Heat vs. Thunder Game 5 Preview

The Heat are taking on the Thunder tonight in a pivotal game for both teams. The series is currently 3-1 in favor of Miami, and they will look to finally capture a championship with a win tonight

For 2 years now, critics have been reprimanding Miami for trying to buy the perfect team. The decision by LeBron James was probably the most talked about thing last year, and everyone was waiting in anticipation to see if they could capture a championship. They failed miserably, but they are on the verge of winning one with a win tonight. Everything is one the line tonight for both teams.

In their game 4 win, Miami trailed in the first half by 15 points. The game seemed out of reach, but they battled back and cut the lead to 3 by half time. They would go on to take the lead and keep it for the remainder of the game. The final score ended up being 104-98.

In their win, James went on to score 26 points with 12 assists and 9 rebounds. He even made a crucial three despite having cramp problems. This is just a testament to how much James wants a championship this year, and he will do whatever it takes to get it.

Also helping out the cause was Mario Chalmers. He has an outstanding game and went on to score 25 points and Dwayne Wade had 25 points as well. They will need these two players to come up big for Miami if James is not a 100 percent tonight.

The Thunder kept this game competitive due in part to the amazing play of Russell Westbrook. He would go on to score 43 points with 7 rebounds, and had one of the hist best games in his career. Durant went on to score 28 points, but it was not enough to overtake the Heat. They couldn't execute late down the stretch, and James Harden couldn't get going at all.

They are now down 3-1 in the series, and they will need to have the game of their life if they want to come out the victors tonight and head back to Oklahoma City. They need a better performance from James Harden because he is a pivotal part of their offense.

For Miami, they need to have a great performance from James, Wade, and Chalmers. They also need Chris Bosh to have a good showing on defense in order to contain Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant. They need James to finish this series off in Miami and finally claim his first championship.

For the Thunder, they need James Harden to have a better night. They also need Kevin Durant to be not so timid in the first half, and be more aggressive driving to the rim. Russell Westbrook also needs to continue to be aggressive and make better decisions on the defensive end. If they can do all of these things, then they should come out the victors and send this series back to Oklahoma City.