LeBron and the Heat One Win from a Title

The Miami Heat overcame a 17-point deficit, a career game from Russell Westbrook and LeBron James' fourth-quarter injury to beat Oklahoma City 104-98 and take a commanding 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals.

Westbrook very nearly won the game for OKC single-handedly with a 43-point outburst some are calling one of the ten greatest individual performances in NBA Finals history. Unfortunately, many will remember Westbrook for an ill-advised foul on Mario Chalmers.

Miami's Udonis Haslem and Oklahoma City's James Harden had a jump-ball with 17.3 seconds remaining in the game and the Heat leading by three. Shane Battier recovered the ball and tipped it to Chalmers. Westbrook, apparently thinking the shot clock would reset off the jump ball, promptly fouled Chalmers to stop the clock. But the shot-clock did not re-set... Miami would have had under five seconds on the 24.

The correct play would have been straight-up defense, as a shot-clock violation or miss and rebound would have given the Thunder the ball down three with about 12 seconds remaining. Instead, Chalmers canned two free throws to give Miami a five-point lead.

Chalmers' performance may have been his best since the 2008 NCAA Championship win over Memphis. The OKC defense had been sagging off Chalmers for much of the series, using his man to help on Dwyane Wade and LeBron James. In Game Four, Chalmers made the most of those open looks, scoring 25 points on 9-15 shooting (4-5 from the free-throw line).

Scott Brooks was able to keep Kevin Durant out of foul trouble, partly by having other players defend LeBron James for much of the game. Durant finished with 28 points, but was just 1-5 from three-point range. But James Harden's struggles continued; the sixth man of the year managed just eight points on 2-10 shooting.

James was carried off the floor with about five minutes remaining, suffering from what is being described as severe leg cramps. He returned at the 4:05 mark and was able to sink a dagger three-pointer, but was back on the bench for the closing minutes. He finished with a team-high 26 points and 12 assists, and was one rebound short of a triple-double.

The series continues on Thursday night in Miami, where the Heat will be playing for the second title in franchise history and first of the "Big Three" era.

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Image: LeBron James is carried off the court by teammate Juwan Howard in the fourth quarter of Game Four. Getty Images / Mike Ehrmann