Thabo Sefolosha hits Russell Westbrook with no-look dime, gives OKC defensive spark (VIDEO)

In the grand scheme of things, it was a small play early in the third quarter of the Oklahoma City Thunder's 105-94 victory over the Miami Heat in Game 1 of the NBA finals. But if the commercials for "Prometheus" have taught us anything, besides the fact that Stephen A. Smith and Coors Light will combine to make you less excited about a movie you previously wanted to see, it's that big things come from small beginnings. Such was the case with this brilliant dish by Thabo Sefolosha.

Setting the table: After trailing for the entire first half and entering the third quarter down seven, the Thunder are down 58-53 with 9:30 left in the third. With the shot clock winding down, Serge Ibaka takes a not-so-hot perimeter jumper, which misses. Udonis Haslem goes after the rebound, but is beaten to the ball by Kendrick Perkins, who didn't have a good game and whose replacement in the lineup by Nick Collison was a major plus for the Thunder in the second half, but who does definitely hustle and try. That made a big difference here.

Perk saves the ball back in and off Mario Chalmers' fingertips, allowing Sefolosha to dart in, take possession and take advantage of the fact that Miami now had four players ahead of the ball in anticipation of a break the other way. In one fell swoop, he dribbles to gather, steps toward Haslem, Miami's lone defender left, stares left at Perkins on the baseline and brings the ball back to the right to a wide-open, all-alone Westbrook, who finishes. All of a sudden, a bad offensive possession that looked like it could have turned into a Miami runout turns into two points for OKC, cutting the Heat lead to three and getting the Chesapeake Energy Arena rocking.

This didn't swing the game, of course — the Heat weathered OKC's initial second-half burst, answered back throughout the next several minutes and held a five-point lead with 2:05 remaining in the quarter — but these sorts of hustle moments matter. As Trey Kerby wrote Wednesday morning at The Basketball Jones, "Plays like this are how you win championships."

Getting big performances from role players helps a lot, too, and Sefolosha — who frequently goes under the radar when discussing the Thunder because he doesn't tend to produce an awful lot of points or highlights — was critical for Scott Brooks in Game 1.

Miami was -14 when Sefolosha was on the floor in Game 1, scoring at a rate about 10 points per 100 possessions lower than they did when he was on the bench and posting eight of their 11 turnovers in his 28 minutes of floor time. His presence was really felt in the second half, when he played 20 of 24 minutes, harassing Dwyane Wade into a 4-for-11 shooting performance and using his length and quickness to clog passing lanes, while adding nine points, two rebounds, a steal and a block of his own to go with that gorgeous assist. He seemed to be everywhere on the court without getting in the way, providing integral play and huge value without taking anything off the table. He was just what the Thunder needed.

So much so, in fact, that we seem to have tacitly made an agreement to forget the fact that he pretty hilariously missed two wide-open dunks in the first few minutes of the third quarter:

Now, you can argue that the missed dunks were the result of the fouls that were called on Miami defenders Mario Chalmers and Dwyane Wade, and that's fine — the box score will support your claim. I would just suggest that you go back and take another look at those plays, focusing on the amount of contact Chalmers made with Thabo's arm (negligible) and the time it occurred (as Sefolosha was already falling short) on the first attempt, and then trying to find the foul that Wade committed on the second attempt. Go ahead, keep looking — we'll just be over here, laughing at the optimism Sefolosha showed in taking off from Dr. J territory.

But there's a reason we put this one below the jump today. Thabo earned the praise up top. If he keeps playing that great defense and chipping in when his number's called offensively, we'll keep burying the bloopers. I'm sure that's a deal Thunder fans will gladly take.

Is the clip above not working for you? Feel free to check out the dime elsewhere, thanks to our friends at the National Basketball Association. Video of Thabo's missed dunks comes via the delightful TrollsInParis.