Heat vs. Thunder Highlights: Most Critical Moments from Game 4 Classic

The Oklahoma City Thunder can't seem to get the job done.

Russell Westbrook can put up 43 points. OKC can shoot the lights out in the first quarter. They can shut down Shane Battier and almost everyone on the Miami Heat bench.

Regardless, when it comes down to the wire, they cannot find a way to win—not even against a LeBron-less team in the final seconds. 

Miami escaped Tuesday's Game 4 with a 104-98 win and now stands just one victory way from an NBA championship. Here's a look at the critical high (and low) points from the game. 

Russell Westbrook's 43 Points 

It takes cajones for a player under serious fire for taking too many shots to respond by putting up 32 the next time out, but that's exactly what Westbrook did on Tuesday, and it worked. However, unfortunately for him, no one else on the Thunder was doing much of anything offensively.

Westbrook had 18 points in a very strong first half and finished with 43 on 20-for-32 shooting. He was hitting them from everywhere, except from beyond the arc, where he went 0-for-3. At any rate, it was Westbrook who kept the Thunder in the game until the very end, yet it was also Westbrook who put the game out of reach for good in the final seconds.

Westbrook and Kevin Durant combined for 71 points in Game 4. The rest of the Thunder combined for 26.

LeBron James' Helpers 

LeBron may not have had his usual 30 points in this game, but it didn't matter. His role in the first half wasn't to score all the points; it was to find his teammates and help them find ways to score. 

LeBron finished Game 4 with 12 assists (and 26 points), most of which came in a critical first half when the Heat had to hold off a Thunder squad that kept threatening—and succeeding—to take the lead. He proved that he doesn't have to score all the points to make an impact, and it worked. By comparison, Dwyane Wade and Mario Chalmers each finished the game with three assists.

When it came time for LeBron to start putting up the points, he did that, too—particularly in the third quarter, when his 10 points allowed the Heat to slowly but surely chip away at the Thunder's resolve. 

LeBron's Fourth-Quarter Cramps Limit Him in Final Minutes

LeBron was cruising until the fourth quarter, when thigh cramps after a fall under the basket knocked him out of the game for a spurt.

He persevered, all the same. He reentered the game with about four minutes left and the Heat down by two, and he hit a critical three-pointer that gave the Heat a crucial 97-94 lead.

He did as much as he could despite the pain—and that three was just about enough—but he couldn't be on the court for the final seconds, when he entrusted his comrades to keep the lead. Thanks to Mario Chalmers, and a boneheaded move by Westbrook, they did.

Russell Westbrook Fouls Mario Chalmers With 13 Seconds Left

After James Harden forced a jump ball against Udonis Haslem with just under 17 seconds remaining and the Thunder down 101-98, Westbrook fouled Chalmers—in a one-possession game, when the shot clock didn't reset.

Game over.

It's not Westbrook's fault that the Thunder lost; if anything, he kept them in the game. It's just a shame that his spectacular performance was overshadowed by a colossal mental mistake in the final seconds.

Needless to say, Chalmers (25 points) sunk the free throws and Miami took the win.