“That third quarter hurt us,” James said.

The Thunder maintained that lead for the next 10 minutes before blowing it open in the final minute. A three-pointer from Durant put Oklahoma City ahead 87-81 with 6:29 to play. Less than a minute later, Durant streaked through the Heat’s defense with his impossibly long arms for a layup.

Durant began the game timidly but found his form in the final period. The layup gave him 11 points in the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter and put the Thunder ahead by six points. After a timeout, he then stroked a 19-footer to expand that lead to eight points.

James couldn’t match Durant’s clutch performance. On the next possession, James missed a contested three pointer and then later missed a left-handed layup. With 2:44 left in the game, the James had two points in the final period on 1 of 5 shooting. Meanwhile Durant was 6 of 10 shooting in the same time period. He was 6 of 10 in the first three quarters of the game.

“I think [Durant] got some looks that we didn’t like,” James said. “He got some transition threes we gave up where we didn’t have nobody on him and he had some jumpers we didn’t like. We need to make adjustments.”

In the beginning, it was clear which team had an understanding of the pressure that accompanies The Finals and which team was new to the experience. The Heat built an 11-point lead in the first quarter and led by as many as 13 points in the first half. Meanwhile, the Thunder committed twice as many turnovers (eight) as the Heat and looked unsure offensively.

It didn’t take the Thunder long to figure it out and adapt. Oklahoma City outscored Miami 58-40 in the second half.

“We had to figure some things out and it took a quarter and half, but I think we did that,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. “I though they responded well in the second half and moved the ball very well. We only had two turnovers in the second half and that’s huge.”

Said Durant: “This level of basketball is the hardest we’ve played and we just want to take it slow. It took us a couple minutes to the get the nervousness and the jitteriness out of us, so we just have to come out a little better in the next game.”

Two unlikely sources contributed to the Heat’s quick start. Battier was 3 of 3 from three-point range in the first quarter and finished the half with 13 points. The total tied his postseason high for a game. Chalmers had eight points in the first quarter on a pair of three-pointers. Overall, the Heat was 6 of 10 from distance in the first half.

“In the first half, they made six threes and they average six in the playoffs,” Brooks said. “The lead was only seven, so I was encouraged.”