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ReHeat: Thunder rains over the Heat 95-73

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Miami's offense went cold while the Thunder raced ahead to a big lead in the fourth quarter.

By Binoj Jacob
/ new
Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

With the Oklahoma City Thunder facing so many injuries, the Miami Heat actually had a strong chance to win this game as long as they limited Russell Westbrook.

Turns out the Heat forgot about Ernes Kanter.

First Quarter

Dwyane Wade opened up on fire for the Heat, going 4/4 midway through the first as the Heat trailed 15-14. When he wasn't scoring, he was doing this throwing alleys to Hassan Whiteside. When Whiteside wasn't scoring...well you know exactly what Whiteside was doing when he wasn't scoring:

Despite playing good defense on Westbrook, he still had seven assists at this point and Kanter took the scoring load for OKC, with 13 already. At the end of the first, the Heat trailed 25-21 with Kanter playing the leading man role of Westbrook. Whiteside had Wade had six points on perfect shooting but he already had two fouls before the 2nd quarter.

Second Quarter

The second quarter opened up with Goran Dragic attacking to set the pace for his team. Unfortunately the Heat bench (which has been essential for this win streak so far) only had five points with eight minutes left and was a reason why Miami trailed 33-26. Since the Heat lack the speed of Norris Cole, they tried to throw Luol Deng at Westbrook and.....yea that didn't go over well. Despite having no Serge Ibaka, the Thunder dominated the Heat 22-12 in the paint and led 38-27 with five minutes left untill half time.

Whiteside then tried to will Miami back into the game, (13 points, 6 rebounds at the time) but also ended up with this 3rd foul. Miami trailed 48-38 at the half while shooting 31% and having 10 turnovers.

Third Quarter

The halftime speech probably had something to do with getting Whiteside involved more on offense, but Whiteside then picked up his fourth foul less than two minutes into the third. You can't involve a big man when the big man can't be there to be involved. Despite the foul trouble, the Heat got it back within seven in the third quarter. With the help of Udonis Haslem, Miami trailed 66-58 heading into the fourth despite having too many turnovers, too many fouls on Whiteside, and poor shooting. Things would unravel in the fourth...

Fourth Quarter

With nine minutes left in the game Kanter already had 25 points and Miami trailed 71-60. Coach Erik Spoelstra hit the emergency button (which was send in Wade for one final push) but that turned out to be pointless. The Thunder went up 15 with 8 minutes left and Westbrook watching. Most of the offense was from the big men of the Thunder as you already figured. With less than four minutes in the game Westbrook got his triple-double, and ended up with 12 points, 17 assists, and 10 rebounds.

Miami lost 93-75, in a complete ugly game for the Heat. Hassan Whiteside led the team with 13 points (yes, you read that right) and the team shot 39.5% from the field and had 19 turnovers as well. Despite the loss, Miami was still able to get some good news from another game:

Hassan Whiteside - 13 points, 6 rebounds, 3 blocks

Dwyane Wade - 12 points, 4 assists

Goran Dragic - 12 points, 5 rebounds

Miami will play Milwaukee Tuesday at 8pm next.

Safe to conclude that the game is a must win for Miami. You want the #6 seed? Well then beat the #6 seed.

See you Tuesday!

In This Stream

GameStream: Westbrook, Thunder overpower Heat 93-75

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