Kevin Durant produced another remarkable display with 36 points, including 17 in the final quarter, as Oklahoma City Thunder won game one of the NBA finals 105-94 over Miami Heat on Tuesday.
Durant alongside Russell Westbrook were the stars of the show, as they alone outscored the Heat in the second half, 41-40.
LeBron James, who scored 30 points, his best ever in a final, could only look on as Durant delivered the clutch display, which included eight rebounds to go with his 36 points, while Westbrook added 27 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds.
“They didn’t make many mistakes in the fourth quarter,” James said. “K.D. made some big-time shots. Any time he’s on the floor, tonight 46 minutes, he’s always aggressive. It doesn’t matter what court it is.”
The Heat managed to close within four points in the final quarter, but the Thunder pushed away again to clinch a fine win. Miami coach Erik Spoelstra labelled OKC “relentless” after the game.
Dwyane Wade, who shot just 7 from 19, said: “They just made more plays than us. They got a couple offensive rebounds that kind of hurt us. Got a couple of open shots and from that point we were kind of playing from behind.”
On the winning side, Durant said OKC would keep playing “Thunder basketball”.
“We just wanted to continue to keep playing. It’s a long game, and every time our coach was just saying play harder, play harder, and that’s what we did,” he said.