Thunder Drops Game 3 to Heat

The lead was 10, the building was quiet, it was late in the third quarter, and the Oklahoma City Thunder were on the cusp of grabbing command of the NBA Finals again. Then the mistakes started. Soon, it was the Miami Heat taking the lead in this championship series—and ensuring the Thunder would spend two days with the memories of so many things going wrong at the wrong times.

A night of missed free throws, more foul trouble for Kevin Durant, wasted opportunities in critical situations, and one dreadful stretch to end the third quarter all added up to a loss for the Thunder yesterday, falling 91-85 to the Heat in Game 3 of the finals. Miami now leads the best-of-seven championship series 2-1, with Game 4 back on its floor tomorrow night. "I thought we gave ourselves a chance to win," says Thunder coach Scott Brookes. But "the game was basically anybody's ballgame that fourth quarter." Click for more game details. (More Miami Heat stories.)