The Oklahoma City Thunder delivered a solid performance in last nights game one win of the NBA Finals (except for the introductions). Even if your not a Thunder fan, you have to appreciate their aggressive play on both ends of the floor last night. Everyone showed up for OKC and it resulted in a 105-94 win over the Heat; giving the Thunder an early 1-0 series lead.
A game one loss is not the proverbial "kiss of death" in an NBA Finals series and the Miami Heat know this. Last year during the Finals, the Heat overpowered the Dallas Mavericks in game one, but would eventually falter and lose the series against Dallas in six.
Basketball fans are already saying that the Heat are done in this one. Most of the talk is centered around Miami's "big 3" and the things Miami didn't do in the game one loss. The fact of the matter is that the Heat are far from finished and we need to give OKC credit where credit is do. The Thunder stayed poised and weathered Miami's early attack. They dug in before halftime, cutting Miami's lead to seven. OKC's attack mode mentality early in the second half crumpled any momentum Miami had left over from the first two quarters.
Heat forward LeBron James lead his team with 30 points (his 12th 30 plus point game this postseason) and 9 rebounds in 46 minutes of action. LeBron's numbers this postseason have been truly remarkable. James is averaging 30.7 points, 5 assists, and just under 10 rebounds per game in the playoffs, but he has to get some help from teammates Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh going forward in the Finals.
He probably will. Wade and Bosh have been helpful when playing healthy this postseason; something just didn't seem right with those two guys last night. The Heat came out tired in the second half just as the Thunder ramped up their tenacity on defense. Wade and Bosh didn't have the energy needed to help James keep up with the well rested Thunder.
The Thunder are a very good basketball team and forward Kevin Durant is beginning to look like the second coming of Michael Jordan. Durant lead all scorers with 36 points and 8 boards (his 7th 30 plus point game this postseason). Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook had a productive night as well. Westbrook dropped 27 points on 10-24 shooting, dished 11 assist, and snagged 8 rebounds (2 boards shy of a triple-double).
Twenty four shot attempts by a point guard is a pretty big number, but Westbrook needed to be aggressive. Westbrook should continue to keep shooting until head coach Scott Brooks advises him to do otherwise. If Westbrook needs to shoot the ball in order for him to keep his mind in an attacking mindset, then he should continue to do so. He and Durant were superb last night. His 24 shot attempts didn't hinder OKC's cause in the least bit during game one. Instead, Durant and his teammates fed off of Westbrook's energy the entire second half.
Game two of the NBA Finals tips at 9PM ET Thursday night on ABC. The Heat should be settled in now. They now have a day to rest and prepare. Miami is aware of how loud the arena will be on Thursday night (despite what Bosh thinks), so they will be ready to face the noise. Look for Miami to come out attacking early again, but this time they should have the energy to close the Thunder out. The Heat know how big of an advantage it will be in the following three games if they can force the Thunder to drop game two in OKC. They've been on the wrong side of this equation before.
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