Heat Dumps Thunder On Valentine's Day

The Thunder had a smokin' hot Valentine's Day date. Unfortunately, Miami was too hot to handle.

LeBron James scored 39 points on 14-24 shooting, while grabbing 12 rebounds and seven assists to lead the Miami Heat to a 110-100 victory over the Thunder Thursday night in Oklahoma City.

Miami used a 21-6 run in the first quarter to open up a 28-13 lead, and things just got worse from there. James' 11 points led the Heat to a 32-17 lead after one; a quarter in which Kevin Durant recorded more technical fouls (one) than shots made (zero).

Durant's struggles continued into the second quarter, but it wasn't just him. Durant's first bucket came on a 3-pointer with 4:32 to play in the half and was just OKC's second made field goal of the quarter. Miami led 63-46 at the half in what looked more like a game against the Bobcats than the Thunder.

James' 23 points and nine boards led the way for Miami while Russell Westbrook's 20 kept OKC alive. Thanks to his free-throw shooting, Durant finished the half with 14 points despite shooting just 2-10 from the floor.

Fans figured to see a different squad in the second half, but Miami kept its foot on the pedal while Oklahoma City continued to search for a spark. Reggie Jackson settled his game in the third quarter, but despite his seven points Miami outscored the Thunder by two to extend its lead to 88-69 heading to the game's final stanza.

It was desperation time for the Thunder, and a 6-1 run (all by Durant) to start the fourth quarter forced Miami into a timeout and got the crowd back in the game. Kevin Martin followed by nailing a 3-ball from the corner followed by two free-throws to get the Thunder back within 12 at 94-82, but that was that.

LeBron answered by nailing a 3-ball from four feet behind the arc that had an "I'm not letting us lose this game" feel to it. Durant wouldn't let the Thunder quit as he started to get hot down the stretch, but it was too little too late.

Durant finished with 40 points on 12-24 shooting while snagging eight boards. He shot 10-14 during his much-improved second half and hit all 15 of his free throws. Westbrook scored just six in the second half to finish with 26 points and 10 assists. Martin added nine off the Thunder bench while Serge Ibaka shot just 3-6, scoring six points and grabbing six boards.

Chris Bosh added 20 points and 12 boards on 10-14 from the floor, while Dwyane Wade and Ray Allen chipped in 13 points each for Miami.

The Heat (36-14) outrebounded the thunder 46-35 while shooting 46.6 percent from the floor. OKC (39-14) shot 43.6 percent but hit 33-34 from the free-throw line.

Both teams will now head into the All-Star break and prepare for the second half of the season.