Finals: Game 1

On Tuesday night the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Miami Heat 104-95 to take a 1-0 series lead in the NBA Finals. Tuesday's Game 1 was the highest rated Game 1 of any NBA Finals ever. Proving the fact that this is the match-up all of America wanted.

Now I'm not so sure the Heat played bad, or that the Thunder exploited the Heat's weaknesses, which, yes, they did do at times, but I think the reason the Heat lost was because they got away from the things they always do, which are obviously their strengths. They tried to get into a jump shooting competition with the Thunder, which I think they'll lose 10 out of 10 times.

The Heat's lack of depth once again reared it's ugly head Tuesday night, prompting LeBron James to say, "We have to get more guys in there to give me and D-Wade rest" at the post-game press conference. I think LeBron wasn't just saying the Heat need more bodies, I think he meant the Heat need the bodies they have to contribute in a way that the team doesn't give up huge runs when LeBron is off the court. Notice, I said when LeBron is off the court, not Dwyane Wade, who had a few moments Tuesday night, but is not helping the team like he needs to be. Wade had a few plays in that 2nd quarter that I really liked, but as the game went along, I couldn't help thinking that there is something seriously wrong with his knee. Wade was 7-19 for 19 points in 42 minutes, and simply has not been able to create for himself and his teammates like the Dwyane Wade of old. It's really just been this postseason, I may be wrong, but the times I watched the Heat this year during the regular season I thought Wade looked fine, but who knows. The bottom line is, if Dwyane Wade keeps playing like he does the Miami Heat WILL lose their 2nd straight NBA Finals appearance.


The Heat simply need to attack the basket, that's one of their strengths and they have a habit of getting away from doing it at times.. Attacking the basket is what LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh do best. The Heat were 6-26 on 2's outside of the paint Tuesday night, which included all 11 of Chris Bosh's shot attempts. Yes you read that correctly, Chris Bosh did not attempt a shot within the paint. All. Night.

A close second for the best attribute the Miami Heat's Big 3, and the team in general, has is it's transition offense. Tuesday night was the 1st time ever the Miami Heat were outscored in fast break points by 20 points or more while having the Big 3 on the roster, 24-4. Yes, 4 fast break points for, The. Miami. Heat. 4!!!!! NBA Championships are won within that painted area, whether it's on offense, defense, or rebounding, the paint is where champions are made so if the Heat don't start attacking the basket and pushing the ball up the floor, they are toast in my opinion.

The Heat got away from their strengths on offense but they also got away from their strengths on defense. The first was the lack of physicality the Heat played with Tuesday night. The Heat's bigs, along with LeBron, Wade, Chalmers, and Battier love to play with a lot of physicality, and in Game 1 every single player on the Thunder played more physical than every player on the Heat(excluding LeBron). Even Derek Fisher played more physical Tuesday night than any big, especially Udonis Haslem, on the Heat which was just sad to watch for me. The Heat need to develop a mean streak, and maybe they don't think of themselves as the villain, but they need to start playing like one.

When you watch the Miami Heat play defense, they basically never, ever switch on screens, until the 2nd half of Game 1 when they backed out of their usual plan of trapping the ball-handler. In the 1st quarter, the Heat trapped the ball-handler on pick-n-roll situations, came up with 3 OKC turnovers, and a 7 point lead, that was 13 at one point. The Heat's decision to start switching on pick-n-roll situations often caused Miami defenders to be out of position with Durant or Westbrook driving to the bucket at full speed for easy baskets. I understand maybe trying it a few times but once the Thunder went on big runs I would have gone back to trapping. I mean the Thunder scored on 21 of their final 24 possessions, a defensive adjustment was very much needed. I would feel much more comfortable making Ibaka or Collison hit an open jumper than I would letting Westbrook and Durant getting a nice cushion from the switches. I am a firm believer in not letting the superstars beat me.

Another part to go a long with the defensive brain-farts was the fact that I would have liked to see LeBron on Durant more often throughout the game. Durant was 0-2 for 2 points with LeBron on him, while he was 12-18 for 34 points against everyone else. Now we don't have the greatest sample size to truly measure James effectiveness on Durant but the now three times the Heat & Thunder have played this season, Kevin Durant has committed 10 turnovers (9 in 1 of the games) against the Heat, with every single one coming while he's been guarded by LeBron. That stat needs to somehow end up on Spolestra's desk by the time Game 2 tips-off.

I'm still sticking by my prediction of the Heat in 7, and I do believe that OKC still needs to win Game 2 more  than Miami needs to. Even if Miami does or doesn't end up winning the NBA Finals, the team and it's star player will make a number of firsts. If the Heat do win the Finals, it will be the first time in NBA history that a team was down at one point in 3 of its series in the playoffs and still won the NBA Championship. If the Heat lose it will cause LeBron James to be the 1st player to do two things. First, he will be the first 3-time NBA MVP to lose his first three Finals trips and secondly, he will be the first modern-day (post-merger) superstar to lose his first three finals trips.

However, if LeBron James wins the NBA Title, he will be one year younger than when Michael Jeffery Jordan won his first NBA Championship.