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Kevin Durant of the Thunder (R) blocks LeBron James of the Heat - Source: Reuters
LeBron James and the Miami Heat seal the NBA title at
home.
MVP - LeBron James, who says today is the happiest
day of his life (TEAR), is crowned the finals MVP and is
handed the Bill Russell trophy. You might not like him but his
numbers say it all over the five matches - 28.6 points, 10.2
rebounds and 7.4 assists. Champion stuff from a true superstar.
Well that's it from us..... Stay tuned for a full match report,
reaction and a news track from ONE News at 6pm.
Q4 Miami 121-106 OKC - "It means everything, I
made a difficult decision to leave Cleveland......" LeBron James
tells the world.
So the BIG THREE, hated by most of the basketball world, have done
what they promised to do and that is delivering a championship!
LBJ, perhaps the most hated athlete in America, put in an MVP
performance with 26 points-13 assists- and 11 rebounds. He will
surely be lifting two trophies now. Wade gets his second
ring and let's not forget Bosh, who had 24 points, and Miller who
had 23 off the bench. Six Heat players hit double figues
in fact! Durant was in tears as he walked off the court but he
will be back and so will OKC if they can keep their roster
together.
0.0 And it's over - LEBRON gets a ring on it! Nice
touch as LeBron embraces with Durant.
0.55 Ivey makes a three and the Cook a jump shot
for OKC but the most interesting stuff is happening off-court.
Miami 120-104
1.29 Harris sinks both free-throws. LBJ, Wade and
Bosh are hugging it out by the bench. KD is in tears nearly. Miami
120-96
2.49 Ivey sinks a trey but it doesn't matter.
Miami 118-99
3.05 James makes his final lay-up (26 points ) and
gets a standing ovation as he walks off court. MVP chants echo
around the crowd. Miami 118-96
3.29 Bosh and Harden trade jump shots. Miami
116-96
4.16 Wade goes to the line and sinks 2/2. Miami
114-92
4.38 Harden drains another three but it is all
academic. Miami 112-92
4.49 JAMES PULLS DOWN HIS 10TH BOARD AND HE NOW HAS A
TRIPLE-DOUBLE (23-13-10) - Miami 112-89
6.20 Harden sinks a trey and he has 14 points but
it is too late. Miami 110-89
6.58 Wade sent to the line and sinks 1/2. Miami
109-86
7.25 Wade jump shot made. He has 17 points. Miami
108-86
7.58 Durant makes a jump shot and Miami call a
timeout. OKC have cut the lead back to 20. Miami 106-86
8.30 Wade is called for goaltending and Durant now
has 30 points. Miami 106-84
8.58 Haslem sent to line and he makes no mistake
with both shots. Miami 106-82
9.18 Fisher sinks a three from the corner. Miami
104-82
9:33 James sent to the line and he hits 1/2. LBJ
now has 20 points. Miami 104-79
9.49 Wade drives for a dunk from a nice LBJ pass.
LeBron now has 13 assists. Miami 103-79
10:11 Durant sinks both free-throws (he now has 28
points). Miami 101-79
10:56 OMG Millers hits another shot from beyond
the arc. He now has seven threes. The finals record is Ray Allen
with eight. Miami 101-74
11:20 Fisher responds with his own trey. Miami
98-74
11.39 Miller sinks his sixth three. Miami
98-71
Q3 Miami 95-71 OKC
What an offensive explosion from Miami in the
third. An all-round master class from pretty much the whole
roster has surely sealed LeBron's first NBA championship. Bosh has
22 points, LBJ 19 and Charlmers 17. OKC meanwhile look
deflated and rightfully so.
0:05 Westbrook sinks one free-throw. Quarter all
but done. Miami 94-71
0.42 Miller is sent to the line and he sinks 2/2.
Miami 94-70
1.13 Durant drains a three but he looks visably
frustrated and who could blame him? Miami 93-70
1.23 Wade makes a magical lay-up for a three-point
play. Crowd going crazy. Miami 93-67
1.55 Westbrook stops the rut with a driving
lay-up.
2.27 Bosh dunks home and he now has 22
points. Miami 90-63
3.01 Now Miller makes a trey. Ridiculous!
Miami 88-63
3.29 Bosh 2.27sinks a three (of course he does!)
and Miami are white HOT. Miami 85-63
3.55 James driving lay-up made. He now has 19
points and that is the biggest lead of the night. Miami 82-63 OKC
Timeout.
4.43 From the resulting possession Wade is fouled
and he hits one free-throws. Miami 80-63
4.46 James is hit hard by Fisher in a flagrant
foul. He sinks both shots. Miami 79-63
5.25 Harden is called for a blocking foul on Bosh.
The big man sinks both of them. Miami 77-63
6.32 Bosh drives to the hoop and is hit as he
sinks the lay-up. Three-point play successful. Miami 75-63
6.46 Westbrook goes to the line but can only sink
one. Miami 72-63
7.01 Miami lighting up from downtown (10/17) as
Battier sinks another trey. Miami 72-62.
7:27 Durant stepping up now.. Nails a jump shot
from 10 feet. He now has 21 points. Miami 69-62. Team
timeout.
8.02 Harden forces turnover and sets-up
Durant for an alley-opp dunk. Miami 69-60
8.48 Charlmers sinks another big jump shot, he has
10 points now. Miami 69-58
9:19 Westbrook comes out from the timeout and
glides down the lane for a nice half dunk. Miami 67-58
9:32 And Miami are hot now as Battier drains
another three. Miami 67-56. OKC Timeout.
10:10 Chalmers makes big three-pointer. Miami
64-56
10:40 Ibaka slams home. Miami 61-56
11:04 Miami on the board in the quarter through
Bosh. Miami 61-54
11:12 Ibaka gets two freebies and OKC coming back.
Miami 59-54
11:46 Durant drains a three to start the quarter.
Leads all scorers with 17 points. Miami 59-52
Q2 Miami 59-49 OKC
After the first half Oklahoma are lucky to be back by
only 10. The Heat have been phenomenal, killing the Thunder with
the three ball. All that's keeping the visitors is their ability to
get to the line and make free throws where they are 17/18. LeBron
James leads all scorers with 15 points. Kevin Durant has 14 for
OKC.
0:00 Ibaka misses a jumper on the buzzer.
0:48 Durant banks in a jumper. Miami 59-49
1:10 James makes a nice fadeaway jumper. Miami
59-47 OKC
1:24 Nice pass from Durant finds Ibaka on the
inside who finishes. Miami 57-47 OKC
2:00 Perkins is whistled for an offensive foul,
his third personal of the night. The Heat call timeout. Miami 57-45
OKC
2:10 Durant makes a three he has 12 for the half.
Miami 57-45 OKC
2:38 Battier makes a layup off the drive for the
Heat. Miami 57-42 OKC
3:06 Westbrook gets back to the line. He almost
finished the shot, but makes both at the line. Miami 55-42
OKC
3:18 LeBron is fouled by Perkins and makes both
free throws. Miami 55-40 OKC
3:53 Harden is fouled again as he tries to get to
the basket. Again he makes both free throws. Miami 53-40 OKC
4:17 Harden makes a pair for free throws to stop
the bleeding
. Miami 53-38 OKC
4:31 LeBron with a lay-up in transition and the
Heat are all over this at the moment. Miami 53-36 OKC
4:56 Yet another three for Miller! Miami 51-36
OKC
5:25 Battier draws an offensive foul from
Westbrook. Miami 48-36 OKC
5:46 Bosh makes a jumper to give the Heat their
largest lead of the night. Brooks has to call another time out.
Miami 48-36 OKC
6:30 Chalmers makes another three. The Heat are
shooting 60% from beyond the arc. Miami 46-36 OKC
6:47 Harden is fouled and makes two free throws.
Miami 43-36 OKC
6:56 LeBron goes to the rim against some weak
defence and finishes for his first points of the second quarter.
Miami 43-34 OKC
7:29 Chris Bosh scores off a strong move,
finishing the lay-up. Miami 41-34 OKC
8:01 Wade gets himself to the charity dtripe, but
splits the free throws. Miami 39-34 OKC
8:15 LeBron blocks a Durant jumper. Miami 38-34
OKC
8:35 Fisher gets a friendly bounce and makes a two
pint jumper. Miami 38-34 OKC
9:24 Wade makes a nice contested jumper from
beyond the free throw line. Miami 38-32 OKC
10:00 Wade flies in for a putback dunk off a
Cole miss after Westbrook missed a dunk at the other end. Miami
36-32 OKC
10:49 Derek Fisher answers the Miller three with
one of his own. Miami 34-32 OKC
11:07 Miller makes his third three of the night.
He was wide open out there. Miami 34-29 OKC
11:42 Westbrook converts a three point play to
start the quarter. That's his seventh trip to the line. Miami 31-29
OKC
Q1 Miami 31-26 OKC
That was the Heat's quarter as they shot the ball well,
at one stage making nine shots in a row. Howeve despite shooting
poorly OKC have done enough to stay in it. Durant and Westbrook are
doing their jobs with nine and points respectively.
0:00 James misses the buzzer beating
three.
0:14 Huge dunk from Durant. He caught the ball
outside the three point line and drove straight to the basket to
dunk over Haslem. Miami 31-26 OKC
0:52 Westbrook makes two free throws. Miami 31-24
OKC
0:52 Cole makes a three pointer for the Heat.
Miami 31-22 OKC
1:13 Beautiful defending from Norris Cole as he
draws a charge on James Harden. Miami 28-22 OKC
1:41 Durant finishes a three point play. Miami
28-22 OKC
1:50 Another three pointer for Miller who is on
fire off the bench. Miami 28-19 OKC
2:05 Collison knocks in a tip in. Miami 25-19
OKC
2:41 Mike Miller hits a three for the Heat. Miami
25-17 OKC
3:03 Strong move from Harden as he drives hard to
the basket and finishes. Miami 22-17 OKC
3:23 Jump ball in centre court after Westbrook's
three gets stuck on the rim. Miami 22-15 OKC
3:37 Bosh fakes and blows by Perkins for an easy
dunk on the inside. That's seven straight made shots for the
Heat and Thunder coach Scott Brooks calls time out. Miami
22-15 OKC
4:01 Ibaka is fouled and splits the free throws.
Miami 20-15 OKC
4:17 Bosh shoots over Ibaka for his first field
goal. Miami 20-14 OKC
4:25 Westbrook sets up Perkins for the hook shot.
Miami 18-14 OKC
4:55 Wade makes a contested jumper. Miami 18-12
OKC
5:41 Again Durant posts up on LeBron, catches it
in a good position and drives to the basket to throw it down. Miami
18-10 OKC
5:56 LBJ does it again. This time's the foul's on
Ibaka and LeBron will try and convert another three point play
to make it an 11-2 run in the last two minutes. Miami 16-10
OKC
6:22 LeBron James draws a foul from Sefolosha and
converts a three point play. Miami 14-10 OKC
6:38 Westbrook continues his good start to the
game with two more free throws. Miami 11-10 OKC
7:07 Wade finishes a sensational alley oop in
transition after a Battier 3. Miami 11-8 OKC
7:43 Bosh fouls Westbrook driving to the basket.
Westbrook knocks down the free throws. Miami 6-8 OKC
7:54 Chalmers makes two fee throws. Miami 6-6
OKC
8:00 Durant hits his first field goal of the
night. Gets the ball in a good position and steps bak to shoot over
LeBron. Miami 4-6 OKC
8:29 Chris Bosh is fouled and makes a pair of free
throws. Miami 4-4 OKC
8:44 Nice feed to Ibaka on the inside from
Westbrook who gets the two. Miami 2-4 OKC
9:50 Westbrook finally gets the Thunder's first
points of the night with a wee jumper. Miami 2-2 OKC
10:35 Serge Ibaka gets his first blockof the night
as he stops Bosh going to the basket. Wade fouls Durant at the
other end. Miami 2-0 OKC
11:24 James starts the game with a dunk to put the
Heat up. Miami 2-0 OKC
Pre-game
When LeBron James was picked first straigh out of high school in the 2003 NBA draft, nobody thought it would be nine years before he would get his first championship ring. Two teams, three MVP titles and eight All-Star appearances later, James is closer than ever to gaining that elusive championship.
Since losing the first game of the series to the Thunder in Oklahoma City, the Heat have looked comfortable throughout the Finals, with James and his supporting cast of Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and even Mario Chalmers, combining brilliantly to claim three in a row.
The Thunder are a young team in their first NBA finals and have to fight for their chance to take the series back to Oklahoma and do what no team has done in a seven game NBA Finals series - come back from 3-1 down.
Russell Westbrook was huge in a losing effort in game four, but one feels that if the Thunder are going to win this game three-time scoring champion Kevin Durant is going to have to take more shots and own the game more.
Oklahoma City Thunder
0 - Russell Westbrook, 2 - Thabo Sefolosha, 35 - Kevin Durant, 9 - Serge Ibaka, 5 - Kendrick Perkins, 13 - James Harden, 45 - Cole Aldrich, 4 - Nick Collison, 14 - Daequan Cook, 37 - Derek Fisher, 11 - Lazar Hayward, 7 - Royal Ivey, 15 - Reggie Jackson, 6 - Eric Maynor, 8 - Nazr Mohammed
Miami Heat
15- Mario Chalmers, 3 - Dwyane Wade, 6 - LeBron James, 31 - Shane Battier, 40 - Udonis Haslem, 1 - Chris Bosh, 50 - Joel Anthony, 30 - Norris Cole, 34 - Eddy Curry, 14 - Terrel Harris, 5 - Juwan Howard, 22 - James Jones, 13 - Mike Miller, 45 - Dexter Pittman, 21 - Rony Turiaf