OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma City Thunder escaped with a 115-101 win over the Miami Heat. They snatched victory from the jaws of defeat as they trailed for most of the contest and by as many as 21 points.

“We started to fight a little bit after a really bad start. We went down 20 in the first half. We won the second quarter, we won the third quarter by a point, but we played better than the start,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “We went into another level obviously in the fourth.”

To first appreciate the fourth quarter, we have to go back to the start of the game, where the Thunder looked like they were about to drop a rare loss because of a lack of effort and concentration over a struggling Heat squad.

The Thunder began as lackadaisical as they had looked all season. The Heat got whatever they wanted on offense — whether from the outside or inside the paint. After the first quarter, they built a 35-23 lead. While OKC scored better in the second frame, Miami kept pace.

The Thunder entered halftime with a 62-52 deficit, but the vibes felt like a 20-point hole. OKC had one of its worst halves of the season against a Miami squad that didn’t even know who’d be available hours before the game started as they had a stomach bug outbreak.

The deficit changed very little out of the break. Every time the Thunder flirted with a comeback, the Heat answered back. Miami stiffarmed OKC on the scoreboard throughout the entire frame. OKC scored 30 points but couldn’t climb an inch out of its halftime hole. It entered the fourth quarter with a 93-83 disadvantage.

It felt like the Thunder were on their way to a disappointing loss. It was only a 10-point deficit, but their body language read like a team ready for the All-Star break.

Instead, OKC had a historic run to start the fourth quarter. It scored the first 24 points of the frame to flip it from a 93-83 deficit to a 107-93 lead with six minutes left.

The avalanche run was highlighted by a Shai Gilgeous-Alexander takeover. He hit a different gear. His jumper and drives were unstoppable. It took less than two minutes for the Thunder to tie the contest as Lu Dort stole the ball from Tyler Herro and scored a transition layup to make it 93 points apiece.

With the OKC crowd already going crazy, Gilgeous-Alexander poured gas to the fire on the next possession when he lived in the moment and splashed in a stepback 3-pointer to give the Thunder a lead they wouldn’t surrender for the final nine minutes.

At that point, the Heat were throttled. After making it look so easy for the first three quarters, they suddenly forgot how to generate offense. It took them nearly half the quarter before Bam Adebayo knocked down a 3-pointer for their first basket.

But by that point, all the Thunder had to do was exchange buckets the rest of the way. They were happy to oblige as Miami couldn’t get within single- digit points. Still dazed by OKC’s game-changing run, the Heat couldn’t shake off the monumental momentum the Thunder rode to an improbable win.

The Thunder finished the fourth quarter with an eye-popping 32-8 scoring advantage.

The Thunder shot 49% from the field and went 15-of-39 (38.5%) from 3. They shot 14-of-20 on free throws. They had 22 assists on 43 baskets. Six Thunder players scored double-digit points.

Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 32 points and nine assists. Jalen Williams had 18 points and six rebounds. Dort contributed with 17 points and stellar defense. Kenrich Williams had 14 points off the bench. Aaron Wiggins and Isaiah Joe were OKC’s other double-digit scorers. Meanwhile, the Heat shot 46% from the field and went 11-of-34 (32.4%) from 3. They shot 18-of-25 on free throws. They had 24 assists on 36 baskets. Six Heat players scored double-digit points. Adebayo led the way with 27 points on 11-of-19 shooting, 15 rebounds and four assists. Herro was limited to 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting and six assists. Andrew Wiggins only had 13 points on 4-of-12 shooting. Davion Mitchell scored 14 points. Nikola Jovic and Alec Burks each had 11 points off the bench.

It’s been a while since the Thunder played a fourth quarter with their starters. Recently, the frame has been filled with third-string players from both sides as OKC ran away with the contest. This thrilling finish was a nice change of pace. They showed they don’t need to play a stellar game every time to squeeze out a win.

X