Shot-clock blunder mars brilliant game for Westbrook

By Larry Fine

MIAMI (Reuters) - Russell Westbrook shone for the Oklahoma City Thunder for almost all of Game Four with a spectacular offensive display on Tuesday, but a rash blunder in the closing seconds left his team on the brink of an NBA Finals defeat.

Westbrook scored a game-high 43 points, including all 13 of Oklahoma City's points during a late fightback that tied the score at 90-90 midway through the fourth quarter.

He sank 20-of-32 shots to keep the Thunder close but with 17.3 seconds remaining and Oklahoma City trailing 101-98, a jump ball was called between Udonis Haslim and the Thunder's James Harden, and the shot-clock set at five seconds for Miami.

As the ball was tipped toward the corner, Miami's Mario Chalmers scrambled to gather it in for a desperation heave at the basket with barely any time left on the 24-second shot-clock.

Westbrook, however, was unaware of the situation and fouled the Heat guard to prevent the clock from ticking down any further.

Instead of Oklahoma City getting the ball back with a chance to force overtime with a three-pointer, Chalmers was able to sink a pair of free throws to seal a victory that put Miami 3-1 ahead in the series and one win away from the title.

No team has ever come back from such a deficit to win the National Basketball Association crown.

"It was just a miscommunication on my part," Westbrook told reporters after the 104-98 loss.