Winslow played 34 minutes, more than anyone other than Bosh and Dragic, and was in for most of the fourth quarter.
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By sitting out Thursday, Deng winds up having 11 days off despite missing only four games, with the Heat recently having two two-day breaks in their schedule.
And then the Heat guard has a chance to win it, but is fouled. Westbrook has reached 25 points in 11 of 19 games this season. And OKC is off the mark in the final seconds as they hold on for the win.
Check back with Thunderous Intentions after the game for a full recap, player grades, analysis and more. “It was a very competitive game”. It’s just made a habit of finding ways to lose tight ones. Miami (11-6) outscored the Thunder by 10 when he was on the court.
With 4:54 left, the Thunder led 91-88. Four Celtics hit for 20 points in a win over Sacramento. The ball movement, not great most of the night, went from occasional to invisible – OKC only had 15 assists on its 35 made shots, compared to 25 on 40 for Miami. Westbrook then missed the final shot, leaving him scoreless in the final 16 minutes.
Westbrook said: “Yeah, (the turnovers) were definitely a problem”. Unfortunately for OKC, that mistake typified their late-game execution.
Even through the struggles, the defense, in general, kept Miami in check in the second half.
In the fourth quarter, Durant’s 3-pointer with 1:36 left gave the Thunder their final lead, 95-93.
Whiteside is establishing himself as perhaps the league’s most dominant defensive center an the Heat are getting big help from rookie Justise Winslow off the bench. One more hoop would provide the dagger.
This was a show worthy of a national audience, starting with the combustible scoring of Russell Westbrook and Miami’s counter of Dwyane Wade doing some of his finest scoring work of the year. “We tried to get the shot clock down as low as we could to take the last possible shot we could”. “Then I have confidence with Kevin and what he’s gonna do with it”.
“I had (Winslow) shifting a little bit”, Durant said, defending his choice of shot in that situation. It was off-line again. “I just try to stay calm and worry about the next play”.
“I shoot 47 percent from 3 and I got a wide-open look”, Durant said.
That set up the possession where Wade drove, drew a foul on Serge Ibaka and put Miami ahead.
The game was decided of a Heat inbound pass with 7.7 seconds to play, when Wade was fouled on a baseline drive, sent to the line with 1.5 seconds left. We know that. We’ve seen it just about a bazillion times.
This is that thing everyone is talking about when they say “championship mentality”.
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From night to night, the specific issue seems to change for the Thunder.
