The Heat Couldn’t Stop the Thunder, But the Clippers Persevered Against the Wizards

In the battle of who would score more points, Kevin Durant or LeBron James, James was the victor but it wasn’t enough as the Oklahoma Thunder (37-10) defeated the Miami Heat (32-13), 112-95, on Wednesday.

The Heat jumped out to a quick 18-point lead in the first quarter lead but the Thunder said not so fast and inserted its bench to shake things up. By halftime, they had a 55-50 advantage. They returned from the break with a 9-0 run and well, the game was essentially over. At one point, the Thunder had a 25-point lead and for the game, shot 16 of 27 for 3-pointers.

Miami didn’t fare as well, hitting 3 of 19.

LeBron James

The win also came as Durant met expectations, scoring 33 points for the night. He now has 12 consecutive games with 30 points or more. Serge Ibaka contributed 22 points and Oklahoma’s bench scored 39-21 as compared to Miami’s. Jeremy Lamb scored 18 points while Derek Fisher got hot with 3 pointers, going 5 for 5 for 15 points.

As for the Heat, LeBron James scored 34 points for the night. It would have been more of a factor if his team hadn’t allowed 25 points from turnovers. Chris Bosh added 18 points and Dwyane Wade contributed 15 points.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of the game via the Associated Press, “There’s no running away from it. Other than the first eight minutes of the game they outclassed us tonight. They absolutely deserved this win.” He later added, “We have some work to do. We’re like everybody else in the league. Nobody is infallible. We have some things to improve on. We know the things we have to improve on. We’re not there yet.”

So what’s next for the Heat? They’ll play the New York Knicks (18-27), who have won three straight games, on Saturday. The Heat sits at the top of the Southeast Division, 8.5 games ahead of the Atlanta Hawks (23-21). Miami is 12/5 to win the 2014 NBA Championship.

In other action on Wednesday, the Washington Wizards (22-23) fell to the Los Angeles Clippers (33-15), 110-103.

With the win, the Clipper won their fourth straight game and their sixth consecutive one over the Wizards at home.

For Washington, they missed out on a good opportunity to defeat the Clippers who were playing without Chris Paul as he recovers from a separated shoulder.

Bradley Beal led for the Wizards with 20 points (10 in the fourth quarter) with John Wall adding 19 points with 11 assists. At one point, the Wizards were behind by 16 points and came within one point in the fourth quarter, 81-80, but the Clippers  came fighting back. With a 100-99 Clippers advantage, they were just too tough to stop in the end.

Bradley Beal

Beal said of the game via the Associated Press, “We put ourselves in a great position, but we just didn’t have it at the end of the game. They were executing at the other end of the floor and we couldn’t get a stop.”

For the Clippers, Blake Griffin was one of five players to hit double numbers. He scored 29 points with Jamal Crawford contributing 21 points (two 3-pointers); J.J. Redick added 21 points with DeAndre Jordan scoring 14 points with 17 rebounds while Darren Collison had 16 points.

The Clippers are now 11-3 without Paul and 19-3 on the home court.

Next up for the Wizards is a Saturday game against the Thunder. Washington sits at 100/1 to win the 2014 NBA Championship while the Thunder are 5/1.

As for other Southeast Division action, the Hawks’ Wednesday game against the Detroit Pistons (18-27) had been cancelled due to poor weather conditions. The Hawks, who sit at 100/1 to win this year’s NBA Championship, will resume play on Friday against the Philadelphia 76ers (15-31).

Also on Friday, the Charlotte Bobcats (20-27) will play the Los Angeles Lakers (16-30) and the Orlando Magic (12-35) take on the Milwaukee Bucks (8-37).