NBA Finals Preview

Get used to this, the superstardom, the storylines, the fashionable clothes and accessories at the pressers, the matchups, the rivalry that is about to be born.  Get used to the two best basketball players in the world guarding each other, trying to stop the other from scoring, outperforming, and out clutching them. LeBron James, the three time most valuable player vs. Kevin Durant, the three time scoring champion, both going after their first championship; it only makes sense for them to play each other to obtain it. It only makes sense they both play the same position and be viewed as the future of the NBA. These finals are not only where you will see who the best team in the NBA is, but who the best player in the NBA is right now and who will rule the NBA for the next decade.  The start of a dynasty begins in this series.  This is why year one of this matchup is very important.  (This won’t be the last time these two teams meet in June, this is just the beginning.)

Before the playoffs started, I wrote that 2012 was the year Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder would go on a deep playoff run, taking every team that owned the Western Conference the last 13 years (Mavs, Lakers and Spurs) out, and begin building their own legacy.  The Thunder have gone through the gauntlet of playoff runs and now only have one more juggernaut opponent left.  People keep bringing up the team's youth and inexperience, but after seeing them sweep the defending champs, having no problem with the Kobe and the Lakers and pulling off four wins in a row against the former 20 game win streak San Antonio Spurs, there’s nothing that can phase this Thunder team anymore.  Durant is playing at a focused/calm level that even his clutch shots this postseason seem to be done so effortlessly.  He can take over games whenever he wants to and it shows in the 4^th quarter.  So far he’s leading the playoffs in 4th quarter, scoring, crunch time scoring, and game winning shots.  All at only 23 years old.  Young?  Of course.  Inexperienced?  Not anymore, Durant knows that this is his time and he won’t let that slip away.

The Miami Heat let their chance slip away last year to start their “not one, not two, not three…” statement that was spoken when the Big 3 was formed.  Now they’re back in the finals riding the momentum of their MVP, LeBron James.  James had a career series against the Celtics and it still took Miami seven games to finish off an old team, only because Boston ran out of gas in the last quarter of game seven.  Don’t expect the Thunder to ever run out of gas.  It’s amazing how much of a difference LeBron James is in the Conference Finals compared to the NBA Finals. 

Check these stats out:

Conference Finals: 29.5 ppg, 8.2 FT ppg and 52.7 percent shooting. Career high is 49 points.

NBA Finals: 19.5 ppg, 3.2 FT ppg and 41.7 percent shooting. Career high is 25 points.

No way this keeps happening right?  Will LeBron James finally conquer his demons and show up once again when his team needs him? LeBron will do this but just as last year proved, you need a “team” to win the NBA Championship, not three star players.  There is so much at stake, so much pressure in the finals that every single possession is crucial.

Would you trust Battier and Miller for some timely hit shots?

You’re going to need role players to step up just like the Mavericks (JJ Barea, DeShawn Stevenson), Lakers (Ron Artest, Derek Fisher) and Spurs (Bruce Bowen, Robert Horry) have done the past 13 years.  What gives Oklahoma City an advantage over Miami is that they can match the Big 3 of Chris Bosh, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden, while having reliable role players that Miami can’t match with or trust to put in.  Everyone keeps saying Mike Miller, Norris Cole or Shane Battier need to put up some points for Miami to have a chance to match up with the Thunder’s bench, but they haven’t been able to be trustworthy on a consistent basis.  So far only Battier has been a decent reliable bench player.  Winning the bench battle was a big reason why Dallas won the title last year.  Miami couldn’t count on Mike Bibby or James Jones to give them points while Dallas kept getting major production from their role players.  Who would you trust for 8 crucial minutes when you’re starters are resting? James Harden, Derek Fisher, Nick Collision and Deaquan Cook or would you rather trust Mike Miller, Shane Battier, Udonis Haslem and Joel Anthony?  I know they both sound pretty bad but Fisher and Harden have proved to bring in some timely baskets in their careers, an edge for OKC.   

There is one way the Heat can counter this bench play and that is if Erik Spoelstra keeps Chris Bosh coming from the bench, which helped considerably  in game 7 against the Celtics because all Boston had was TWO points from the bench in that game while Bosh alone went for 19 points.  Bosh has the freshest legs from the Heat. He needs to contribute big time.

Rick Carlisle after getting swept by OKC: "they have
a certain look in their eye right now. Not just that they
belong, but that this could be their time."

 they have a certain look in their eye right now. Not just that they belong, but that this could be their time."

I’ll bring up the experience factor one more time since most people view that as a key to the series.  It does favor the Heat since they were in the Finals last year and this is the Thunder’s first appearance, but I disagree that OKC hasn't had enough experience yet. They lost a heartbreaking series to the Lakers in 2010 because they didn't box out Pau Gasol, they toughed it out against one of the most physical teams in the NBA for 7 games with the Memphis Grizzlies and they learned how to close out games thanks to last year’s WCF when they kept choking in the 4th quarter against Dallas. This year, they know how to execute, they know how to finish games off and never panic just like when they were down 0-2 versus San Antonio. You never saw panic in their eyes because they knew they belonged.  Age doesn't matter with this team anymore because in a matter of 3 year’s they've all grown up.

With my pick I was going to say Oklahoma City in 6 games but almost everyone I’ve talked to and throughout twitter is saying the same thing.  It even became a trending topic on twitter.  Things just can’t be that obvious.  Sports is never that obvious which gives Miami a full advantage as an underdog but I’ll keep my pick with OKC but instead of six games why don’t we make the NBA season continue as long as possible and say 7 games of Durant vs. LeBron, 7 games of Wade and Harden attacking the rim with crafty lay-ups, 7 games of two teams going toe to toe so that by the end of the series we’ll know the right team won and no judges or referee’s interfered with the games.  In other words, it won’t be like boxing.