Wade, James and Bosh silence their critics as Heat win game 2 to tie NBA Finals

Coming off the Miami Heat's game 1 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder the team's numerous haters claimed that Dwyane Wade was old and washed up, Lebron James wilted in big moments and lacked the ability to make plays in the 4th quarter and knock down his free throws, and that Chris Bosh was a soft, perimeter oriented player.  The Heat's 100-96 victory in game 2 of the NBA Finals silenced the critics, for one night at least.  James had an NBA Finals career high 32 points and repeatedly worked the ball into the paint, and used his unique combination of size, strength and athleticism to finish around the rim.  James also made all 12 of his free throw attempts, including two with 7 seconds remaining to give the Heat a 4 point lead.  Wade delivered an inspired performance finishing with 24 points, 6 boards and 5 assists, and proving that declarations about his demise were greatly exaggerated.  Bosh played a physical game and had points and 15 rebounds, including 7 crucial offensive rebounds that gave the Heat several opportunities for second chance points.  Shane Battier provided the Heat's big 3 with plenty of help finishing with 17 points and 5 three-pointers that helped spread the floor.  As a team the Heat absolutely dominated the Thunder inside, outscoring the Thunder 48-32 in the paint, a stark contrast to game 1.  The Heat also did a much better job preventing the youthful and athletic Thunder from getting easy points in transition, limiting OKC to 11 fast break points, less than half as many as the team had in game 1.
The Heat got off to an excellent start, beginning the game with an 18-2 lead before James Harden went on a tear scoring 10 of his 21 points in the last four and a half minutes of the first quarter.  The Heat had a 12 point halftime lead, but Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook scored a combined 44 second half points, including 16 in the 4th quarter by Durant, to lead a furious comeback by the Thunder.  The Heat had a 13 point lead with 9 minutes remaining in the game.  With under a minute let in the game and the Thunder trailing by 7, Durant, who had 32 points in the game, made a layup and on the following possession drained a three-pointer in semi transition off a difficult assist from Westbrook, who had 27 points, 8 boards and 7 assists, to cut the Heat lead down to 2.  After a missed three-pointer by Lebron, the Thunder called a timeout and inbounded the ball to Durant with 12 seconds left in the game.  Durant caught the ball on the baseline, guarded by James, took 1 dribble and missed a fadeaway shot.  James appeared to make plenty of contact with Durant, however, the officials did not call a foul.  After the Heat rebounded the missed shot, James was sent to the free throw line where he knocked down both attempts to ice the game.