Assorted Observations: NBA Finals, Game One

***One road loss does not decide the outcome of the NBA Finals, obviously, but as someone who’d like to see the Heat win I can’t help but hate the fact that Miami blew an early 13-point lead in Spurs-like fashion whilst wasting what may have been the best offensive effort of Shane Battier’s playoff career.  I mean, how often are you going to get Shane f@cking Battier driving to the rim trying to dunk the ball, dropping 17 points, and netting four threes?  I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s never done all three of those things in a single game in his entire life.  As a team with so little depth, Miami needs to take advantage of games where some role player goes crazy (this is all not to mention Mario Chalmers, who went 5-7 for 12 points).

***What if the Thunder could actually get off to a half-decent start?  As you know, they trailed by 13 last night.  They’d also trailed by seven or more in each of their last three victories, which makes no sense.

***I suppose all of these Thunder comebacks do speak volumes about the true explosiveness of their offense, which I’m going to call “Organized Confusion.”  Although they only finished with 10 turnovers, Miami hurt themselves by loosening up as the game went on.  Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe the Heat had 1 turnover to their first 11 assists?  A 10-20 ratio isn’t bad, but it isn’t 1-11.  As you can see, the Heat got a little careless as the Thunder made their comeback.  This carelessness helped to trigger said explosion.

***Quite a few off shooting nights in game one.  James Harden and Chris Bosh never really got going, producing a total of 15 points on 17 attempts (both players finished with more shots than points).  Russell Westbrook closed the game strong, but I thought he got off to a pretty… Russell Westbrook start.  He finished 10-24 from the floor.  Neither Dwyane Wade nor LeBron James made half their shots, combining to go 18-43.  I thought both of ‘em took too many jump shots.  If you take a look at LeBron’s shot chart you’ll find that he had a lot of success in the paint but very little outside of it.

***Less than three minutes into the first quarter LeBron James drew Kevin Durant’s first foul.  I can’t for the life of me figure out why he didn’t attempt another shot for over two and a half minutes.  If I’m Eric Spoelstra I’m telling LeBron he better not leave that block for the next five possessions, and I’m telling the rest of my team that anyone who doesn’t throw him the ball is getting benched.  Durant was able to finish the game with just two personals… and 36 points.

***Speaking of Kevin Durant’s 36 points, I don’t think you need me to break those down for you.  Here are the 17 which came in the fourth quarter (for the record, I don’t endorse the title of this video).

Well… there’s one of those turnovers I was talking about.  I’d also like you to take note of the offensive rebound by Nick Collison (the one that led to Durant’s three).  Despite OKC’s 51.9% shooting, the Heat managed to allow 10 offensive boards.  That just can’t happen, period.  On an unrelated note, I think LeBron needs to guard Kevin Durant down the stretch.  I’m very confident in his ability to be a defensive game changer, and I’m willing to live with whatever Russell Westbrook decides to do against an inferior opponent.

***Russell Westbrook’s latest fashion abomination.  I know this is supposed to be about basketball, but I can’t like this fool.  I’m sorry.

***I always thought travels and other peewee-basketball-type turnovers are supposed to drive coaches crazy?  Personally, I think Kendrick Perkins is hilarious… but I don’t really get why he’s seeing the court in this series.  This should be Nick Collison’s time to shine.  Perkins is of no use against this Miami team (or any team, really, but I’m trying to be nice).

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One Response to Assorted Observations: NBA Finals, Game One

  1. Marshall says:

    I too am not a fan of Russell Westbrook’s outfits. The glasses without lenses and everything is just (in my opinion) stupid. Kevin Durant is one of the few people on that team I like. KD’s backpack thing is cool, plus I think that he has amazing potential. He could end up being the best player ever. He’s on the right track right now. And who do you think is gonna win this series? The Thunder have the advantage right now, but I’d be guessing if I made any prediction about the outcome of the series.

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