Durant delivers for the Thunder

DALLAS - Kevin Durant scored 24 points and James Harden added 23, leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 106-100 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night to tie the NBA's Western Conference finals at one game each.

Harden had a four-point play in the final seconds of the third quarter that put Oklahoma City up by one. Then he and fellow reserves Eric Maynor, Nick Collison, and Daequan Cook teamed with Durant to outplay Dallas in the final period.

The Thunder's unusual set of finishers broke the game open with a 14-5 stretch capped by a tough jumper by Harden near the foul line. That it put Oklahoma City up by 10 with 3 minutes, 15 seconds left.

Maynor scored 13 points, Cook had eight and Collison six. Russell Westbrook bounced back from a tough opener to score 18 points, but he watched the fourth quarter from the bench.

"I was surprised, but Eric was playing a great floor game and was getting everyone involved," Durant said of Westbrook's not playing down the stretch.

Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks with 29 points.

"We made it a little tougher for him," Durant said, referring to Nowitzki's 48 points in Game 1.

Tyson Chandler had 15 points and 13 rebounds, and Jason Kidd added 14 points and seven assists for Dallas.

Udonis Haslem gave the Miami Heat quite a boost Wednesday in Game 2 of the NBA's Eastern Conference finals against the Chicago Bulls.

Haslem scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half of Miami's 85-75 victory, which tied the best-of-seven series at a game apiece.

"Huge. Huge," Heat guard Dwyane Wade said. "He was the player of the game. No question about it."

LeBron James fought off a cold for game highs of 29 points and 10 rebounds.

Coming off a serious foot injury, Haslem will be in the rotation Sunday when Miami hosts Game 3.

"U-D is a proven veteran and champion. . . . It was just a matter of him being healthy again," said Alonzo Mourning, a Heat executive and former all-star. "He's not really thinking about his body anymore. He's out there reacting, using his talents. And he had a pretty good impact on the outcome of the game last night."

Haslem ruptured the Lisfranc ligament in his left foot on Nov. 20 while guarding Zach Randolph in a game at Memphis. He returned briefly to play in two previous postseason games, looking rusty. That wasn't the case in Game 2.

Yao Ming says his surgically repaired left ankle is healing properly, and he would like to remain with the Houston Rockets.

Yao said that he won't know until later this summer if he'll be able to play next season. He becomes a restricted free agent July 1.

A stress fracture in his ankle kept Yao out of all but five games last season.