Chaotic Final Minute Dooms Thunder against Heat

Eddie House scored his only five points in the final 22 seconds, and the Thunder could not pull down a rebound when it mattered.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 12:10 pm

By: News On 6

Chaotic Final Minute Dooms Thunder against Heat

Originally Published: Jan 30, 2011 3:7 PM CDT

Corey DeMoss
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

OKLAHOMA CITY – Eddie House scored his only points in the final 22 seconds and gave the Miami Heat a 108-103 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder Sunday.

Kevin Durant hit a catch-and-shoot jumper to give Oklahoma City (30-17) a 103-102 lead with 34 seconds left. The Heat (33-14) called a timeout on the ensuing possession and put House in the lineup, which turned out to be one of the best decisions of the game.

The Heat missed a jumper on its next possession, but Mike Miller pulled down an offensive rebound and cleared it out to LeBron James. James turned down the shot and instead passed to a wide open House, who hit a 3-pointer for his only basket of the game and give Miami a two-point lead.

Durant missed a running jumper on the Thunder’s next possession, and Dwyane Wade grabbed the rebound and drew a foul. He missed the second of his free throws to keep the things to a one-possession game, but the Thunder again failed to pull down a rebound.

The missed free throw bounced off Nick Collison to give the ball back to the Heat, and House hit two free throws to seal the outcome.

The exciting finish came at the end of a hectic game that had offensive fireworks from the opening tip. The teams combined to score 73 points in the first quarter, and the Heat led 64-61 at halftime.

Both teams cooled off in the second half, but the Thunder had particular trouble finding open shots. OKC’s shooting percentage plummeted from 64 percent in the first quarter to 41 percent by the end of the game, and Durant and Russell Westbrook combined to go 2-of-19 at one point.

The Thunder managed to stay in the game thanks to 27 made free throws, but could not pull down key rebounds down the stretch. OKC actually finished the game outrebounding Miami 42-41, but Miami held a dominant 18-9 advantage in the fourth quarter.

Durant led all scorers with 33 points – thanks in large part to shooting 16-of-19 from the free-throw line – and 10 rebounds, and was one of three Thunder players to record a double-double. Jeff Green scored 23 and had 11 rebounds, and Westbrook had 21 points and 10 assists.

Wade led the Heat with 32 points, most of which came in the paint. James finished with 23 points, and Chris Bosh added 20. Bosh and Wade both played their first game returning from injury.

The loss ended a six-game home winning streak for the Thunder, which will remain in Oklahoma City to face the New Orleans Hornets at 7 p.m. Wednesday.