After jumping out to an 18-2 lead to open game two of the 2012 NBA Finals, the Miami Heat made it a wire-to-wire victory with their 100-96 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder cut the Heat's lead to as little as two with under a minute to play, but that's as far as they got. Miami evened up the series at one, shifting the balance of the series with the teams heading to Florida for three straight games.
Over at Peninsula Is Mightier, Diego Quezada thinks the Heat have some reasons for optimism as they head home:
A team without home-court advantage always seeks to get a split on the road, and Miami achieved that here. The Thunder hadn't lost a home playoff game until Thursday night, so the Heat should feel cautiously optimistic heading into Game 3.
James finished with 32 points on 10-of-22 shooting from the field and 12-of-12 shooting from the foul line, eight rebounds and five assists. He, not Shane Battier, was the primary defender on Durant. The three-time scoring champ played well in the fourth quarter, but the two best players on the planet each finished with 32. Additionally, Erik Spoelstra gave James a few minutes of rest in each half, playing him for 42 minutes.
Despite his 32 points, J.A. Sherman of Welcome To Loud City wasn't overly impressed with Kevin Durant's performance:
Kevin Durant shot 4-10 from 3-point range. When morning arrives and you peruse the box score you might be inclined to think that despite the big miss at the end, Durant played pretty well. From my perspective, I thought he played pretty poor offensive ball throughout, and as we've seen over the course of the last 2 seasons, the easiest tell-tale sign is to look at his number of 3-point attempts. Any time Durant attempts a double-digit number of 3-point shots, it is a clear indication that he is not playing to his strengths.
Stick with this StoryStream for all your news throughout the 2012 NBA Finals. For more on the Heat, visit Peninsula Is Mightier. For the opponent's perspective throughout the series, visit Welcome To Loud City and SB Nation Kansas City. For all your Finals analysis, visit SB Nation's NBA hub.