Toronto Suffer Miami Heat - Game 6

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Goran Dragic scored a postseason career-high 30 points, Dwyane Wade added 22 and the Heat rode a small lineup to a 103-91 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Friday night, tying their Eastern Conference semifinal series 3-3.

“Last year at this time we were all on vacation,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said. “So often in this business people tend to want to search for the easy route. There’s usually not an easy way in a seven-game series, certainly not with a second and third seed going against each other. This is the path … and now we’ve pushed it to a Game 7.”

It comes Sunday in Toronto. The winner will head to Cleveland for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals on Tuesday night. Both the Heat and the Raptors won a Game 7 in the first round.

Kyle Lowry scored 36 points for Toronto, on 12-for-27 shooting. DeMar DeRozan added 23 for the Raptors, but their teammates combined to shoot 14 of 34 from the floor and manage 32 points.

“We came here to try to win the game,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. “We didn’t come here with a seven-game series in mind. It’s been a great series, they’re a championship-caliber team, well-coached team, but we came in here to try to win the game. We didn’t come in here wanting a Game 7.”

Joe Johnson had 13 points, Justise Winslow added 12, and Josh McRoberts scored 10 for the Heat. But now they need a win on the road, or else the season ends Sunday.

“We played all year to get 56 wins and be the No 2 seed in the East and get home court in this type of situation,” Lowry said. “It’s going to be fun. Game 7, two versus three, get an opportunity to play on one of the biggest stages there is.”

Dragic shot 12 of 21, Wade blocked a game-high three shots and the Heat – despite some serious size deficiencies with injured starting center Hassan Whiteside still out – only lost the rebounding battle 43-41.

“I knew this guy to my left was going to have an amazing performance tonight,” Wade said, sitting alongside Dragic postgame. “You could tell he was on the brink of one.”

Neither team divulged its starting lineup until warmups were under way. The Heat had reason for subterfuge, after choosing a super-small starting five of Dragic, Wade, Johnson, Luol Dengand Winslow.

The Heat used eight players – the tallest being McRoberts, at 6-foot-10. The average height of the others was just under 6-6.

“They made a great adjustment,” DeRozan said. “Give them credit.”

Deng jumped center and Winslow got his first playoff start, three games after sitting out Game 3 entirely. The Heat like using the term “positionless basketball” and Winslow epitomized it early -- in a 60-second span, the rookie guarded Raptors center Bismack Biyombo (“that’s what we lift weights for,” Winslow quipped afterward), brought the ball up like a point guard and made a corner 3.

“Justise did an amazing job,” Dragic said.

Whiteside, watching from the locker room, was thrilled.

“The guys played really well,” said Whiteside, who will fly with the Heat to Toronto but said he will not play Sunday. “Goran got in the paint a lot and made it tough on their guys and D-Wade did D-Wade stuff.”

Dragic scored 14 in the second quarter, helping Miami take a 53-44 lead at the half. The lead got to 13 in the third, Dragic again coming up big with a three-point play followed by a jumper. And when Toronto got within six early in the fourth, Dragic and Wade scored the next six points to keep Miami in control.

“I didn’t want to go home to Europe,” Dragic said. “Still want to be here.”

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Durant Ready to Thunder

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Oklahoma City Thunder meet the Philadelphia 76ers in Manchester on Tuesday as part of NBA plans to take basketball to a global audience.

The NBA Global Games schedule features eight teams playing in six countries in the 2013-14 pre-season.

And the exhibition match at Manchester Arena will see players put on a show, according to Thunder's Kevin Durant.

"Hopefully they'll enjoy it and more people [will] start going to matches over here," he added.

Durant is one of the highest-paid sports people in the world but says he is "anonymous" in the UK.

However the 25-year-old USA international told BBC Sport the players were relishing travelling the world and taking their game to potentially new audiences.

"It's going to be hard to convert them from football fans to basketball fans," said Durant, whose team reached the NBA Finals in 2012, where they lost to the Miami Heat.

"But we've just got to go out there and be ourselves.

"As players we've just got to play our hardest and give the people a show.

"We are excited to be travelling to different countries and playing this game that we love. A lot of guys didn't think we'd be travelling all round the world for basketball, so it's worth it."

Having been part of the USA side which won their 14th Olympic basketball gold medal at the London 2012 Olympics, this is Durant's second visit to the UK. He also played for USA in a 118-78 win over GB's Olympic team in a friendly in Manchester in July 2012.

The Oklahoma forward says he returns with fond memories of winning gold last year.

"It is great to come back here," added Durant. "Last summer was really cool just to be amongst so many great basketball fans and people who enjoy watching it.

"It was fun to be a part of the Olympics here and playing for your country, you can't beat that. I have some great memories of the UK and things that will stick with me forever."

KD factfile 

Age: 25

Height: 6ft 9in (2.06m)

Weight: 240lb (17st 2lb /109kg)

NBA debut: 2007

Career average: 26.3 points per game

International career:

2010 World Championship gold medal (named tournament MVP)

2012 Olympic gold medal

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Dallas Too Easy for King James

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LeBron James and the Miami Heat came up against a Dallas team already missing Dirk Nowitzki and plagued by more injuries- with no semblance of their two NBA Finals matchups against each other.

James scored 24 points with some early baskets on nifty passes from Dwyane Wade, and the Heat rolled to a 110-95 victory Thursday night, a game in which Miami led by 36 points before James and Wade sat out the entire fourth quarter.

"I'm just playing within the game," said Wade, who had 19 points and six assists. "My job is to do a little bit of everything right now."

Including getting the ball to James, who has scored at least 20 points in all 23 games, the longest streak to start an NBA season since Karl Malone's 24 in a row opening the 1989-90 season.

"I'm just very comfortable and confident in my ability," James said. "I put a lot of work into my game. It's always good when you put in the work and implement that into a game situation."

Nowitzki, the Mavs' 11-time All-Star, hasn't played this season though he practised for the first time this week since arthroscopic right knee surgery October 19. Dallas is now without starting point guard Derek Fisher (right knee) and post players Elton Brand (right groin) and Brandan Wright (right ankle).

The Heat never trailed after James drove for a short floater 3 minutes into the game. They had their first double-digit lead, 22-11, when James made a 3-pointer with 4 1/2 minutes left in the first quarter.

"We don't want to give a team too much confidence at home. We understand this team was short-handed," Wade said. "We wanted to come out here on the road and make a statement."

Chris Bosh added 17 points as the Heat played only their second road game since Nov. 17. They return home to play Utah on Saturday before an NBA Finals rematch against Oklahoma City on Christmas Day.

Rookie Jae Crowder had 15 points to lead six Dallas players in double figures. Dahntay Jones and Bernard James had 12 points each.

LeBron James' first 3 came in between two impressive passes from Wade, who didn't yet have James or Dallas native Bosh as teammates when the Heat clinched their first NBA title in the same building in June 2006.

Dallas is much changed team since winning the 2011 NBA title over the Heat, in the star trio's first season together. Miami is now defending a championship this season.

"Much better team than we were. We know each other," James said. "We can close our eyes and where we're going to be offensively and defensively."

Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle wholeheartedly agrees with that assessment, and is dealing with the opposite side of that since Nowitzki and Shawn Marion are the only current Dallas players who actually played in the NBA Finals only two seasons ago.

"They're so much better now since they've been together and there's a lot to be said about being together," Carlisle said. "Right now one of our struggles, we have a group that hasn't been together too much. ... And it's been challenging."

Bosh rebounded a missed 3-pointer by the Mavericks and got the ball to Wade, who had a perfect alley-oop pass to James, who caught the ball in midair near the rim and slammed it through with both hands.

After another missed 3 by Dallas later in the first quarter, Wade grabbed the rebound under the basket and then threw a football-like pass the length of the court to James. Even with Darren Collison and Vince Carter fronting him, James leaped and reached over to grab the ball, then finished with a layup to make it 27-13.

Dallas pulled to 36-33 after Dominique Jones had consecutive assists to rookies, a 3-pointer by Crowder and a reverse layup by Bernard James.

But Miami then responded with a 16-4 run.

Miami stretched the lead to 91-55, its largest of the season, when Shane Battier made a 3-pointer with 1:21 left in the third quarter.

Nowtizki practised for the first time Wednesday, and had an individual workout Thursday. It's still unclear when he will make his season debut, but got a huge cheer when he was shown on the video screen during a timeout.

Collison, who lost the job as the starting point guard when the Mavericks signed Fisher on Nov. 29, was back in the starting lineup and had 11 points.

Fisher was hurt in the first quarter of a win over Philadelphia on Tuesday night. He will skip a two-game trip for games at Memphis on Friday night and San Antonio on Sunday. The team said there is no timetable for the 38-year-old Fisher's return and that he would be re-evaluated next week.

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King James Finally Wins NBA Crown

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LeBron James made the right call coming to Miami after he finally became an NBA champion.

James had 26 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists, and got the kind of help that was worth leaving home for, leading the Heat in a 121-106 rout of the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night to win the NBA Finals in five games.

"It means everything," James said moments after the win. "I made a difficult decision to leave Cleveland but I understood what my future was about ... I knew we had a bright future (in Miami). This is a dream come true for me. This is definitely when it pays off."

James added the finals MVP Honour to his regular-season award, calling it "the happiest day of my life" during the award ceremony as he stood atop the championship podium with his teammates.

He left the game along with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh for good with 3:01 remaining for a round of hugs and the start for a celebration he's been waiting for since arriving in the NBA out of high school as the No. 1 pick of the 2003 draft. James hopped up and down in the final minutes, shared a long hug with opponent Kevin Durant, and then smiled as he watched the confetti rain down from the rafters.

"It's about damn time. It's about damn time," James said.

The Heat took control in the second quarter, briefly lost it and blew the game open again in the third behind their role players, James content to pass to wide-open 3-point shooters while the Thunder focused all their attention on him.

The disappointment of losing to Dallas in six games a year ago vanished in a blowout of the demoralised Thunder, who got 32 points and 11 rebounds from Durant.

Bosh and Wade, the other members of the Big Three who sat alongside James as he promised titles at his Miami welcoming party two summers ago, both had strong games. Bosh, who broke down in tears as the Heat left their own court after losing Game 6 last year, finished with 24 points and Wade scored 20. The Heat also got a huge boost from Mike Miller, who made seven 3-pointers and scored 23 points.

That all made it easier for James, the most heavily scrutinised player in the league since his departure from Cleveland, when he announced he was "taking his talents to South Beach" on a TV special called "The Decision" that was criticised everywhere from talk shows and water coolers straight to the commissioner's office. James has said he wishes he handled things differently, but few who watched the Cavaliers fail to assemble championship talent around him could have argued with his desire to depart.

He found in Miami a team where he never had to do it alone, though he reminded everyone during this sensational postseason run that he still could when necessary. He got support whenever he needed it in this series, from Shane Battier's 17 points in Game 2 to Mario Chalmers' 25 in Game 4.

In the clincher it was Miller, banged-up from so many injuries that he limped from the bench to scorer's table when he checked in. He made his fourth 3-pointer of the half right before James' fast-break basket capped a 15-2 run that extended Miami's lead to 53-36 with 4:42 remaining in the first half.

The Thunder were making a remarkably early trip to the finals just three years after starting 3-29. With Durant, Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka and James Harden all 23 or younger, the Thunder have the pieces in place for a lengthy stay atop the Western Conference.

But their inexperience showed in this series, a few questionable decisions, possessions and outright mistakes costing them in their franchise's first finals appearance since Seattle lost to Chicago in 1996. Westbrook scored 19 but made only four of his 20 shots, unable to come up with anything close to his 43-point outing in Game 4, and Harden finished a miserable series with 19.

Nothing they did could have stopped James, anyway.

Appearing fully over the leg cramps that forced him to sit out the end of Game 4, he was dominant again, a combination of strength and speed that is practically unmatched in the game and rarely seen in its history.

Wade skipped to each side of the court before the opening tip with arms up to pump up the fans, then James showed them nothing wrong with his legs, throwing down an emphatic fast-break dunk to open the scoring. He made consecutive baskets while being fouled, showing no expression after the second, as if he'd hardly even known he was hit. Drawing so much attention from the Thunder, he started finding his wide-open shooters, and the Heat built a nine-point lead before going to the second up 31-26.

Oklahoma City got back within five early in the third before consecutive 3-pointers by Chalmers and Battier triggered a 27-7 burst that made it 88-63 on another 3-pointer by Miller. James didn't even score in the run until it was almost over, hitting a pair of free throws after he was flagrantly fouled by Derek Fisher while powering toward the basket.

Gone was the tentative player who was mocked for shrinking on the big stage last year, too willing to defer to others who didn't possess half his talents. This time, he was at peace off the court and on attack on it, vowing to have no regrets and playing in such a way they wouldn't be necessary.

James promised multiple titles at his welcoming party, and the Heat have three pieces to build around. Pat Riley will have to fill some holes on the roster, but will likely find some players eager to come to Miami for the good weather and great chance to win.

Miller was one of them last year, and though injuries have ruined his effectiveness, his shooting turned this into the only blowout of the series after Miami had outscored Oklahoma City by just 389-384 over the first four games.

Miami Creating Heat for Thunder

Oklahoma delivered a performance from Russell Westbrook and ran out to a huge early lead. But somehow, it still wasn't enough for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Their hopes in these NBA Finals took a massive hit on Tuesday night, even after getting 43 points from Westbrook, 28 more from Kevin Durant and staking itself to a 17-point lead by the time the first quarter was over.

But now Oklahoma City is now officially on the brink. 

LeBron James finished with 26 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds, Dwyane Wade and Mario Chalmers each scored 25 points and the Miami Heat beat the Thunder 104-98 in Game 4 to take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven title series.

"I can guarantee this," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. "We have fight in us."

Game 5 is in Miami on Thursday night, where James and the Heat can capture the NBA title that they were assembled to get two years ago.

History says the Thunder are now in deep, deep trouble. No team in NBA history has rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the finals. No team has even forced a Game 7 when faced with that scenario.

Westbrook took 32 shots, as many as James and Chris Bosh tried combined. He made 20 -- half of Oklahoma City's field goals on the night -- and finished with seven rebounds and five assists as well. For a guard who struggled so much so many times against Miami, it was a breakout night that the Thunder desperately needed.

"I thought Russell was terrific tonight," Brooks said. "The guy played relentless. He was aggressive. He kept us in this game and he gave us a chance to win."

Said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra: "He was tremendous tonight."

What they also needed was to take advantage of that tremendous night -- and that didn't happen, largely because Miami made sure Oklahoma City only had two options by night's end.

Durant's mother grabbed him by both arms as he walked off the floor, hugging him and then using her right hand to turn his face back toward her, trying her best to console the scoring champion.

For the final 16-plus minutes, the Thunder were reduced to playing 2-on-5 basketball. Serge Ibaka made a jumper with 4:46 left in the third quarter, cutting Miami's lead to 68-66.

After that, it was either all Westbrook or all Durant, all the time.

And they were superb, again, just not superb enough to take down Miami. After that Ibaka jumper, no other Thunder player besides the team's two superstars scored a point.

"It's not disappointing. It's just, it happens that way," Brooks said. "Russell had a great game. We were going. We were going with him. He was making terrific plays at the basket. He was attacking, he was getting into the teeth of their defense and made basketball plays."

James Harden struggled yet again, shooting 2 for 10 for the second straight game, though he did finish with 10 rebounds. Nick Collison scored six points, but the other three Oklahoma City starters -- Ibaka, Kendrick Perkins and Thabo Sefolosha -- combined for a mere 13 on 6-for-16 shooting.

Westbrook was amazing. Durant was great. Everyone else was nearly nonexistent.

And if the Thunder don't figure out a way to do something no NBA team has ever done throughout the rest of this series, James will finally get that ring he's spent nine seasons chasing.

Not OK for Thunder in GamesThree

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LeBron James had 29 points and 14 rebounds, and the Miami Heat took a 2-1 lead in the NBA Finals with a 91-85 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunderon Sunday night. Dwyane Wade had 25 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for the Heat, who were in this same position through three games last year, then didn't win again against the Dallas Mavericks.

"We carry that pain with us," the Heat's Chris Bosh said. "We think about it every day and that really helps us to succeed in this series."

James' poor performance was part of the problem then, but he seems on top of his game this time. His 3-pointer sent the Heat to the fourth quarter with the lead, and he scored five straight Miami points when the Heat were building just enough cushion to hold off another late flurry by the Thunder.

"Big time player makes big time plays on the big stage," Heat reserve James Jones said.

Game 4 is Tuesday night.

Kevin Durant had 25 points for the Thunder, but picked up his fourth foul in the third quarter and had to go to the bench when they had seemed to have control of the game.

"It was frustrating," Durant said. "Of course we had a good lead and they came back and made some shots. We fouled shooters on the 3-point line twice. It's a tough break for us, man. You know, I hate sitting on the bench, especially with fouls."

The Heat survived their own fourth-quarter sloppiness -- nine turnovers -- by getting enough big plays from their Big Three.

James scored 30 and 32 points in the first two games, his two best Finals performances. He fell just shy of another 30-point effort but reached his 20 points for the 20th time this postseason, two shy of Wade's franchise record set in 2006.

Gone is the player who seemed so tentative down the stretch last year in his second Finals failure. He's constantly on the attack now, all while defending Durant in key situations.

"He was great. He's been great for us all playoffs," Heat forward Udonis Haslem said. "I don't know if he looks up at the clock or scoresheet, but he knows when we need him to make big plays and come through for us, and he comes through."

Bosh had 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Heat, who can win a second title by winning the next two games at home. That's what they did in 2006, one of just two home teams to sweep the middle three games in the 2-3-2 format.

They seemed out of it when Oklahoma City opened a 10-point lead midway through the third. But Durant had just gone out with 5:41 left on Wade's baseline drive, though there appeared to be little or no contact. Thunder coach Scott Brooks decided to sit Russell Westbrook with him, and the Heat charged into the lead by the end of the period.

Westbrook looked angry going to the bench, but denied any frustration afterward.

"Nah, man. I mean, coach's decision," Westbrook said. "Got to live with it."

The Thunder had grabbed their last lead at 77-76 on James Harden's basket with 7:32 left. James answered with two free throws about 20 seconds later, and the teams would trade turnovers and stops over the next couple of tense minutes.

Wade then converted a three-point play, and another minute went by before James powered to the basket, Durant trying to get in position to draw a charge but watching helplessly as he picked up his fifth foul. James made the free throw for an 84-77 advantage with 3:47 to play.

After another basket by James, the Thunder had one last burst -- haven't they always in this series? -- ripping off six straight points to get within one before Bosh made a pair of free throws with 1:19 to play. Durant missed badly on a wild shot attempt, and the Thunder missed another chance when Westbrook was off from behind the arc.

James hit a free throw for a four-point lead with 16 seconds to go and Wade added two to close it out.

"It's very hard," James said. "Both teams are very active defensively and both teams make it hard on one another in the half court so when you get stops you try to get early offense, it always helps and we were able to do that a little bit."

The Thunder were just 4 of 18 on 3-pointers and hit only 15 of 24 free throws, unusually awful numbers for one of the league's best offensive teams. Harden, the Sixth Man of the Year, shot 2 of 10 for his nine points. Westbrook finished with 19 points.

After a split of the first two games, the series made its way from Oklahoma City, where fans in blue shirts filled every seat, to Miami, where white shirts hung on empty chairs just minutes before the tip. The late arrivals in Oklahoma City had been the Thunder players, who fell into big early deficits and acknowledged some first-time Finals jitters in Game 1. Brooks said he heard the cries to change his starting lineup but said it never crossed his mind.

The Thunder quickly fell behind 10-4 in this one after spotting the Heat a 13-point lead in Game 1 and getting clubbed into an 18-2 hole in the opening minutes of Game 2. They didn't let things get any worse this time, playing the Heat even from there and trailing 26-20 after one. James, Wade and Bosh combined for Miami's first 18 points.

James and Wade had some dazzling drives in the second and Shane Battier got free for a pair of 3-pointers in the final 2 minutes, but the Thunder stayed with them the entire way, briefly holding a three-point lead. Westbrook's 3-pointer with 2.3 seconds left cut Miami's lead to 47-46.

Oklahoma City started to take control with a 14-2 run early in the third. Durant had the first four points, Westbrook fooled the Heat with a fake behind the back pass before in for a layup, then Durant leaped over James for a follow dunk before nailing a jumper for a 60-51 lead with 6:55 left in the period.

But it was barely a minute later when he drew his fourth foul. The Thunder pushed the lead to 10 on Derek Fisher's four-point play, but the Heat got right back in it when Battier and then Jones made all six free throws after being fouled behind the arc.

Brooks also pulled Westbrook with 5 minutes left and left him out the remainder of the period, leaving the Thunder without their two best players as they tried to hang onto the lead.

The Heat scored the final seven of the period, Wade making a turnaround jumper and two free throws before setting up James for a 3-pointer that made it 69-67 headed to the final quarter.

Heat Find Beat in Oklahoma

The Miami Heat finally rediscovered the formula to winning in the NBA Finals -- barely.

James scored 32 points, Wade rebounded from a poor opener with 24 and the Heat built a huge early lead before holding off a furious fourth-quarter rally behind their three All-Stars to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 100-96 on Thursday night to tie the series at one game apiece.

Bosh had 16 points and 15 rebounds in his return to the starting lineup for the Heat, who snapped a four-game Finals losing streak with their first victory since Game 3 against Dallas last year.

"We've been down. We've withstood rallies. The good thing about it, when they scored, we didn't get our head down. We just got back on offense and started to execute," James said. "It's a great team that we're going against. So we're going to need every effort, every play and it's going to take all the way down to zeroes on that clock to get a win."

Now they go home to host Game 3 on Sunday and the next two after that, knowing they don't have to hear the noisy Thunder fans again -- not to mention all their critics -- if they win all three.

Kevin Durant scored 32 points for the Thunder, but missed a shot after appearing to be bumped with James that would have tied a game the Thunder trailed the entire way. Russell Westbrook finished with 27 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, but shot 10 of 25 from the field.

James Harden tried to keep the Thunder in it early and finished with 21 points, but this time the Thunder couldn't come back from a double-digit deficit after spotting Miami a 17-point advantage during their worst first half of the season.

It was the first home loss in 10 postseason games for the Thunder, who had overcome a 13-point deficit in Game 1.

James had a Finals career-high 30 points in the opener, but afterward said Wade needed to be Wade -- All-Star, Olympic gold medallist and Finals MVP.

In Game 1, Wade was 7 of 19. He wasn't sharp in the last round and continues to hear reports that something is physically wrong with him. He was all but asked Wednesday if his explosiveness was a thing of the past, what must have been insulting to a player who, though 30, still believes he's not far from the top of the game.

Wade bounced back in a big way, not quite at the level he was as the 2006 Finals MVP, but certainly good enough with the help around him now for the Heat to win another one.

He spun into the lane and found Bosh for a dunk that seemed to have the Heat safe at 98-91 inside the final minute, but a 3-pointer by Durant cut it to 98-96 with 37 seconds left. After James missed a 3-pointer, the Thunder got the ball into Durant, who appeared to be knocked off balance by James as he missed the baseline shot attempt.

James then sank the insurance free throws -- finishing a 12-for-12 night at the line -- as fans booed loudly over the no-call.

Bosh started after coming off the bench in every game since returning late last round from his nine-game absence with a strained lower abdominal muscle. The Big Three joined Shane Battier and Mario Chalmers in the lineup, the first time Miami had gone with that first five all season.

It sent the Heat on their way to a terrific start, and Battier matched his surprising 17-point performance in Game 1 by going 5 of 7 from 3-point range, providing all the help the superstar trio needed.

James had his fifth straight 30-point game, breaking Wade's franchise playoff record, and added eight rebounds. He defended Durant early in Game 1 and helped put the league's scoring champion in early foul trouble, just one of the problems the Thunder had early.

Another loud, blue and white crowd tried to inspire them to rally, but the team could just simply never get close enough to until the final minutes.

The home team would get the deficit to around 10, and James would get himself into the post or drive powerfully into the lane to score or set up a teammate.

The Heat blew a fourth-quarter lead in Game 2 last year, and doing it again would have meant making them overcome a 2-0 deficit, which they did in 2006.

Durant nailed a 3-pointer and drove into the lane to throw down a dunk over Battier that cut it to 82-74 with 8:22 remaining. His 3-pointer from the wing trimmed it to 90-86, and the Thunder got it all the way to 94-91 when Westbrook dunked Durant's miss with 1:48 to go.

James answered by banking in a jumper for his first basket of the final period, as the Big Three combined for all but one of Miami's seven field goals in the fourth quarter.

"The clock is going really fast, but I tried to slow it down in my mind and get a good shot," James said of the play. "I had a couple turnovers in the fourth quarter that I didn't like because I wasn't aggressive enough. I was glad I was able to make a good bucket and some free throws down the stretch.

The Heat were more impressive early.

The Thunder missed 11 of their first 12 shots, and when James capped a run of 13 straight Miami points with a basket, it was 18-2 with 4:51 remaining in the period.

Coach Scott Brooks had talked to his team about its poor starts and told the Thunder during a first-quarter timeout that the Heat were playing harder than they were. The Heat kept it up, pushing it to 25-8 on Wade's jumper with 2:39 left.

With Durant sitting with two fouls, only Harden kept it from becoming a complete blowout, coming off the bench to score 10 points in the period. The Thunder cut it to 27-15 as the first period ended with Serge Ibaka rising high to stop James' dunk attempt, shaking his finger afterwards like Dikembe Mutombo.

Oklahoma City tried to chip away, getting within eight about midway through the second, but the Heat had it back up to 17 with about 2 minutes to go and took a 55-43 lead into the break, holding the Thunder to their lowest-scoring first half of the season.

Durant Makes Thunder after The Heat

Kevin Durant scored 17 of his 36 points in another nightmarish final period for James and his team, leading a Thunder storm that overwhelmed the Heat and gave Oklahoma City a 105-94 victory over Miami in Game 1 on Tuesday night.

Teaming with Russell Westbrook to outscore the Heat in the second half by themselves, Durant struck first in his head-to-head matchup with James, who had seven points in the final quarter and was helpless to stop the league's three-time scoring champion.

Westbrook turned around a poor shooting start to finish with 27 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds for the Thunder, keying a strong finish to the third period that gave the Thunder the lead for good.

Scoring in nearly every way possible, Durant finished 12 of 20 from the field and added eight rebounds. He and Westbrook outscored the Heat 41-40 over the final two periods, showing that maybe this time it will be offense that wins championships.

James finished with 30 points, his most in any of his 11 finals games, but had only one basket over the first 8:15 of the fourth, when the Thunder seized control of a game they trailed for all but the final few seconds of the first three quarters.

James averaged just three points in the fourth quarters of the Heat's six-game loss to Dallas last year, taking almost all the heat for Miami's finals failure. He was good in this one, Durant was just better.

And when fans chanted "MVP! MVP!" late in the game, they weren't talking about James, the guy who won the regular-season award.

They meant Durant, who is in a race with James for his first ring -- and maybe the title of best player in the game.

Game 2 is Thursday night in Oklahoma City.

Dwyane Wade had 19 points but shot just 7 of 19 for the Heat, while Shane Battier provided some rare offense by scoring 17 points, his high this postseason.

Turning to a small lineup late in the third quarter, the Thunder improved to 9-0 at home in the postseason. Defensive ace Thabo Sefolosha helped defend James during the Thunder's comeback, relieving Durant of the burden so he could focus on his scoring.

And right now, nobody does it better.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said his team, pushed to seven games against Boston in a grueling conference finals the Heat finally won Saturday, preferred this quick turnaround. But perhaps they ran out of gas against the young Thunder, whose core players are all 23 and younger and look as if they could keep playing all night.

James and Wade both were bent over, hands on knees, during one stoppage with about 7 minutes remaining. Durant kept pouring it on, racing down the court to throw down a fast-break dunk and later adding a 3-pointer that pushed it to 87-81 with 6 1-2 minutes remaining.

The Heat got within four points, but Durant hit two quick baskets and Westbrook added another for a 10-point lead with 3:35 to go.

It's been a rapid rise toward the top for the Thunder, who started 3-29 in 2008-09, their first season here after moving from Seattle. Fans were clearly embracing the finals' arrival in Oklahoma City, where cars, buildings and even fans' hair seemed to be painted some form or orange or blue.

Fans standing until the Thunder's first basket didn't have to wait long, Durant knocking down a baseline jumper 70 seconds in. He made his first three shots, including two 3-pointers, but his teammates missed their first six attempts in falling into an early hole.

Durant made sure they were fine at the end.

Both superstars tried to downplay their individual matchup, Durant insisting it was about the team and James adamant that he didn't care about the best player in the game argument.

It was James' supporting cast that stepped up bigger to start, the Heat hitting five of their six 3-point attempts in jumping to a 29-22 lead after one quarter. Spoelstra kept Chris Bosh as a reserve, the role he has played since returning from a nine-game absence with a strained lower abdominal muscle. Smart decision, as Battier hit his first three 3-point attempts in the opening minutes to spark Miami's strong start.

Durant took only one shot in the second quarter, and it wasn't until 9 minutes had passed. By then, the Heat had built a lead as large as 13 points, keeping it in or near double digits most of the period before the Thunder sliced it to 54-47 at halftime.

Seemingly every fan was wearing the blue shirts hung on their chairs before the game -- an exception being rapper Lil Wayne, who caused a stir during the Western Conference finals when he posted on Twitter that the Thunder wouldn't let him into their arena, with the team saying simply that he needed to buy tickets if he wanted to come. He did, he and his guest both wearing black.

The sea of blue around the court looked like the scene last year in Dallas, where James struggled so badly when it mattered most. He admitted letting his team down, vowing he would have no regrets about his performance this time around.

Unfortunately, the result was all too familiar to the Heat.

James quickly answered after Oklahoma City tied the game for the first time at 60-all midway through the third, banking in a shot and powering in for a layup and a quick four-point lead. The Heat pushed the lead back to five but the Thunder kept coming, finally pulling ahead for the first time when Westbrook darted into the lane and was fouled while scoring with 16.4 seconds remaining, the free throw making it 74-73.

Baskets by Durant and Sefolosha to open the fourth pushed it to a five-point lead, and the Heat never recovered.