OKLAHOMA CITY _ The Miami Heat took this one into the slow lane, a decided U-turn from their recent approach. It worked through three quarters.
And then the Oklahoma City Thunder turned into something closer resembling the Oklahoma City Thunder.
From a game that stood at 24-18 at the close if the first period, 44-40 at half, both in favor of the Thunder and then 66-64 Heat going into the fourth, Russell Westbrook stepped up his game and Oklahoma City stepped into a 105-99 victory Friday night at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
The defeat made it 10 losses in the Heat's last 11 road games, leaving the Heat at No. 7 in the Eastern Conference playoff race, a half game ahead of the No. 8 Milwaukee Bucks and a game behind the No. 6 Washington Wizards, with nine games to play.
While Westbrook closed with 29 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists, it was the power game of Thunder center Steven Adams that set up the victory, with Adams finishing with 24 points and 12 rebounds.
James Johnson led the Heat with 23 points, with Goran Dragic adding 18 points, in a game Heat guard Dwyane Wade passed 22,000 career points, Wayne Ellington passed Tim Hardaway for second place on the Heat's all-time single-season 3-point list and the Heat surpassed their record for 3-pointers in a season.
The Heat had Wade back after a five-game absence due to a strained left hamstring, but went a seventh consecutive game in the absence of center Hassan Whiteside, who is dealing with a strained left hip flexor.
The Heat again opened with Bam Adebayo at center, James Johnson and Josh Richardson at forward, Tyler Johnson and Dragic at guard.
Despite being recalled from the G League, Derrick Jones Jr. was inactive, with Wade back in the rotation.
Raymond Felton sparked the Thunder at the start of the fourth quarter with eight straight Oklahoma City points, with a Westbrook 3-pointer then putting the Thunder up 85-80 midway through the fourth quarter.
The Heat eventually got it back to 91-88, before Westbrook pushed the lead to four with a free throw with 2:55 left.
But that's when James Johnson stepped into a 3-pointer with 2:36 to play to bring the Heat within 92-91, only to see it countered by a Westbrook 3-pointer with 2:08 to play and followed by a Westbrook drive for a 97-91 Thunder lead.
A pair of Ellington free throws got the Heat back within 97-93 with 1:34 to play, with the Heat then forcing a Westbrook turnover.
James Johnson then got to the line with 64 seconds left, with his two free throws making it a 97-95 game.
The Heat the nearly forced a pair of Thunder turnovers, before Adams rolled in off a Westbrook assist for a 99-95 Thunder lead with 42.9 seconds left.
That's when Wade wasn't able to cleanly inbound, with Paul George converting a 3-point play in transition with 38.2 seconds left, effectively ending it.
With Dragic stepping forward and the Heat draining 3-pointers in the third period, the Heat moved to a 66-64 lead entering the fourth.
Dragic was up to 18 points at that stage, with Adams already with a double-double, with 20 points and 11 rebounds.
The Heat got back to the type of grind game they needed in the first half, closing within 44-40 by halftime. The difference for the Thunder was outscoring the Heat 11-1 from the line over the first two periods.
The Heat shot 7 of 21 in the first quarter, although it could have been worse, after a 3-of-12 start. They closed the opening period down 24-18, outrebounded 15-8 over the 12 minutes, with Adebayo playing six minutes without a rebound.
With their seven first-half 3-pointers, the Heat eclipsed their record for conversions in a season.
