2012 NBA Finals - Game Three Goes To Miami Heat

2012 NBA Finals - Game Three Result

Today's 2012 NBA Finals Game Three went to the Miami Heat after defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder, 91-85.

Forward LeBron James led Heat with 29 points and 14 rebounds, as the Heat rallied from a 10-point, third-quarter deficit to capture the victory. Guard Dwyane Wade added 25 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

"I think we only shot 30 percent, but we built up some toughness now that we can find different ways to win" Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "We didn't have a lot of offensive possession in the second half, but we had enough stops, enough timely scores."

The Heat won despite shooting just 37 percent from the field, but they made up for the difference at the foul line, making 31 of 35 free throws.

The Thunder were led by Kevin Durant's 25 points and six rebounds.

"Well Kevin got four fouls. We fouled too many times. They got to the free throw line 35 times, we got to the free throw line 24 times. We've got to do a better job defending them without fouling," said Thunder coach Scott Brooks.

The Heat now lead the series 2-1.

Game Four of the NBA Finals will be held on Tuesday (Wednesday morning Manila Time) at AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami, Florida.

NBA Finals Schedule 2012: Miami Heat Vs OKC Thunder

NBA Finals Schedule 2012 (Image: NBA Website)

The 2012 NBA Finals is scheduled to start this week.

This year's Game 1 of NBA Finals between Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat and Western Conference champion Oklahoma City Thunder is happening on June 12 (June 13 in Manila), which is five days later than its originally planned June 7 start. The delay is due to the lockout that pushed the start of the season to late December and shortened the regular season to 66 games.

The game will be played at 9 p.m. ET (9 a.m. Manila Time) at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City.  This is the first time since 1998 that the Finals did not take place in California or Texas, as the Thunder eliminated the defending champion Mavericks, Lakers, and Spurs in the first three rounds of the playoffs. This also marks the first Finals since 1990 that did not feature either a Phil Jackson-coached team or a team from Texas.

The rest of the 2012 NBA Finals schedule are as follows:

	Date & Time	Venue
Game 2	June 14, 2012 9 p.m. ET	Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Game 3	June 17, 2012 9 p.m. ET	American Airlines Arena, Miami, Florida
Game 4	June 19, 2012 9 p.m. ET	American Airlines Arena, Miami, Florida
Game 5	June 21, 2012 9 p.m. ET	American Airlines Arena, Miami, Florida
Game 6	June 24, 2012 9.p.m. ET	Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Game 7	June 26, 2012 9.pm. ET	Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

This year's NBA Finals marks the first time that the Thunder will appear since the franchise's relocation from Seattle, Washington in 2008, and their first Finals appearance overall since 1996 as the Seattle SuperSonics. It also marks the Miami Heat's third appearance since their championship season of 2006 and their first Finals appearance against teams other than the Dallas Mavericks.