while the Thunder weren’t always accurate on getting baskets on every opportunity.
Lebron James shined over everyone else with 29 points and 14 rebounds. Dwyane Wade added on to the score with 25 points and Chris Bosh helped gather rebounds, by grabbing 11.
Rebounds have been the big deciding factor if either team would pull away with a win or walk away with a loss. Miami controlled the boards in Game three. “The Big 3” in Miami grabbed an astonishing 32 of the team’s 45 rebounds. A majority of these rebounds turned into point for Miami.
The Thunder’s chances are in the hands of Durant and if he can outshine everybody on the opposing team, which he couldn’t do in the Thunder’s failed attempt to rally back. The story has been the same throughout this series so far with the Thunder trying to rally back in the final minutes of the game.
It’s going to be tough for the Thunder to come back with Miami leading the series 2-1 and it doesn’t help them out that they still have to play game four in Miami. With Miami looking very comfortable, they could very easily come out and put on a better performance than the previous three games.
The loss for Thunder resulted from their lack of aggressiveness and their inability to turn rebounds into baskets. The match up is still in nobody’s favor, but game four’s outcome is going to play a huge part in foretelling the results of the NBA Finals.
Both teams have been proved to be worthy of a title but only one team can be the champs at the end of this series. So with game 4 on Tuesday, make sure to tune in. Tip off will be at 9 p.m. ET, in Miami.
