Despite legendary performance by Westbrook, Heat take 3-1 series lead

Russell Westbrook provided the Oklahoma City Thunder with one of the greatest performances in NBA Finals history and scored an electrifying 43 points, however, it was not enough for the Thunder who fell to the Miami Heat 104-98.  The Heat took a 3-1 series lead over OKC with the game 4 victory and move to within a game of the first championship in the big 3 era.  Miami's big 3 of Lebron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh played extremely well yet again, with Wade scoring 25 points and James leading the Heat with 26 and falling one rebound shy of a triple double.

Chalmers and Bosh

The key to the game for the Heat was the production it received from Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole at the point guard position, a position of relative weakness for Miami.  The Thunder took an early 17 point lead in the first quarter, but the Heat were able to march back and tie the game within minutes thanks in part to the tremendous energy off the bench by Cole who scored 8 points in only 8 minutes of gameplay.  Chalmers who had struggled early in the game appeared to be motivated by Cole's performance and was sensational for the Heat, scoring 25 points including 12 in the 4th quarter and the final 5 points for Miami to seal the victory.  

Russell Westbrook

The Thunder wasted a legendary performance by Westbrook who almost singlehandedly kept the Thunder in the game in the 4th quarter by scoring 13 straight points for the team over a 4 minute stretch.  Westbrook had a very efficient performance converting on 20 of his 32 field goal attempts which included several athletic drives to the basket, pull-up jumpers in semi-transition, midrange shots off crossovers or pick and rolls, and an incredible outback dunk off a missed layup by Thabo Sefolosha.  The Thunder received a relatively quiet 28 points from Kevin Durant and very little offensive production from anyone else.  In order to extend the series the Thunder have to get James Harden going offensively.  Harden had only 8 points in yet another disappointing game this series and must provide the Thunder with a 3rd scoring option.

Lebron James suffered muscle cramps which forced him to leave the game with 2 minutes remaining in the game, but was able to make the go ahead three-pointer that put the Heat ahead for good just before he left the game.