Heat hold off Thunder in wild finish, even NBA Finals at 1-1

OKLAHOMA CITY?

Thursday's lesson? The Oklahoma City Thunder aren't going away, too young and too impetuous to know better, frighteningly resilient.

Thursday's other lesson? The Miami Heat are a different team when all three of the Big Three take the court for the opening tip.

With Chris Bosh back in the starting lineup, the Heat pushed to an early 17-point lead and then held on for dear life in what turned into a 100-96 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 2 of the NBA Finals at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

It wasn't easy and nearly proved too harrowing, not decided until Thunder forward Kevin Durant missed a running jumper with 9.9 seconds to play and his team within two.

But the Heat now return to AmericanAirlines Arena for the next three games, starting Sunday at 8 p.m., tied 1-1 in this best-of-seven series.

James said he knew exactly what was at stake as the Thunder were rallying, and as the Heat finally held their ground.

"It meant everything," he said of holding on. "We had played too well in the first 36 minutes for this to slip away from us."

He exited more than aware of what he is up against.

"We knew they were going to keep fighting," he said,. "We knew they were going to keep coming.

"We just wanted to try to make one more or two more plays than they made."

Just two games in, the series already has been a wild ride.

"This is going to be like this probably every single game,'' Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "Everything we've been through shows this group has a resourcefulness."

Especially when whole, which the Heat were Thursday, with Bosh back in the starting lineup for the first time in a month.

"I kind of put it in my mind that I knew I had to give it the effort I did before, whether I was ready or not," said Bosh, who had played the previous four games off the bench, after missing three weeks with a lower-abdominal strain in the opener of the second round on May 13 against the Indiana Pacers.

The Heat could not exhale until forward LeBron James stepped to the line with 7.1 seconds to play and buried a pair of free throws to close out his 32-point night.

"He's been doing it in so many different ways in this playoff run," Spoelstra said of James, who this time did it by shooting 12 of 12 from the foul line.

A game after blowing a 13-point lead in Tuesday's Game 1 105-94 loss, the Heat nearly blew a 17-point first-half lead and an advantage that stood at 15 in the third quarter.

But behind James, this time they held on.

And at this stage, that's all that matters.

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