MIA Routs OKC, 101-76

By DeAndré Phillips 

Michael Beasley had a game-high tying 19 points to lead the HEAT (3-1) to a 101-76 rout of Oklahoma City (1-3), in their fourth game of the Orlando Pro Summer League. 

Miami jumped out to an early 14-8 lead after a Mario Chalmers’ drive to the basket and free throw, but Russell Westbrook scored seven points during OKC’s 9-2 run to put them up 17-16 midway through the first. The game would remain close the rest of the period, with OKC’s Devin Green’s shot at the buzzer tying the score at 23-all. 

It was downhill for Oklahoma City after that. 

The HEAT held them to just two field goals in the second quarter – one within the first minute and the other coming at the 2:18 mark. By that time, OKC was down 49-34 and the HEAT kept its momentum, stretching the lead to as many as 29 points to win by its largest margin of the week.  

The stars of the game, once again, were Beasley and Chalmers.  

Beasley had his best game since torching the Bulls for 28 points on opening day, going 8-for-16 from the field and 2-for-4 from downtown. Every contest, he seems to unleash a new element to his game. Thursday was no different. When teams began to defend Beasley, a lefty, to take away his strong side, he showed that he could be just as effective going the other way, sometimes even finishing around the basket using his right hand.  

Chalmers finished with 11 points, four assists and one steal in 19 minutes. Offensively, he held his own against Westbrook, the fourth overall pick in this year’s draft. Westbrook, a PAC-10 All-Defensive Team selection at UCLA, struggled at times to keep Chalmers in front of him. Chalmers finished the game going 4-for-5 from the floor. He also connected on all three of his free-throw attempts. Dating back to Wednesday’s game, Chalmers has made 20-straight free throws.  

Westbrook finished with 19 points and shot the ball well, going 7-for-12. The points didn’t come easy, though, with Chalmers making him work for every shot.  

Anthony Morrow continued his outstanding shooting by recording 16 points, hitting all three of his three-pointers in the third period. Kasib Powell had 10 points in a starting role and Stephane Lasme contributed 14 points off the bench. 

The HEAT concludes summer league play tomorrow against Courtney Lee and the Orlando Magic.