OKC Thunder Cool Down Miami Heat, Win 104-97

The Thunder snapped a five-game Heat home winning streak due to energetic defense and Jalen Williams' first 30-point game in exactly a month.

Dec 20, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein (55) defends Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) during the first half at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Rhona Wise-Imagn Images / Rhona Wise-Imagn Images

The Oklahoma City Thunder won its seventh straight regular-season game, and both legs of a road back-to-back, by beating the Miami Heat 104-97. Oklahoma City improved to 13-0 when holding opponents under 100 points.

Alex Caruso drained a clutch-time 3-pointer right after checking in for Cason Wallace. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a driving floater on the next Thunder possession to push the lead back to seven points.

Jalen Williams, who poured in a critical corner three with 80 seconds left in the game, scored a game-high 33 points on 12-for-25 shooting and 4-for-7 from deep. He added six rebounds, four assists and a block to help offset four turnovers.

Gilgeous-Alexander tallied 25 points on 25 shots, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals. Isaiah Hartenstein tied his season-high with 18 rebounds, including five on the offensive glass, in addition to 13 points on 4-for-6 shooting.

Tyler Herro led Miami with 28 points on 24 shots, as well as 12 rebounds, five assists and three steals.

Bam Adebayo recorded his 206th career double-double — 17 points and 10 rebounds — to move past Alonzo Mourning for the second-most in Heat history. He needs 15 to match franchise pioneer Rony Seikaly.

Factor	Thunder	Heat
Points	104	97
Effective FG%	53.5%	50.6%
Turnovers	14	18
Offensive Rebounds	12	7
Free Throws	12-for-17	13-for-20

Oklahoma City started Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Isaiah Hartenstein, Luguentz Dort and Cason Wallace.

The Heat started Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson, Jimmy Butler, Haywood Highsmith and Bam Adebayo.

Adebayo scored six quick points to get Miami's offense going, highlighted by a powerful dunk over Hartenstein for the game's first basket. The Thunder center then responded with a floater and reverse layup.

Dort swished a right-wing 3-pointer and executed a steal-and-slam guarding Butler to hand Oklahoma City a 19-16 advantage seven minutes into the first quarter. Butler came out of the game immediately and did not return because of illness.

The Thunder committed five first-quarter turnovers, including uncharacteristic bad passes from Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams, but led 30-25 after the period due to shooting 12-for-21 (57.1%) from the field.

Alex Caruso took a bad Adebayo pass coast-to-coast for a layup as the second quarter started. Jalen Williams converted an and-one driving layup over Jaime Jaquez Jr. minutes later, though the Heat scored four straight 2-pointers against Oklahoma City's small-ball lineup to force two Mark Daigneault timeouts.

Reserve forward Nikola Jovic then scored seven points in four minutes, cutting the Thunder lead to a point. Dort and Jalen Williams, who combined for five first-half triples, drained back-to-back outside shots in the closing minutes to give Oklahoma City a 50-47 halftime lead.

Jaquez Jr. elbowed Adebayo inadvertently going for a rebound 90 seconds into the third quarter. Dort made a high-arcing fast-break triple before Miami could call timeout.

The Heat executed a 12-2 run after Adebayo left the game, headlined by back-to-back corner threes from Dru Smith and Highsmith. Oklahoma City then scored 10 straight points, with Jalen Williams converting two difficult paint shots.

Gilgeous-Alexander drained a 3-pointer midway through the quarter — his first make since the opening period — to begin a six-minute stretch scoring 13 points. His outburst ensured the Thunder maintained an 81-70 lead with 12 minutes to go.

Oklahoma City plays the Washington Wizards this Monday, Dec. 23 at 7 p.m. CST for its first true home game in 13 days.

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