Miami vs. OKC in Finals

Lakers hanging tough through the first half in this prime time game two. Prime time on the west coast that is. lol


Westbrook reminds me of a car in the Fast and the Furious movies.
 
I thought Kevin played more like an MVP in a close game, than LeBron did in that epic fail in the home loss to the Pacers.

Tonight, OKC was down 7 points... 75 to 68... and the Thunder scored the last 9 points. During which Durant came on and did his part, backed by Harden.

It had been hard to get inside the paint and score all night (except for Hardin). But down 75-74, with, what, 12 to 15 seconds, Durant drove to the right side of the bucket and put a floater that hung inside the rim and went down. OKC taking a lead 76-75 with I think 12 sec to go.

Durant ends up with his hands on the ball after that, I think twice. Ends up at the foul line with 1 sec. Makes the first, and then purposesly misses the second trying to rim it -- Lakers were out of TO and any rim would have cost a second just getting the ball.

During that run up to the 74 points from 68, Durant tipped a Kobe pass and stole it for a breakaway dunk.

LeBron did not factor into seizing the game at all in the final minutes of play in that game they lost.
 
KD took the initiative down the stretch, but Artest did do a pretty good job for most of the game limiting his shots.

If the Thunder aren't scoring off breaks, they become a jump shooting team in the half court and if those shots aren't falling, things like the second half tonight happen.

OKC was fortunate to come away with a win tonight. Blake hits that open three more times than not.
 
I did not get to see all the game, but stretches I did see I thought the Thunder tried to pass too deep inside, and with too many passes that deep inside. The ball was bouncing around in there like a pin ball machine.
 
In the first half, refs called about 6 fouls in a row on OKC. At least 3 of the fouls were of the WTF variety. I think those calls had a big impact on the game and helped the Lakers slow down the pace and keep it in the half court.
 
When players are fussing with their coach something is rotten in Denmark right? Looks like and ego problem to me.
 
You bring up a good point Olehornfan.

You see that and Kobe arguing with Mike Brown over what play to run in their game and it's not surprising those two teams are struggling in the playoffs. Makes me wonder who is really coaching those teams.
 
For all the heat (no pun intended) LeBron James has drawn, Dwyane Wade ought to be just as much to blame as LBJ is. Everyone remembers LeBron playing poorly for a large portion of the Finals while Wade looked like a top player, but forgets that the exact opposite happened in the ECF where Wade looked averaged against Chicago and LeBron bailed him out repeatedly. LeBron gets tons of flak whenever he doesn't have an elite game, but he hasn't sulked and moaned when things haven't gone his way like Wade has the past couple of games.
 
You bring up a good point. Wade gets let off the hook because he was finals MVP and won a title. Lebron has 3 MVPs and has yet to win a title so he gets the spotlight put on him. Plus most people just like to root agains thim after how he left Cleveland.
 
Both Durant and Westbrook were key in that comeback.

LA just looks much slower, especially on defense. Bynum is terribly slow on the switch defense and once Westbrook beats the initial defender there usually is nobody to switch over and contest is shot.

Bryant played great last night and that is now 2 games that LA should have been able to win if Gasol were playing well. Gasol is not earning his salary right now. If LA shoots a better FT % like they did in game 3 they also win this game.

The Thunder are up 3-1 but this series could easily be 3-1 LA right now if Gasol were playing like he was 2 years ago.
 
Staying up for that game sure paid off--WOW is right.

First, Kobe Bryant was off the charts. I was just starting to think--maybe this guy is the best player in the game, and I just am unwilling to give him the credit. His footwork and balance on offense is amazing, plus defense plus free throws....

Then at the end, Durant takes him on defense and shuts him down, at least for the couple of key possessions, makes the game winning steal on defense, and makes that cold-blooded 3...what a game. That one slam on the fast break was Air Jordan, too.

Probably like a lot of fans of Durant around here, I saw more of Westbrook's flaws than his greatness over the past couple of years. That's made me a little slow to give him full credit for his role on that team. What speed, what hops, what a nice midrange game, what effort on defense, what well-directed emotional power--hat's off to Westbrook.
 
There is no denying that Kobe is one of the all time greats. Several times last night I was just amazed - like that baseline moon shot jumper over Ibaka.

Having said that, I do agree with Charles (or Jet - can't remember which) who said Kobe is too quick to come down and take the difficult jumper with the game on the line, instead of working it for a better shot - especially when they have a lead. I know he's made some of those, but he has missed quite a few as well.

Good point about how this series could easily be 3-1 in the Lakers favor, especially considering their leads late in the games. I can't remember a team that has had as many close games this early in the playoffs as the Thunder.
 
Frustrating game as a Lake fan.

They played smart, aggressive, unselfish basketball for just over three quarters and then lost the thread of what they wanted to do. Kobe was stellar earlier, but his Q4 shot selection was too poor for them to survive ten such shots in a mindset wherein they were trying to also slow the game, i.e., 1-3 pass possessions leading to 80% on-court personnel inactivity while two defenders bracket Kobe who then take a horrible shot (granted, he made one, an amazing high, arcing fade, but it was a terrible shot to take at that juncture and was emblematic of the ossification of their O.

I think that Kobe doesn't really trust his support, especially beyond Bynum, on whom the Thunder carried out a successful second half campaign of shielding and ball denial. Gasol is not into it. The final TO was unacceptable. The O set worked perfectly to produce a high quality scoring opportunity which he ran from. Because the scoring opportunity stemmed from imbalance on the part of the Thunder D, passing the ball back through the middle of the set was fundamentally the worst thing he could have done save baseball pitching the ball to a Thunder player at the other end of the court. I wanted to hit him in the throat after that **** and it is hard to blame Kobe for not trusting him when he does so little with the ball when given the chance (he should be destroying Ibaka in everyone of these games -- destroying).

The Lakes are not a particularly good team. They have some length, some athelticism, and some experience, but they lack consistent perimeter scoring, have nothing effective going on at the point either offensively or defensively, and their chemistry, uncertain to begin with, was shattered by the attempt to deal Gasol. Still, there are no other really great teams. They just need to step up and perform, which I doubt they will.

I think the Spurs win another before the San Antonio dream fades from sight for another generation.
 
I don't think any team in this year's field could hang with the really powerful teams of the past.

The Lakers could very easily be up 3-1 against the Thunder and they are not a very good team.
 
The Indiana player that gave LeBron the choking sign in game 3 should be benched permanently for flagrant stupidity. Oh wait, he's already a permanent part of the bench.
 
Hard to feel sorry for a player that has five rings, but I do feel for Kobe. He puts it all out there, which is something his teammates don't always do.
 
For some reason, Gasol & Bynum can't seem to both have good games at the same time. So LA's "Big Three" is really a "Big Two" with it being a coin flip any given day as to which guy will be the other half of the Two along with Kobe.
 
Pretty much same story all series. LA just isn't as good of a team as they were a couple of seasons ago and Gasol is no where near the player he was then, especially on the offensive end. Kobe played great but his team just didn't have enough to keep up with the scoring that was coming their way. They aren't a great team defensively and do not really challenge with perimeter D which is what is needed against OKC.

I am very suprised that LA gets outrebounded 51-35 considering the size they have. Bynum just didn't even seem to be out there at times. LA has gotten older and the parts they have lost just haven' t been adequately replaced. They were hoping for a blockbuster trade for Chris Paul in the offseason and when that didn't happen their championship hopes vanished at that point. If they can make a trade they may have another run in them but if not they need to start rebuilding quick.
 
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