Finals makes thundering return to Miami

By Larry Fine

MIAMI (Reuters) - Thunder rumbled over Miami on Friday, but it was just the meteorological variety the city is accustomed to and not the young Oklahoma City Thunder, who have come to town to vie with the Miami Heat for the NBA title.

A severe storm hit Miami with noisy skies flashing lightning and bringing hail stones down but it was a welcome home show for the Heat, now armed with home court advantage over Oklahoma City in the National Basketball Association's (NBA) best-of-seven finals.

Game Three of the series will be played Sunday night at American Airlines Arena.

LeBron James and the Heat returned to familiar surroundings after they claimed a split of the opening two games in Oklahoma City with a 100-96 win over Kevin Durant and the Thunder in Thursday's Game Two of the best-of-seven championship series.

James scored 32 points including some clutch free throws at the end, and made a key defensive stop against three-time NBA scoring champion Kevin Durant with 10 seconds left and the Heat clinging to a two-point lead.

The victory enabled the Heat, who posted a regular season home record of 28-5, to turn the series into a best-of-five with the next three games at home.

The Miami Herald praised James for "asserting his brutish and ridiculously unstoppable toughness" with his clutch performance in Game Two.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel called NBA Most Valuable Player James the team's "savior", who "resurrected" the Heat three times during this postseason with a dominant road performance after Miami had fallen behind in a series.