MIAMI, FL (Sporting Alert) — The Miami Heat will take a 2-1 lead into Game 4 of tonight’s NBA finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder with the hope of winning third successive game in the series.
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After losing a good lead in Game 1 and suffered a defeat, the LeBron James and Dwyane Wade-led Heat side has managed to fend off all the late challenges the Thunder posted in the last two games and beginning to look like a championship winning side.
James, who scored 29 points and pulled down 14 rebounds in the last game, is currently averaging over 30 points per game in this series and his teammates are delighted to see a different star, compare to the one in last year’s final
”This is what he’s dreamt about his entire life so he’s going to make the most of his chance,” Heat forward Shane Battier said of James, who only averaged 17.8 points and 7.2 rebounds against the Dallas Mavericks in last season’s defeat.
There are times when the Heat would get caught in a jam with no where to go and look to James to deliver something big – which most of the time, at least so far he has done.
”I just try to be a leader, out on the floor, in the locker room, and do whatever it takes for us to win basketball games,” the NBA league’s MVP said.
”You know, at the end of the day, they look at me to make plays. They look at me to lead them. But I’m not the only leader of this team.”
Wade and Chris Bosh were also instrumental in the last wins and will definitely play big roles as the series goes on.
Meanwhile, Kevin Durant, scored 25 points, but was kept quiet in the final quarter of Game 3. He is now looking forward to resume normal duty in Game 4 and Thunder coach Scott Brooks isn’t too worried about his last quarter performance.
In fact, Brooks isn’t even worried about being down 2-1.
”We were down 2-0 against San Antonio and everybody thought the series was over,” he said.
”But I know our guys, they’re very competitive, they’re very resilient. They’ve always showed that type of effort every game, and we’ve always been a great bounce-back team.”
The following NBA teams need to be cortcanted:Orlando MagicLA ClippersNew Jersey NetsToronto RaptorsMemphis GrizzliesCharlotte BobcatsThat would take it down to 24 teams, so you’d have four divisions of six. I think that’s perfect.