[UNCbasketballbumParticipant]

OKC has the better "team," Durant might be the best player in the series, Sefolosha is an elite perimter defender, OKC fans are incredible, for Miami to win, James and Wade must be incredible, their supporting cast just isn’t that good, Westbrook might be the most explosive player in the NBA.  Still a long ways to go.  What else?

[akhan786Participant]

I bet Lebron downloaded Doodle Jump…

[mosdefParticipant]

in the 4th quarter when the championship is on the line I will always trust Durant over LeBron. I dont know what they finished with but LeBron had 2 4th quarte points and Durant 11 and that was before he was shooting the ice the game free throws. I will take LeBron quarters 1-3

[mosdefParticipant]

Durant is the most effecient scorer in the NBA in terms of shot attempts. He led the NBA in scoring and could by all rights be demanding and probably deserves more shots (Westbrook takes more) but the ones he do get he will put in the hoop

[T-WOLF FANParticipant]

Westbrook needs to give KD the ball more often. KD is alot more effecient at shooting the ball.

[cabbycabParticipant]

 Heats still do not have a game plan for end of game situations.  Did you see the end of third quarter? What the hell was that?

They also have poor communication on offense…..as in no communication.  Have you noticed that when they lose the lead their communication goes from bad to nonexistant?  They have no vocal leader and it’s painful to watch sometimes.  

[FUNKYBUNCHParticipant]

it’s easy- it’s a war! 

[mosdefParticipant]

I just found out that Nick Collison had more 4th quarter points then LeBron

 

epic fail

[mosdefParticipant]

I also learned that Derek Fisher must be a Pacquiao fan cuz he was gut jabbing Chalmers good a few times

[B-ball fanParticipant]

 Heat need a player like Garnett or Perkins or Reggie Evans to supply toughness.  They need some players to come in and just play with fire.  Some players who aren’t afraid to be real physical down low and give them a bit of an edge.

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

One thing that’ll stand out to me from tonight’s game is Scotty Brooks’ adjustments in the 2nd half.

Heat 6-10 3PT in the first half… 2-9 3PT in the second half.

Going a little smaller and playing Collison more really was a great move.

[NYCrealdealParticipant]

this game was all about OKC’s defense. sefalosha and nick collison played great. westbrook controlled the game and limited the heat fastbreak with only 2 to’s. but we can be watching the early stages of one of the greatest of all time in durant. no i am not over reacting. think about it. he is only 23. he won three scoring titles in a row. if his team stays the way it is will be contending for 10 years. but thts for a differemt day.

okc will win this series because of thier defense and the transition play of westbrook along with the closing ability of durant. and wen westbrook has an off night harden will step in as the distributer and floor general.

 

[King CaluchaParticipant]

Some people are gonna hate me for saying this, but Lebron seems to be afraid in the most important moments. Some will say I’m a Lebron hater… it is what it is. The truth is that he might play some good games, but Miami needs him to be a LEADER in games like this. Leadership is not only about scoring, it’s about spreading good vibes to the teammates.

[mosdefParticipant]

I learned that Mike Miller is really useless. He has been for last couple of years but he plain sucks.

[Lebron’s HairlineParticipant]

This game showed that Kevin Durant is not afraid of the biggest game of his young career, this was his coming out party the way he played made everyone forget that he is just 23 years old

[Malik-UniversalParticipant]

 i was saying to myself during the game that perkins didnt look right on the court….

collison played h.u.g.e.

 

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

I actually like Westbrook’s creativity lol. He does his on thing, which is coo.

[Bill Walton’s KneesParticipant]

 A team that was built vs a team that was bought

[For_Never_EverParticipant]

 Westbrook smh cannot dress at all. I’m watching the press conferencs after the game right now.

[SportsNinjaParticipant]

This has good vs evil written all over it. KD represents the blue collar, I’m just going to put my head down and do my thing guy, while LBJ reps swag and elitism. I’m not saying those are accurate portrayals of who they are, but that is how they are perceived publicly.

I think, for the most part, LBJ has lived up to expectations. Yeah he has a difficult time down the stretch, but I would say his talent level is on par with the heftiest expectations any bball player has ever had coming out of HS.

I could be wrong, but I don’t think many people thought coming out of college KD was going to be arguably the best player in the NBA. He has exceeded expectations, which is hard to do these days, with media coverage the way it is.

These guys are opposites in so many ways, yet both great in their own right. Personally I hope this turns into a Larry vs Magic type of thing. 

[river09Participant]

 Going to be a great series, but I see OKC winning in less than 7 games unless Wade and Lebron play out of their minds. Their supporting cast is just so weak. Bosh has been reduced to only spotting up and on occasion driving out of control into the lane, Battier is only effective spotting up, Chalmers is extremely streaky and can be completely neutralized by aggressive defense, Miller hasn’t played enough to get any rhythm, and everyone just sort of floats around without any real direction or purpose… Not to mention the ball does tend to just stop in Lebron’s and Wade’s hands because they have to create shots themselves at the end of most possesions.. 

[For_Never_EverParticipant]

Hahaha. Yeah it’s unique. I must be getting old.

[omphalosParticipant]

I’ll say this, that "double-tech" with Battier and Westbrook was ridiculous. Russ did everything wrong and that situation and should have been penalised, and I’m supporting the Thunder.

It’s insane how easily Durant can score, I was watching the game with a friend, and Durant too maybe 4 shots total in the middle two quarters, but somehow still ended up with a great statline. Westbrook needs to get him more looks over the course of the game though, it’s ridiculous how few shots he takes.

[kanyedabestParticipant]

still mind boggling how humble KD is… he makes being humble "cool’ for the kids these days

[NbanflguyParticipant]

3 things:

• D Wade once again doesnt show up in the first half and Mike Miller is useless. There is no doubt that Wade is a superstar, but he has so many bad games that superstars should not have.
• Lebron struggled in the 4th quarter and KD is a beast.
• Harden’s beard is beautiful

[CynthiaParticipant]

My first impressions of the Heat:

• LeBron started out strong, disappeared in the 4th, 2 pts…really?
• Wade never really got anything going at all.
• Bosh is struggling to get involved since he’s been back, he’s just spotting up, while it’s been effective for the most part, I wish he could get back to his former self quicker.
• Chalmers/Battier started off the game very strong, after halftime they didn’t do much of anything.
• Their offense as a whole is hard to watch, it’s either LeBron driving and putting up a circus shot in hopes of getting fouled, or it’s a 3 pt shot. They run zero plays, this isn’t an NBA team, it’s more like a street ball team.

My first impressions of the Thunder:

• Durant pretty much carried them through the first quarter after they fell behind rather quickly. He also finished very strong.
• Westbrook needs to stop taking jump shots, he’s horrid at 3. While he can sometimes be masterful at the mid range pull up it’s still inconsistant overall, please stick to driving the lane or dish to someone else.
• Perkins, for someone who’s a defensive specialist that has won a ring before, he looked like he was confused out there, pulling him out for most the game was a smart move.
• Thabo is probably the most underrated defender in the league, I’ve been watching him since he was in Switzerland, always been one of my fav’ players.
• Nick Collison, 100% effort/hustle at all times. He may not put up much in the stat category but he’s always been the Thunders X-Factor. Pesky defender, above average rebounder, and very high IQ, he rarely makes mistakes.
• Their offense as a whole is 50/50, sometimes they make great team plays, and sometimes it’s Westbrook just trying to mimic LeBron, but it’s still a vastly better ran offense than the Heat have.

[delfamParticipant]

 I found out that this series is not very high quality basketball. All it is is a bunch of iso and 1v1 play. Maybe it’s just me but I could watch the Spurs play all day but these teams it’s just not fun for me. They run no plays and the guy that dribbles the ball up the court usually shoots it most times.

[mikeyvthedonParticipant]

First, have to say, LeBron had 7 points in the 4th quarter, mosdef/Cynthia. Nick Collison scored 4 and played awesome, but LeBron at the very least played better in that 4th than he did the entire freaking Dallas Final last season. Granted, Kevin Durant was exceptional in the 4th, but at the very least LeBron did not COMPLETELY disappear.

Now that I have that little factoid out of the way, I was worried from the get go. The Heat started out playing very well and got some great open looks, but it was unsustainable. It is just not going to happen often and I knew that they were going to have to find other sources of offense, which they failed to do on a consistent basis in the 2nd half.

For those that b!tch about Russell Westbrook this game, stop it. Yes, Russ can be erratic, he probably launches more shots without a single pass than any player in the league, but it worked out beautifully in the 2nd half. He started out 5-15, than managed to go 5 of his last 9. Even his misses ended up turning into positives for OKC, plus his energy absolutely brought OKC back into the game. Kevin Durant absolutely should be taking more shots, but things worked out exceptionally well with the balance of these two players, plus he found him when it mattered the most.

The 2nd half was an absolute disaster pile for Miami. They were showing signs in the 1st, but they got out hustled and out boarded by a wide margin. I really disliked the way Dwyane Wade and LeBron James started the game. LeBron was starting to show signs of life in the 3rd, but like Wade was incredibly hesitant. They settled for poor percentage jumpers and seemed to shy away from OPEN jumpers. The amount of useless shot fakes that were just clear hesitation was incredibly evident.

Does anyone remember when Dwyane Wade used to do what Russell Westbrook was doing (only better)? This is obviously LeBron’s team and for good reason, but be your damn self Dwyane! It would only help things. Take open shots. Drive and get fouled rather than shoot looking to get fouled. He just seems to want the refs to bail him out of bad shots, it is maddening. I have incredible respect for him as a basketball player and I think he has been hurt just about the entire season. Still find no excuse for him to not be playing NEAR Dwyane Wade basketball.

Not letting LeBron off the hook, either. He was not aggressive for large portions of this game. Draws a great foul on Durant, than shies away from the drive. He was going shot for shot with him, than retreated. It was disappointing. Could be a sign of things to come or a call to arms. This postseason has shown that LeBron can step up to challenges and I sincerely hope that he gets the chance to guard Kevin Durant more these next few games. He was put in a situation where it was not completely possible with Battier at the 4. Chris Bosh should get the hell back in the starting line-up so they can get him involved. Shane played incredibly in the 1st half, but he would be so valuable guarding Harden off of the bench.

Chris Bosh was fairly disastrous as a help defender, but I do not really blame him. Just seemed to be in bad places and out of position. Would have been great to have an energy guy like Haslem battling more with Collison. Haslem had a solid first half rebounding the ball, but was just incredibly quiet in the 2nd and seemed to be on the bench when Collison was being a terror on the offensive glass with his hustle and tips. I feel Collison was an absolute X-Factor, as was the defense of Thabo Sefolosha.

Overall, this should be an interesting series with the Thunder drawing first blood. They live and die by the jump shot, but they have the ability to get to the line and played very smart basketball. Those little cheap fouls they drew were brilliant and game shifting, they are cheap fouls Miami wishes they had drawn (Not blaming officiating in the least, just feel Miami dropped the ball and did not have the same type of vision for drawing fouls). Durant has to be accounted for at all times and it seemed that Russell has little idea of how to get him the ball when he is fronted. Was a great first game by the Thunder and the Heat missed their chances.

It is honestly up to LeBron to get the right people involved and play the same smart, aggressive basketball he has been playing for a majority of these play-offs. Beyond much of the same needed from Dwyane Wade, the Heat need to be better on the boards and stop the ball in transition. They looked sluggish in the 2nd half, which I hope is not a trend, but made the Thunder go after them like wounded wildebeest’s. All in all, I still feel both teams could have played much better. Durant and Westbrook took the reins in the 2nd half, something that LeBron James and Dwyane Wade have to do to make this a competitive series and have the Heat playing their best basketball. I am not saying for them to ISO, just to show more aggression, which would absolutely help others get involved.

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