2012 NBA Finals: (2) Heat vs (2) Thunder

[shadowgrin]

Battier and his bullshite flopping.

lol at the Heat's inside D making Collison look like a beast.

Bestbrook with the double-double and almost got a triple-double.

[benji]

Skip Bayless ‏@RealSkipBayless
That clinches it: Kevin Durant is definitely better than LeBron. Durant alone might be too much for the Heat. Tonite, he was just too good

[NovU]

4th quarter was just a disaster.

Everyone says Lebron is physically a monster but look at Durant. He's 7 feet that plays like a true guard. He was guarded by Chalmers to Bosh, everyone on the Heat roster. Still no answer to it. This is gonna be a tough one to swallow if the series gets out of control. Perhaps I will start looking for a seat in Bobcats bandwagon.

[Phil89]

Thunder are 9-0 at home now these playoffs.

Love how they never give up this season. A few times they've looked in trouble but they just overrun opposition teams in the fourth.

[shadowgrin]

Only one player has a positive +/- for the Heat. While LeBron has the second worse +/- with -10, Bosh is at -16.

[Phil89]

Westbrook again.

[shadowgrin]

So much for the Heat having a team built of players that have desires and wanting it more than those 'kids' from OKC who are supposed to be young and prone to mistakes and too early to win this year where the Heat deserve it more than them.

Whether OKC win or lose the Finals what they showed in game 1 makes the talking points above as useful or insightful as Skip Bayless or Magic Johnson on ESPN.

[benji]

[Radioman]

Good job and good effort by the Heat, Westbrook and Durant just to much for them. If Wade can't step up it is going to be tough for Miami.

[Jhiane]

Thunder in 6 maybe

[Radioman]

I accidentally voted for Thunder in 4 Games... , but no worry i was always wrong so far.

[SoF'nAwesome]

Thunder came out less aggressive than presumed....so, it should be easier

and really can't stop lmfao @benji

[Nick]

Anyone else think Wade was kinda lax in game 1? He had a good stat line but he just seemed like he was coasting a bit... he only turned it on when he had the ball.

LeBwade fatigued?

Also, the story of the game...

[stereoxide]

Only one player has a positive +/- for the Heat. While LeBron has the second worse +/- with -10, Bosh is at -16.

And that player is Joel Anthony. They need to play him more maybe to win more games.

[Andrew]

Great poise by the Thunder after Miami's hot start and a so-so first half. For a little while there it looked like Westbrook was going to shoot them out of the game, though his shot selection wasn't too bad and he made some key baskets in the second half. Durant was just outstanding in the fourth quarter once again. Win or lose, the series should erase any doubt that Durant has established himself as one of the best in the league, if said doubt does still exist.

If you're a Heat fan, you have to like that LeBron showed some aggressiveness in the fourth quarter, just as he did in closing out the series with the Celtics. Unfortunately for Miami, their offense didn't look particularly good late in the game and the Thunder did a nice job edging them out on the boards to keep them at bay.

[NovU]

Anyone else think Wade was kinda lax in game 1? He had a good stat line but he just seemed like he was coasting a bit... he only turned it on when he had the ball.

LeBwade fatigued?

Lax? No way. He was the most aggressor for the Heat. But I don't think he's 100% healthy as lingering-injury rumours been around since the playoffs started. But then again, he can't have no excuse in every seasons. Anyways, he wasn't laxing at all. He was trying hard on both ends. It should have been dead tireing to be consistently matched up against quick feet of Westbrook and 7 footer in Durant on D. Good job? I don't know but good effort for sure.

As for Lebron, it wasn't as bad as game 5 of last year's Finals, but could have asserted himself more into the game aggressively especially the stretch where he didn't get to run the offense for a several straight possessions. But give credits to talented youngsters. Nothing was enough against younger, faster, and bigger Thunder who played to their strength and the Heat simply fell short. As said numerously before, we are an underdog team coming into this series. We will need more from everybody one way or the other.

Lebron before the series said that he let down everybody in last year's Finals and that he didn't make adjustment to his game when it was needed the most. Something he didn't admit with his ego perviously. Hoping to see he does make an adjustment to his game and come out stronger after each game. After all, game 1 was extremely close and it could have gone either way.

[Nick]

No way. He was the most aggressor for the Heat.

I think we watched different games.

In the game i watched Wade never really got into things. The game i watched prompted thoughts of contemplating trading Wade for a big man from Heat fans.

Some people don't see what they don't want to see, i guess.

[NovU]

Are you implying there wasn't much effort from him? Because he was evidently aggressive both on offense and defense. His facial expression caught on camera at times were laxing but that was about it, and definitely no doubt on his effort level. In fact, I thought he forced an issue too much at times when I actually thought Lebron was better option to run the offense, cuz it is usually more effective when Lebron can take over the game. And watch how many times he was guarding Durant and Westbrook, and how many times he was the one that was challenging the shot. His feet were constantly moving. I really am not sure where you got that idea from. Please do elaborate.

[Sauru]

lol at the heat. even when its clear the game is over they still continued to flop. i wonder if the heat practice sessions involve acting lessons now

But I don't think he's 100% healthy as lingering-injury rumours been around since the playoffs started.

who is 100% at this point? the celtics were as beat up as any team not named chicago and look what they did this season? we dont lose bradley the heat would have been watching game 1 of the finals

[thatwizardguy]

Durant is the best in the game, finally people can see why and he will get that spotlight after playing for a small market team.

[Nick]

Are you implying there wasn't much effort from him?

I'm just saying it seemed as if he was playing in 2nd gear. He was still good, but it was if he was doing just enough to get by. I love watching Wade play usually but today i was like "hmm, wade is really chillin' out". Maybe he's injured... or maybe he just couldn't get into the flow of the game... who knows.

I'm actually rooting for the Heat so don't think i'm hating. But i just expect more out of Wade. And he's gonna have to step up if Heat are to win.

In fact, I thought he forced an issue too much at times

Don't go thinking that settling for jumpshots counts as effort...

[NovU]

I thought he was horrific despite the huge effort. But he's been like that for the most of the playoffs so far, and apparently we'll need much much more from Wade against the Thunder.

I didn't like Wade on KD too much either. Instead of Lebron, Shane and Dwyane were mostly guarding KD who just out-heighted them. Lebron will need to be the one that's guarding him just like KD did Bron.

who is 100% at this point? the celtics were as beat up as any team not named chicago and look what they did this season? we dont lose bradley the heat would have been watching game 1 of the finals

Sauru come on son. Bradley seriously?

[shadowgrin]

Huh-oh, old people fight.

[Spree#8]

On offense, Wade was only aggressive at the beginning of the 4th quarter. Earlier, especially in the 3rd when the Heat were losing the lead, he settled for one bad jumpshot after another. His go-to move was a pump fake, when nobody went for it he just passed out to someone on the perimeter. Not only it led to a turnover sometimes, but wasted a few seconds of their shot clock. I liked his effort on defense more, but he couldn't handle neither Durant (can't blame him for this one), nor Westbrook. The last time I mentioned Wade is far from playing to the best of his abilities, I heard it's a cool story. The stats don't always show it, but in these playoffs he's just settling for being an OK player instead of being the co-leader of his team, the exceptions were game 7 vs the Celtics and 2 games against the Pacers. The Heat don't need him taking dumb jumpshots, because he's no Durant. They need him to attack aggressively on the pick-and-rolls, where he's an excellent scorer and a decent creator.

The Heat just let the perfect opportunity to steal a game in OKC slip. Why was it perfect? Because their role players showed up. Battier and Chalmers combined for 29 points and 6-10 from downtown. They might not repeat that for the rest of the series. Their real problem was the defense though. In the 4th, Westbrook and Durant were doing whatever they wanted to. Westbrook was easily getting past whoever was guarding him, often via a pick and he met no help at the rim, the Thunder were allowed way too many easy points in the paint. Even when Haslem came over to help, it seemed to me that all he tried to do was take charges, he didn't contest shots. And of course, on top of that, no answer at all for Durant. He was outstanding. Why didn't they put LeBron on him in the 4th though? Durant was guarding him and doing a decent job forcing him into jumpshots, but he still got 30.

On the other end, great defense by the Thunder, especially Sefolosha, Collison (best bigman of this game) and Fisher. Deflections, rebounds, contesting shots, they did it all.

Miami has to play better defense, because there's no way they will outdo the Thunder offensively. With their role players unlikely to play like in game 1 again, Wade and Bosh (might be getting too confident in his 3-point shot) need to wake up or this series might be pretty short.

[NovU]

It's not like Wade could have easily drove in for a lay up against the Thunder anyways. And he's been forcing the shots with hand in the face which also didn't help. Not to mention the rumour that he's not 100% to get enough lift so the shots fall short and hit the front of the rim. But all in all, Wade's jumpers have to be little more consistent to make defenders close in. Right now, the defenders are not being threatened enough for them to bite on his pump fakes or whatever Wade's pulling. That makes driving game much harder for Wade.

And not putting Lebron on Durant didn't make much sense either. According to some source, the Heat wanted LeBawn to be engage on both ends by guarding KD with Wade or Shane. Apparently, not so smart idea it turned out to be.