The Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder traded the lead back and forth before Miami came away with a 97-95 win on Thursday.
The two teams played close for nearly the entire 48 minutes in what was one of the most-contested games of the season thus far in the NBA. In fact, there were more lead changes in this game than in any other game in the NBA this year.
Miami was able to come away with the win thanks in part to a strong fourth quarter from Dwyane Wade. The All-Star slammed home a basket in the final minutes, and hit two clutch free throws with seconds remaining. Wade was strong all night on both sides of the court and led his team to a big win over the Thunder.
With the win, the Heat are 9-3 at home which is a welcome sign after some unusual struggles in Miami last year. Overall, the Heat are 11-6 this season and are remaining near the top of the Eastern Conference standings. The Thunder who should contend in the Western Conference are 11-8.
Wade ended up with 28 points, four assists, four rebounds and a steal. In his 33 minutes, Wade put up the most shots on the team with 21 and made 11 of them.
With Luol Deng missing for a fourth straight game, Gerald Green was given another start. The bench standout struggled again going only 2-9 from the field. While Green had been doing a solid job as a reserve, he has had difficulty for the most part filling in for Deng.
Things will stay interesting for the Heat as they will host LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday.
