Miami Heat vs. Oklahoma City Thunder: Quick Hits from Game One - Joe Chacon's Blog

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Joe Chacon's Blog

Miami Heat vs. Oklahoma City Thunder: Quick Hits from Game One Stuck

Posted on June 13, 2012 at 01:34 AM.

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Photo Credit: AP Photo/Jeff Roberson

The Oklahoma City Thunder took Game One at home with a 105-94 victory over the Miami Heat.

Oklahoma City overcame a seven point halftime deficit and outscored Miami 58-39 in the second half.

While much is always made about the poor play of LeBron James in the fourth quarter, even the biggest LeBron haters can't pin this loss on him.

At times it appears Miami's offense is comprised of something one would see at a pick-up basketball game. The Heat are just dribbling down the floor and telling each other to get open.

Chris Bosh standing around the perimeter hoisting up three-pointers is not what Miami fans want to see from him. Nor do they want to see him out of the starting lineup any longer.

With that all being said, praise needs to be given to Oklahoma City. The fans provided the college-like atmosphere they always come with, and the team responded in a big way.

Kevin Durant led all scorers with 36 points, including 17 in the fourth quarter.

The biggest unsung hero of the night was OKC's Nick Collison, who made a couple of huge hustle plays down the stretch that turned into points for his team. Collison finished with eight points and 10 rebounds in 21 minutes of play.

Quick Hits:
Five Miami Heat players finished with 10 or more points

Fast Break Points - OKC 24, MIA 4

Bosh shot three three-pointers in the game. He has only done that four other times during the entire 2011-12 season (including playoffs).

Since the NBA switched to the 2-3-2 Finals format in 1985, the team with the first two games at home has won 20 of the 27 series

ESPN's Stephen A. Smith predicted the exact final score prior to the game on SportsCenter.

Russell Westbrook looked like a damn fool in the press conference once again.

Series Schedule:
Game 1: Heat 94 @ Thunder 105
Game 2: Heat @ Thunder (Thursday, 9P ET)
Game 3: Thunder @ Heat (Sunday, 8P)
Game 4: Thunder @ Heat (6/19, 9P)
Game 5: Thunder @ Heat (6/21, 9P, if necessary)
Game 6: Heat @ Thunder (6/24, 8P, if necessary)
Game 7: Heat @ Thunder (6/26, 9P, if necessary)

What's your prediction for Game Two? If anybody pulls a Stephen A. Smith and correctly predicts the exact score and winner of the game (prior to the start of the game), I will throw some MS XBL Points over to you.

Joe Chacon is a Staff Writer for Operation Sports and a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JoeChacon.

Comments

# 1 boritter @ Jun 13

Nice recap.

OKC's length & athleticism bothered Miami, especially D-Wade.

I agree that Bosh needs to find better balance between spreading floor and providing Miami with low post option.

Bosh also made some late rotations that lead to easy dunks and/or offensive boards by Collison and others.

# 2 SaintsNATION32 @ Jun 13

WESTBROOK JUST LOOKS TO DAMN FAST!!! 20YR OLDS VS. 30YR OLDS!

# 3 squadron supreme @ Jun 13

Points in the paint were huge as well for OKC 56 to Miami's 40. Harden didn't play well and the Thunder still pulled away. Miami doesn't have anybody to close down the lane. The only shot blocker they have is Anthony who played two minutes. If Westbrook continues to play like he has some sense this series should be over in six

# 4 Hillsboro @ Jun 13

life is a song: love is light music, work is symphony, rock and roll, struggle is entertainment is pop, pop song, friend is career is march. España camiseta

# 5 Bulls321974 @ Jun 13

Yessssssssssssssssssssss!

# 6 chi_hawks @ Jun 13

Three more to go. Go OKC!

# 7 Jakeboutte @ Jun 13

What a game! Gotta give it to OKC and company!

I think Miami fans dont ever wanna see Bosh on the court again! Hes out of Miami if they lose! Which I believe they will in 5!

OKC 102-97

# 8 cgalligan @ Jun 13

LeBron needs to play every game with the mentality he had in Gm 6 vs Boston... Can you expect him to drop 45pts, 15reb and 5ast every single game? No, thats just crazy talk...

However, you should expect him to be AGGRESSIVE and ASSERTIVE every single game... Too many times LeBron simply defers to someone else... Sure, he still puts up 30pts, 8reb, 8ast regularly, but there comes a time when "HE" needs to "THAT GUY" that just takes the game over... For some reason, he chooses not to do so... You can say its not in his DNA, or He's not a killer or whatever you want... The fact is, He knows he can do it, he simply wont...

He could be the most Athletically talented player in the history of the game, and the fact that he simply chooses NOT to be aggressive is a testimate to what kind of person this guy is... He's been handed everything in his life... Touted as "The Chosen One" and "The King" before he ever played a game in the NBA didn't help his mindset either...

He's never really had to work as hard as he should have because of it, and now, when everyone else is equally as talented, its HARD for him...

Not 1, Not 2, Not 3, Not 4, Not 5, Not 6... That statement right there proves that he "thought" this would be easier than it is...

# 9 zanner @ Jun 13

You don't like to lose, but all in all I don't think that was a bad loss for Miami. They did some things that worked, tried some things that didn't, and missed 2nd half opportunities that could have very well put them on the backstretch and a game one win.

With that said, I don't know how the second game will exactly go but I feel that after the first game performance by the Heat they're not to far off from a game 2 victory, and the things they struggled with can be gameplanned and fixed. So with that said I still pick the Heat to win and if they win Game 2 I think they can take it in 5.

As for Game 2 - I like Heat's chances

Heat - 98
OKC - 92

# 10 cgalligan @ Jun 13

@ZANNER - I agree, sorta... My only 2 concerns for the Heat are...

1. They lost, despite James Harden only scoring 5 points.
2. Do you expect Spolstra to make sound "gameplanning" adjustments? - His track record isn't that great in that area of coaching.

# 11 Tallpaul @ Jun 13

I'm really glad that OKC won game one because I want them to win. They deserve more to win than the Heat.

# 12 Matsmashed @ Jun 13

It was great to see the young Thunder rally back from the poor start. It was almost identical to the Game 6 vs Spurs.I still see the series going to 6 and 7. I don't think the tv people will mind either judging by the ratings for last nights game!