Thunder comeback attempt spoiled in 110-108 loss to Heat

The Oklahoma City Thunder were not able to snap their three-game losing streak as the Miami Heat escaped with a second consecutive road win, 110-108.

Just like it was the story against the Dallas Mavericks in their loss on Monday, the 3-point shot was the Heat’s friend on Wednesday. Overall, the Heat went 24-of-56 (42.9%) from outside — but most of their damage was done in the first half, where they shot 16-of-29 (55.2%).

Trailing by as many as 21 points, it felt like the Thunder were going to suffer a rare blowout loss. But after halftime, the Thunder limited the Heat’s damage from outside, going 8-of-27 (29.6%) from 3. The Thunder used a 32-22 third-quarter advantage to make it a game that came down to the final possessions.

With 25.1 seconds left, Tyler Herro took up the Jimmy Butler role and was given the chance to potentially win the game for the Heat. As he began to drain the clock with a series of moves, Herro worked his way to the right side of the court and hit a contested 19-foot pull-up jumper.

The shot quieted the crowd as the Thunder had 5.1 seconds to work with to either send the game to overtime or win on a buzzer beater.

Instead, what transpired was a bad Shai Gilgeous-Alexander with questionable contact that went uncalled and a Josh Giddey reverse layup that ended with him on the ground too.

Alas, the refs bit their tongue and the Heat escaped with the two-point win as the crowd began to boo the officials.

After the game though, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault refused to blame the officials and said the crew is too experienced to question their competency.

In the end, the Thunder failed to complete the comeback and lost to the Heat, 110-108 and their losing streak extends to four games.

For the Heat, Herro led the way as he scored 35 points on 12-of-23 shooting and an absurd 9-of-17 shooting from 3. Bam Adebayo had 15 points and 13 rebounds. Kyle Lowry had 14 points and six assists.

Let’s take a look at Thunder player grades.