Heat beat Thunder 91-85 to take 2-1 Finals lead

 MIAMI, Florida, June 17 (Xinhua) -- LeBron James had 29 points and 14 rebounds¹ as the Miami Heat took a 2-1 lead in the NBA Finals with a 91-85 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday.

Dwyane Wade² had 25 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for the Heat, who were in this same position through three games last year, then didn't win against the Dallas Mavericks³.

James's 3-pointer sent the Heat to the fourth quarter with the lead, and he scored five straight Miami points when the Heat were building just enough cushion to hold off another late flurry by the Thunder.

Kevin Durant had 25 points for the Thunder, but picked up his fourth foul⁴ in the third quarter and had to go to the bench when they had seemed to have control of the game. Russell Westbrook finished with 19 points.

The Heat survived their own fourth-quarter sloppiness⁵ by getting enough big plays from their Big Three.

James scored 30 and 32 points in the first two games, his two best finals performances. He fell just shy of another 30-point effort but reached his 20 points for the 20th time this postseason, two shy of Wade's franchise⁶ record set in 2006.

"It's all about chemistry," James said. "We understand where we like to get the ball, what we like to do in close situations, and it's good to see us execute down the stretch. But more importantly it was great to see we were able to get stops. That's where the game is won and we did that."

Chris Bosh had 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Heat, who can win a second title by winning the next two games at home.

They seemed out of it when Oklahoma City opened a 10-point lead midway through the third. But Durant went out, Thunder coach Scott Brooks⁷ decided⁸ to sit Westbrook with him, and the Heat charged into the lead by the end of the period.

The Thunder had grabbed their last lead at 77-76 on James Harden's basket with 7:32 left. James answered with two free throws about 20 seconds later, and the teams would trade turnovers⁹ and stops over the next couple of tense minutes.

Wade then converted a three-point play, and another minute went by before James powered to the basket, Durant trying to get in position to draw a charge but watching helplessly as he picked up his fifth foul. James made the free throw for an 84-77 advantage with 3:47 to play.

After another basket by James, the Thunder had one last burst, ripping off six straight points to get within one before Bosh made a pair of free throws with 1:19 to play. Durant missed badly on a wild shot attempt, and the Thunder missed another chance when Westbrook was off from behind the arc.

James hit a free throw for a four-point lead with 16 seconds to go and Wade added two to close it out.

"It's very hard," James said. "Both teams are very active defensively and both teams make it hard on one another in the half court so when you get stops you try to get early offense¹⁰, it always helps and we were able to do that a little bit."

1 rebounds   

反弹球( rebound的名词复数 )； 回弹球； 抢断篮板球； 复兴

参考例句：

• V is the velocity after the gas particle rebounds from the wall. V是粒子从壁上弹开后的速度。
• In the former case, the first body rebounds with practically its original velocity. 在前一种情况下，第一个物体实际上以原来的速度弹回。

2 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

3 mavericks   

未烙印的牲畜( maverick的名词复数 )； 标新立异的人，不合常规的人

参考例句：

• And what about the Dallas Mavericks and Dirk Nowitzki? 那达拉斯小牛队和诺维斯基呢？
• And we see it with bringing Jason Kidd to the Dallas Mavericks. 而且我们看到它同实现基德向达拉斯小牛队。

4 foul   

adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规

参考例句：

• Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
• What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气！

5 sloppiness   

n.草率，粗心

参考例句：

• The choice of Sarah Palin epitomised the sloppiness. 选择佩琳作为竞选伙伴凸显草率。 来自互联网
• He chided the boy for his sloppiness. 它责怪这男孩粗心大意。 来自互联网

6 franchise   

n.特许，特权，专营权，特许权

参考例句：

• Catering in the schools is run on a franchise basis.学校餐饮服务以特许权经营。
• The United States granted the franchise to women in 1920.美国于1920年给妇女以参政权。

7 brooks   

n.小溪( brook的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Brooks gave the business when Haas caught him with his watch. 哈斯抓到偷他的手表的布鲁克斯时，狠狠地揍了他一顿。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ade and Brooks exchanged blows yesterday and they were severely punished today. 艾德和布鲁克斯昨天打起来了，今天他们受到严厉的惩罚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 turnovers   

n.营业额( turnover的名词复数 )；失误（篮球术语）；职工流动率；（商店的）货物周转率

参考例句：

• However, one other thing we continue to have issues with are turnovers. 然而，另外一件我们仍然存在的问题就是失误。 来自互联网
• The Shanghai team took advantage of a slew of Jiangxi turnovers. 上海队利用江西队的频繁失球占了上风。 来自互联网

10 offense   

n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪

参考例句：

• I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。
• His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。