Game 5 didn’t go like I expected. I expected it to go down to the wire again. Instead The Heat came out firing and built up a big lead. In the third quarter The Thunder got the lead down to 7. At that time I took a quick break to eat and when I came back the game was over. The Heat hit a million threes in a row and now were up 20.LeBron James had a monster triple double game with 13 dimes. The Heat shot 14-26 three pointers. That’s crazy, whats crazier is that Mike Miller climbed out of his grave and hit 7 of them. 7 threes. Damn. The Heat beat the Thunder 121-106. It was a great series for the first 4 games but The Heat winning the title is a great moment, so I’m not mad. The Thunder finally died via lava. Props to them. They played with fire and heart. They made too many mistakes and didn’t always know what they were supposed to do. The Heat did and were able adjust and make plays a little bit faster than the Thunder.
Game 5 recap:
The focus after the game was on LeBron James. Usually I would say that focusing on just one dude is wrong, but not in this case. LeBron James has been the best player in the NBA for 4 years now, but now he he’s on the best team. Now he can prove he’s the best. Not that he really needed to. In fact trying to prove people wrong is what Lebron says got him into trouble last year. This year he just did him and didn’t focus on the hype and negativity. The Heat won the title this year because Lebron willed them to. They were down 3-2 to the Indiana Pacers and The Boston Celtics and the main reason they won was because Lebron played out of his mind. His stat line for the Finals and the entire playoffs is insane. 28.6 points in the Finals, 30 for the playoffs. He averaged 10 boards and 7 assists in the Finals and 10 boards and 5 assists for the playoffs. Dominant numbers. But Lebron was more than just numbers this year, he came up big in key moments time and time again. His image as a choker died a terrible death. In my 26 years on earth 18 of which I’ve watched the NBA closely I haven’t seen a player dominate and carry a team quite the way Lebron did this postseason (In my opinion, Shaq and Jordan were the most dominant players I’ve seen in the playoffs). Micheal Jordan dominated and carried his team from time to time but he never had to bring the Bulls back from 3-2 deficits in consecutive series. Jordan is the greatest ever no doubt, but Lebron’s playoff run is right up there with anything he ever did. Jordan is the standard that all great players are judged by but Lebron just created his own standard. Lebron should only be measured by the performance he put on in this year’s postseason. Dude was the best everything(except shooting) on his team. The best scorer, rebounder, passer, AND defender. He’s actually been doing this stuff for the last four years, but this was the first time he did in the NBA Finals. Now hopefully more people will appreciate him. Not only is lebron brilliant, he’s one of a kind.
Where the Haters at? They can’t say shit right now. Everything they said about Bron was proved wrong. Everything. They said he was selfish. Lebron took the most offense to that, but he dropped 13 dimes tonight, that aint selfish. They said he was choker. Lebron had so many clutch games and moments in these playoffs that I’ve lost count. He beat the Celtics in game 6 by himself for and tonight made damn sure the heat closed out the Thunder. When Lebron first came to the Heat people snickered that he had to come to Dwayne Wade’s team and was somehow playing second fiddle. Lebron shined so bright this postseason that we couldn’t even see D Wade any more. D Wade willingly took a back-seat to Bron and the Heat played their best ball and won a title. Let that hate go. Lebron did and he won his first ring. Maybe his haters can do better with their lives too.
The Miami Heat beat the Thunder 91-86 tonight in another exciting NBA Finals game. The Heat are now up 2-1 in the series with two more games left to play in Miami. This time it was the Heat’s turn to comeback on the Thunder erasing a 9 point lead early in the third quarter to go up by 2 going into the fourth quarter. The 4th quarter was ugly on both sides of the floor. The Heat turned the ball over again and again. The Thunder did the same, the difference was when they turned the ball over. The Heat turned the ball over early in the 4th and the Thunder turned the ball over late.
LeBron James was the best player on the floor for the second straight game. Kevin Durant got in foul trouble again, which is weird cuz I can’t remember any other time this season when he was in foul trouble. Both teams struggled to score, Kevin Durant included. Durant wasn’t able to go OFF in the fourth quarter thanks to Lebron’s defense and Chris Bosh‘s help defense. Lebron took away the open look and when Durant drove Bosh was there to block or alter the shot every time. That was the difference in the game. People will note how many mistakes the Thunder made but the Heat made just as many and got bailed out when Lebron threw the ball off the bottom of the backboard which lead to a Heat basket. The Thunder’s mistakes will probably be attributed to their youth or to Russell Westbrook, because the when the Heat win its Westbrook’s fault and when the Thunder win it’s on Lebron. People are stupid.
Westbrook played well, Durant did too but they could have played better. James Harden went M.I.A again shooting just 2-10 from the field for just 9 points. The troubling part of this game wasn’t just the way they lost, by making mistakes at the end but the fact that their offense finally got slowed down. We’ve said all series the Heat have the best defense that the Thunder have seen this postseason and tonight was he first time the Heat proved it, holding the Thunder to just 85 points. The Thunder scored 18 points in the fourth quarter, which was about as much as Durant scored by himself in the 4th quarter of game 1 and 2.
The Heat have the series lead but it would be foolish to write the Thunder off. The Heat finally slowed the thunder down, but they barely won and they have outscored the Thunder by only 1 point in this series. That’s a close series homie. The Heat know that. Last year they led the Dallas Mavericks 2-1 and never won another game. Lebron was all business after the game as he should be. Game 4 is Tuesday and that’s the only thing Lebron, The Heat and the Thunder care about. NBA fans should do the same.
Game 2 was a lot like game 1 of the Finals. Once again the Thunder started out slow and once again the Heat blew a big lead. The end result was different this time around as the heat were able to do enough to secure the win.
Early on, Russell Westbrook struggled again gong 2-10 from the field in the first half. Kevin Durant and James Harden kept the Thunder somewhat competitive in the second quarter. harden had 17 points at the half but only scored 4 in the second half. LeBron James got more help from Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. Wade scored 24 points and had 5 assists and 6 boards. Bosh had 16 points but more importantly had 15 rebounds 7 of which were offensive boards. He had a few down the stretch that were huge for Miami. He also whiffed on a high-five with Ronny Turiaf. Shane Battier continue to defy God and hit a ton of threes including a bank shot in the 4th quarter that had no business going in.
Bosh is goofy, yes but some of this should be on Turiaf. Turiaf is basically a professional high-fiver, that’s all he really does for this Heat team. He should be able to carry a high five like Lebron carries the Heat night in and night out.
The Thunder kept coming though, like they always do. They’re like the T-1000 from Terminator 2, the only way to kill them is to melt them in lava. They can look terrible in one stretch and then they’ll completely forget about and play lights out. No Thunder player illustrates this point better than Russell Westbrook. He shook off a bad first half and scored 27 points, had 7 assists and 8 rebounds. I said earlier in the playoffs that I thought that Russ Westbrook was Durant’s equal and while I now admit that Durant is the Thunders best player, at times it feels like Westbrook is their most important player. He’s their motor. Durant was great again and was just as big in the fourth as he was in game 1. He just kills people with those threes. And yet I feel like a big reason Durant gets those open looks is that Heat are scared of Westbrook’s drives to the hoop. Both of those dudes had some amazing ass plays in the fourth. There was Russ’s amazing put-back dunk and Durant’s barrage of threes late.
The only way to beat the Thunder is to melt them in lava, like the T-1000 from Terminator 2.
The Heat, unlike in game 1 and unlike the Spurs last series answered the Thunder’s scoring just enough to get the win. Lebron looked gassed down the stretch and for some reason tried to run out the clock on every play as if this were football. Lebron also hit a huge clutch bank shot late in the game and iced a bunch of clutch free throws. He missed that three but what are you gonna do.
A lot of people are talking about that final play for the Thunder where Lebron guarded Durant. I’ll post it here:
When I saw it right here I did not see a foul. Neither did you. I absolutely think its reasonable for the refs to miss that call. It wasn’t a shooting foul. The only reason we know there was a foul is because of instant replay. Hell it still took Van Gundy three times to see the foul. And even if the refs missed the foul I still could see them not calling it. This is one of the fouls that exposes our biases. A Heat fan likes the no-call because this is the playoffs and you let physical contact slide in the playoffs unless its egregious. A Thunder fan is pissed off that they didn’t call it and is cussing at the T.V. If it were the other way around the Heat fan would be complaining and Thunder fans would like the no-call.
The refs give the stars calls but they also let them get away with fouling more. It looked like Durant could still have made the shot and I assumed he was going to, that’s how hot he was. You don’t want a great game of this magnitude to be decided by a foul call and free throws, unless its your team. Kevin Durant manned up and moved on, so Thunder fans should do the same.
Game 3 is on Sunday and we will see then how Kevin Durant and the Thunder respond to their first home playoff loss.
Kevin Durant was great in game 1 of the NBA Finals. His scoring kept the Thunder in the game in the first half when they were down by 10+ most of the time. The Thunder were able to cut the lead to 7 at the break and grabbed the lead in the third quarter. Durant’s homie Russell Westbrook shook off a shaky first half and start to get to the rim in the second half. Russ also got his board on and dished 11 assists. he found Durant many times and when he didn’t it didn’t matter, he got to the rim instead.
The Thunder were rolling in the fourth quarter when Durant starting killing the Heat with jump shot after jump shot. It was reminiscent of Dirk Nowinzki’s performance last year except for the fact that Durant can put it on the floor and dunk too. What was weird is how open Durant was at times. The Heat seemed to be overly concerned with slowing own Westbrook and left Durant too much space to operate. Durant is 6’10 and has a 7’4 wing span, he’s not a dude that you leave open. Game 1 looked mad similar to the Western Conference Finals. Just when the heat though they had slowed down the Thunder the Thunder went off and score at will.
That the Thunder came back and won after being down 13 in the first had doesn’t sound encouraging to Heat fans. According to smarter people than me (Sebastian Prutti of Grantland), The Heat changed their defensive approach to the Thunder in the second half. In the First half the heat looked to trap the Thunder on the pick n’ roll. They were pretty successful until the thunder used Serge Ibaka to make plays he normally doesn’t even try. Ibaka rolled to the rim for a dunk and then found Durant WIDE open for three later. In the second half the Heat switched on the pick and roll and got burned. Chris Bosh would end up on Westbrook and he’d blow by him. Dwayne Wade would end up on Durant who just shot right over him. While I was watching the game they looked overmatched just like the Spurs before them. What was weird about it was that James Harden didn’t really play well(or even play really). And then Durant was open. A lot. Why? John Hollinger feels like the heat were fatigued. That makes sense to me and explains how they could make so many mistakes on defense. The Heat probably also overreacted on D and changed up too much. The traps they used in the first half worked for the most part so there was no need to abandon them in the second half. Also, yo they might want to put a guy on Durant at all times. The conventional wisdom says that the Heat should put LeBron James on Durant at all times. That sounds good in theory and Lebron did guard Durant at times in game 1. He did decent, I guess and Lebron should probably be on Durant more. The problem for Lebron is that he’s the heat’s most versatile defender and they like to have him guard every body. Lebron also checked Russ Westbrook at times in game 1. The rest of the Heat aren’t as versatile as lebron and sometimes he has to cover for them.
And that brings me the rest of the Heat problems, which is every one except LeBron James. D Wade was aiight in game 1. He drove a little bit and made some plays for himself and others (he had 8 assists). He also missed a ton of jumpshots. Really D Wade shouldn’t even bother with that shit any more, he’s at Metta World Peace level where every Heat fan cringes when he pulls up for a jumper. Chris Bosh played 31 minutes and hit a few jumpers here and there but took too many threes for my taste. Bosh needs more playing time cuz damn, look at the other options for the Heat. Udonis Haslem fell off last year but he and Eric Spolesta still haven’t realized it. Haslem also decided to compete for the title of worst facial hair/hair combination on the Heat with Mike Miller. Actually Mike Millerlooks kind of normal now that’s his hair grown out a bit. Haslem’s beard or whatever its suppose to be is all over the place. Its disconnected from his hair which already doesn’t work unless you’re bald, then its a strip that connects to his chin hair. His chin hair is grown out too long and he doesn’t have any hair in the mustache area. Then there’s his hair which isn’t that bad it just isn’t his look. Dude needs to go back to braids and shave. Really though how are you suppose to be the “tough” guy on an NBA team with hair that wack? Admittedly Lebron’s facial hair is also pretty wack ( he just grows out chin hair that isn’t connected to anything. It’s the kind of facial hair white stoner college kids had in 1998) but Lebron is offsetting that by the not only being the heat’s best player but by being their best player at everything. Lebron’s their best scorer, passer, rebounder, AND defender. It’s too much of a load to bear for the MVP and without some help this series is gonna be short.
Actually he looks kind of cool here, like a pirate. I wonder how’d he look with an eye patch?
Lebron had a very good game 1. He didn’t have how jumper falling so he looked to drive more than usual. In the fourth quarter he was overshadowed by Durant and rightfully so. But Lebron scored 7 points and had 2 assists. He was aggressive and missed some shots, shots that he makes sometimes so this wasn’t the case of Lebron choking or whatever stupid people like to say. FOr all of the negatives the Heat were ahead for a lot of game 1. I expect lebron to play better in game 2. I also expect the heat’s defense to play better. Chris Bosh should get better with more minute out there and D Wade has vowed to be more aggressive in game 2. The Thunder also could play better(James Harden) and I expect game 2 to be as competitive and fun to watch as game 1.
The NBA Finals between The Thunder and Miami Heat start tonight. Every one and their Mama is mad excited. I am too. This series has great potential. First we have the OKC Thunder who have rolled up every one including the previously invincible San Antonio Spurs. Kevin Durant is a superstar, but we know that. He has been great the entire postseason. Russell Westbrook has quieted his haters for a minute and is playing some of his best basketball to the point that I wondered if he was the Thunder’s best player during the Laker series (he slowed up a bit against the Spurs but was big in games 5 and 6). James Harden is the best sixth man in the league and the third star for the Thunder. He has hit mad big shots down the stretch against The Spurs and is the best passer on the team. The real development in the series against the Spurs was how the Thunder got their role players involved. Game 4 swung the series and it wouldn’t have been possible without Serge Ibaka going 11-11 from the field and scoring 27 points or Kendrick Perkins going 7-9 for 15 points. The Thunder also got big contributions from Thabo Selfalosha, Derek Fisher, and Daequan Cook. The extra firepower transformed the Thunder to from a great offense team into an unstoppable force. They overwhelmed the Spurs the last four games. Much of the credit has to be given to Scotty Brooks who gave Thabo more minutes and stressed more ball movement for the isolation-happy Thunder. The ball movement freed up the Thunder stars to play a more open game an allowed them to thrive playing together. The Thunder also ran plays involving two more of their stars own the stretch which made them less predictable. The media and fans tend to treat the Thunder’s great play as meaning they have made a leap and this is who they are now. If we were talking only about their great players I’d agree but much of the Thunder’s success against the Spurs rested on dudes hitting shots they don’t usually make (or even attempt).
Also there is the fact that the Thunder haven’t played a defense as good as the Heat yet. The Spurs defense was good but The Heat have one of the best three defenses in the league. The Heat also have LeBron James and as good as Kevin Durant has been, Lebron was the MVP for a reason. He’s the best player in the league and I’d say that it isn’t really that close. Durant has had a lot of clutch moments in these playoffs but Lebron CARRIED the Heat on his back into the Finals. When was the last time Lebron wasnt the best player in a playoff game? Game two of the Celtics series when Rondo went off? Lebron won game 6 against the Celtics by his damn self and kept the Heat in the game in game 7 until Chris Bosh and D Wade got going. Kevin Durant‘s shining moment this postseason came in the aforementioned game 4 of the Spurs series when he went off in the fourth quarter. It was awesome but Kevin hasn’t done that for an entire game this postseason. I’m not talking shit on KD or that great performance but Lebron has been on a different level. Its not an insult to say that Kevin Durant is second best to Lebron. There’s also the possibility that the second best player has the better team and that’s what really matters.
Lebron can win a game or two himself but he’s gonna need help if the Heat are gonna win a championship. Dwayne Wade has been on and off all post-season. The Heat need him on more than off. Chris Bosh has been hurt much of the post season and just had his first quality game after coming back form injury in game 7 going 8-10 from the field and scoring 19 points to finally beat the Celtics. Chris Bosh needs to have a few games like that in the finals. Is he healthy enough? The Heat supporting cast are who they are. Probably not as good as the Thunder’s but not too far away. These teams are evenly matched if we played this series on NBA2k. The Thunder are on a roll and the Heat are beat up, so it makes sense that the Thunder are the favorites. The Thunder rolled the Spurs, Lakers, and Mavericks up. The Heat struggled to get past The Pacers and Celtics. LeBron James has used up a lot of energy to beat the Celtics and Pacers while Kevin Durant has just been chillin and playing Doodle Jump.
My gut says that if Miami can get consistent production from D Wade and Bosh then Lebron will take care of the rest. If the Heat lose Lebron is bound to be questioned and pieced apart like a motherfucker. Nothing new. I’m confident that Lebron will play his ass off. Lebron looks much more comfortable than a year ago, when he had a better team around him. But the adversity he’s faced (real adversity, on the basketball court) in the playoffs this year have allowed him to play his game. No more trying to fit in with D Wade, this is Lebron’s team now. If the rest of the heat can come close to matching Lebron the heat will be champions. I’m not hating on he Thunder at all and I certainly think they can win the title. If both teams are at their best I have Miami in 7. If Miami is still banged up I expect Lebron to make it tough for The Thunder but I’d lean toward the Thunder. Really though I’m just looking forward to an exciting ass series. I really don’t know what the hell to expect.
Note: I changed my mind a little bit after watching the Heat beat the Celtics in game 6 and 7. I’ve been saying that the real NBA Finals were the Western Conference Finals between The Spurs and Thunder. Those were the two best teams because I felt that without Bosh back an playing at high level the heat would have no chance. Bosh looked good in game seven and I figured I’d be an optimist. We don’t want injuries to settle the NBA Finals.
Another Note: If Kendrick Perkins gets hurt at any point and the Thunder lose do not blame it on Perk’s injury. He sucks.
Lebron James beat the Celtics by himself last night. He dropped 45 points, had 15 boards, and five dimes. He had 30 at the half and the heat had at least a 10 point lead all the way. Dude was unconscious from the floor hitting 19-26. That’s 73% shooting. He made it look easy at times and also hit a bunch of difficult shots, which he also made look easy. Going into the game there was chatter (again!) that Lebron isn’t clutch which Lebron responded to with one of his greatest games ever. The haters and Boston Celtics fans were quieted. For one day. If the Heat lose game 7 Lebron will hear it all over again. These people are stupid and don’t matter. Haters are saying that Lebron’s performance wasn’t truly clutch because it wasn’t a close game or the stakes weren’t high enough. Stupid.
Zach Lowe goes into detail here about Lebron’s Clutchness. He remembers the 2009 conference Finals between the Heat and Magic. Lebron was amazing in that series averaging 40, 10, and 10. No body remembers this because the Cavs lost. The bottom line in the column: sometimes Lebron is clutch, and sometimes he isn’t. Yo, it’s actually true of a lot of great players. Take Kobe for instance. Sometimes Kobe is clutch and sometimes he isn’t. Lebrn failed miserably in the Finals last year. Kobe failed miserably in the Finals in 2004 except no body remembers. That’s what happens when you have five championships. That’s what Lebron is trying to do right now. The best part about game 6 was Lebron’s demeanor. He was all business and didn’t get caught up in any bullshit. Lebron wants to win for his own sake, not for validation from a bunch of stupid people. He knows that if the heat lose in game 7 or in the Finals people will be on his ass. But those people don’t matter to him.
Lebron was amazing in game 6, but we can’t expect him to do that every time. There are some other positives from game 6 for the Heat. As John Hollinger of ESPN writes, The Heat held the Celtics to only 79 points. Unlike earlier in the series they got back on defense and stopped Rajon Rondo from going crazy on them. Chris Bosh played 28 minutes and was rusty again. But Kevin Garnett was only 6-14 form the field and scored only 12 points. Some of that could be Chris bosh because Bosh, unlike the other Heat players is tall enough to bother KG’s shot. Dwayne Wade was a no show for the first half again and when he started playing well in the fourth quarter the Heat ran away with the game. D Wade looked slow for the first three quarters and then got aggressive late. I think were 100% sure he’s not 100%. But did D Wade get better as the game went on or was his performance by design? A part of me thinks he was saving his burst and energy for when it mattered and with Lebron killing it early D Wade rode the wave and waited to aggressive later in the game. In game 7, the Heat would like to get more help for Lebron but I think the defense will be the key and if they can get stops consistently they’ll win game 7.
Against the Thunder, Lebron is gonna need some real help. He may have a game or two that he dominates so severely that the Heat roll easily, but OKC has scores like Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden. People will focus on the math up between Durant and Lebron, but at this point Kevin Durant has more support. And then the real question for the Heat becomes the health of D Wade and Chris Bosh.
Going into tonight’s game 6 of the Western Conference Finals I felt like the Spurs were being overlooked to an extent. People acted like the Thunder has already won. I felt like the Spurs would show some fight in game six. And they did at first. In the first half the Spurs were unconscious. Tony Parker ripped the Thunder for 21 points and 10 assists in the first half. Tim Duncan had 13 points of his own and the Spurs, specifically Stephan Jackson hit a bunch of threes in the Thunder’s face.
The Thunder though, did not back down. Kevin Durant did his thing and scored consistently to keep the thunder from getting blown out. The Spurs had a lead of 18 points at one point and went into the break up 15. the thunder won the game in the third quarter. the Spurs couldn’t do anything in the quarter and the Thunder scored at will dropping over 30 points shooting 12-19 from the field. Kevin Durant was cool during the first half but went off in the third dropping 14 points. Dude also had 14 rebounds.Dude also played THE WHOLE GAME. And unlike the Spurs he wasn’t tired down the stretch. After three quarters the Thunder were only down 1 and quickly got ahead in the fourth.
The fourth quarter was intense. The Thunder hit a lot of big shots. The Spurs couldn’t get any easy looks but still fought. My problem with the fourth was the refs. Yo, OKC got a lot of calls. A lot of bullshit calls. The Spurs were called for “battling for position” fouls again and again. That type of contact happens every possession and usually isn’t called. Then there was that three point play from Manu Ginobili the was taken away cuz Kevin God-Boy Durant got in Ginobili’s way. OKC would have won the game any way, but it would have been even more exciting and great without the wack foul calls. James Harden‘s three pointer to ice the game was HUGE. Derek Fisher‘s three from beyond the grave was great too. Russell Westbrook was a great compliment to Durant the whole game. Dude had boundless energy. Bigtime shit, the Thunder proved that they have what it takes to win a championship. At no point in that first half did the thunder hang their heads or look scared. They weathered the storm and now are headed for the Finals.
I think the key to this series was game 4 when Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins went off. The Thunder made a point of looking to get everyone involved and it paid off. In addition to those two guys, Thabo Selfalso, Daequan Cook, and Zombie Derek Fisher got a lot of open looks and dropped hem. Russell Westbrook made passes that he never would have attempted a year ago. Kevin Durant also looked to give up the rock, and dished out five assists tonight. The Spurs were unstoppable for the first 10 games of the playoffs but their attack and game plan was so successful that they never developed any other game plans in case their plan A didn’t work. They did whatever they wanted for game 1 and 2 and once the Thunder took that any they were lost. Tonight was a microcosm of that. In the first half the Spurs did whatever they wanted and in the second half the thunder took that away and the Spurs had no plan B. Thunder evolved during the series from an iso-heavy team reliant on three dudes int a team that at least looks to get the other guy involved. The Thunder were able to change and the Spurs weren’t.
The Thunder have to be the favorites against the Heat or Celtics. They are too deep for either of those teams and they don’t ever slow down. They have three guys in Westbrook, Durant, and Harden who can generate offense out of nowhere. They may struggle for a minute but they always figure out how to got rolling eventually. Miami has Lebron James and Dwayne Wade to match the Thunder greats and their athleticism. The Celtics are old as hell and only have Rondo to match up athletically. Both Eastern Conference teams have good-great defense to match up with the Thunder. But The Thunder have so many damn weapons and are so relentless.
Who will the Thunder play in the Finals is the question now. I think every one wants The Heat and Lebron to face off against Durant and The Thunder. The Heat are down 3-2 to the Celtics though and that’s a problem. On paper, completely healthy I say the Heat beat the Celtics but that’s not where the heat are at right now. Chris Bosh just came back from injury in game five and is rusty. D Wade is D Wade-lite right now. Sometimes he looks as great as ever, sometimes he struggles. He’s hurting. Lebron has been great all playoffs and it’d be a shame if it was all for nil. The Celtics deserve credit for their play, Rajon Rondo and Kevin Garnett especially. Paul Pierce and Ray Allen are a little banged up, but I’d say the Heat missing Bosh and playing with 70% D Wade is the bigger deal.
My only prediction is the Eastern Conference Final’s ending will be as hard-fought and exciting as the Western Conference’s Finals. The Thunder will be waiting.
That’s cool and all, but they won’t be happy for real until they win the NBA Finals
Its Monday night and the Thunder just beat the Spurs in one of the more exciting playoffs games so far. They now have a 3-2 game advantage over the Spurs who have lost three in a row after winning 20 in a row. Most people have buried The Spurs and have the Thunder in the Finals. Me? Nah,not yet. The Thunder do appear to have hit another gear playing out of their minds for the past three games. Steve Kerr claimed that this is another passing of the torch, or conch, or cliché like the Laker/Thunder series was (it wasn’t, neither is this series). The Thunder if they advance still have another torch to be passed to them from the Celtics, Heat (do they even have any torches? They’d have to right? They’re the HEAT), or maybe Moses. Maybe that’s why James Hardengrew the beard out, to look like Moses.
GINOBILI!
What was great about game 5 and great about this series is the FIGHT shown from both teams. The Spurs fought in this game. First they were down big in the first half and fought to get the lead under ten. Then Manu Ginobili went GINOBILI! in the third quarter to briefly give the Spurs the lead. Then the Thunder fought back to get a decent sized lead going into the fourth. Kevin Durant woke up and he and James Harden gave the Thunder a big 101-88 lead midway through the fourth. At that point The TNT guys had the game over. But Ginobili, Tony Parker, and Tim Duncan(back from the dead!) fought back again to make it a two point game with a minute left. The Thunder at the time looked ready to self-destruct minutes after every one had anointed them as the Chosen Ones. Then The Thunder had an-almost really bad possession where they completely ignored Durant only to be bailed out by a dagger three pointer from Harden. Russell Westbrook was the Thunder player most excited by that three because if the Thunder had lost he would have unfairly taken much of the blame. Russ had a few bad plays down the stretch but Kevin Durant needs to work harder to get open in those spots too. After all that the Spurs still kind of had a shot at tying the game when Thabo Sefalsho lost the ball out-of-bounds when Leonard stripped (actually, fouled) him. Duncan had the same exact look from 3 he had against the Suns in 2008( I think, or was it 2007?) and passed it to Ginobili who got a semi-open look that was a little bit too far away IMO. He missed. Damn. Great series. Neither team has backed down all series and I expect San Antonio to bring everything they have in game 6. The Thunder’s three stars played well tonight, AND their role player continued their hot shooting from game 4. Game 6 will be in The Thunder’s building and they have ALL the momentum. But I’m not gonna count out the Spurs, who have been the best team in the league and in the playoffs up until the last three games. Tony Parker was off his game tonight and in game 4, at some point he’s gonna step up. Ginobili was amazing all game but it wasn’t enough. AND actually, it should have been. 103 points is enough to win in the NBA. The problem for the Spurs is slowing down the Thunder. The Thunder’s key to success, the production from their role players. Daequan Cook hit three big 3s in the first half. Ibaka continued to hit from the floor, Nick Collisont oo. Derek Fisher was less of a disaster than usual. This, besides the Spurs resolve, talent, and heart is why I think the Spurs can come back and win this series. As well as the Thunder’s stars are playing, their other dudes are playing over their heads a bit. We rightfully hyped Durant for going OFF in the fourth quarter of game 4, but The Thunder might have lost that game if Kendrick Perkins and Serge Ibaka didn’t play so well offensively. Ibaka got a lot of hype which he deserved, but whenever Perkins makes any baskets, it’s a minor miracle. 7 minor miracles happened in game 4. If the Thunder win the series, it’ll be because of game 4.
Harden’s Dagger
That other series, the one for second place has ben just as entertaining as the Western Conference NBA Finals. On Sunday The Celtics beat The Heat in OT to tie the series at 2. Rajon Rondo had 10 assists in the first half and the Celtics scored 61 points to take a commanding lead. LeBron James and The Heat roared back in the second half and Lebron tied the game up with a three near the end the send the game into OT. Lebron then fouled out immediately. Paul Pierce fouled out a little while earlier and the Heat out-sucked The Celtics in overtime to secure the Celtic win ( the Celtics scored 4 points, which was twice as much as the Lebron-less Heat scored). A lot of questionable foul calls but Boston did enough to win the game. Ray Allen showed some life and Kevin Garnett was Kevin Garnett. It looks like Dwayne Wade is off a bit. He may be hurting still from all of those injuries but seems to be pacing himself a bit out there. A D Wade led team should be able to score more than 2 points in five minutes of NBA basketball. The Heat at times look like the Lebron-led Cavs out there which isn’t a great sign. They also may be working Lebron a bit too much. He has been great this series mostly but defensively The Heat were bad against Boston in that first half. 61 points for one of the worst offenses in the league. That’s when they lost the game. They fixed their D up in the second half and almost won the game, and that’s why I still feel like it’s the Heat’s series to lose. I can’t see the Celtics continuing to play this well on offense. Rondo has been amazing and looks like one of the very best players in the NBA this series. But then he kind of disappeared in the second half of game 4. If the Celtics are gonna win this series Rondo has to continue to play out of his damn mind. There’s also The Chris Bosh factor. Word is he may go in game 5, which may or may not help the Heat. If Bosh isn’t close to 100% or 80% at least I don’t see him being much of a factor but if he is, than Miami becomes much more dangerous. Bosh can match up with KG, space the floor for Lebron and D Wade and give the Heat more scoring. Lebron can guard Rondo as well. The Heat are at home tomorrow I feel like they win. Bosh may be rusty but if the Heat will need him in the Finals so it’s a good idea to try to get him going in this series. Hell, the Heat need Bosh right now. I’ve said previously that The winner of the Western Conference Finals will win the NBA Finals. I still think that’s true, but I also thought that the Spurs would win the West and they’re losing. I’d give a healthy Heat team a shot though. Against the Thunder I feel like D Wade and Lebron in particular can take their game to places that the The Thunder’s stars can’t match. Their defense might be able to slow the Thunder down enough. The Celtics have great D too, but as previously said I think the Celtics will only go as far as Rondo takes them on offense. The Thunder as we have seen all playoffs, don’t scare. If the Spurs somehow get by The Thunder and go to the Finals I think they’re beatable for the Heat. The Heat like the Thunder have the young Gs who can ball and don’t scare. Lebron even has motivation from the Cavs loss to The Spurs in 2007 to work with. There’s a lot to work with in these playoffs, and there still a lot more to come.
Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals was one of the best games we’ve seen this postseason. The San Antonio Spurs beat the OKC Thunder 101-98. Most of the game was back and forth with the Thunder leading late in the third quarter by 9. But it never seemed like the Spurs were that far behind and I was patiently waiting for the Spurs to make their run. And when they did the in the fourth quarter, no one was shocked, except maybe the Thunder. It was the exact opposite of the Laker-Thunder series. When the Lakers went down, they stayed down. But as the camera looked at Duncan and Tony Parker on the bench as they were down 9 they looked mad, not defeated in the least.
Durant played well but he and The Thunder faltered down the stretch
The Thunder capitalized on the spur’s 14 turnovers in the first half getting on the break for dunks and lay-ups. the spurs looked out of whack on offense and besides turning the ball over too much also blow a bunch of lay-ups. The Spurs tightened up on the turnovers in the second half when they only had two. Out of the stars in the game, Manu Ginobili was really the only dude to go off. Kevin Durant had a good game and Tim Duncan and Tony Parker were decent enough, but Manu was the driving force in the fourth quarter where he ignited the Spur’s comeback. Russell Westbrook, my boy, had a off-night shooting and James Harden was also decent but not quite good enough for the Thunder to win. It was an interesting and entertaining game for what might be the best series this postseason. It also might be the Real NBA Finals. If Miami doesn’t get Chris Bosh back I have a had time believing they can beat The Thunder or the Spurs at full strength. Sorry but The Celtics don’t even get half a bar in this rap.
Manu Ginobili was That DUDE for The Spurs
The Spurs’s have yet to face a team with just as much star power as they have. Parker, Duncan, and Ginobili play hard the whole game and don’t blink ever, but Durant, Westbrook and Harden are their young equivalent. When the Spurs went up and looked to have the game locked up, Jame Harden kept coming. All those dudes keep coming. Even though they didn’t have their best game and they SILL almost won. What happens when Durant, Westbrook, and Harden all have their games going? They can beat the Spurs and they mos def will be the first team in a minute to get a W against the mighty Spurs. But you can make a similar argument for the Spurs. Ginobili was great but Parker and Duncan were nothing special and they STILL won. What happens when all those dudes come to play? Then’s there’s the supporting cast issue. The Thunder had decent role players with defined roles but on offensive, not one of those guys is any type of threat. Derek fisher had a real nice game, but he’s not a guy the Thunder can count on game to game to deliver. I consider every good Derek Fisher game to be a gift from god; The Spurs, on the other hand have plenty of guys who will hit the open three on roll to the basket for the lay-up that Parker or Ginobili gets for them. Splitter had a few of those and Gary Neal knocked down a timely three here and there but a lot of dudes that the Spurs rely on didn’t do a whole lot… until the fourth where they poured in 39 points and remind every one why they have to be the favorites in the series. The Thunder proved already that it won’t be easy and if any team this year is gonna knock out the Spurs it has the be the Thunder. I can’t wait for game 2.
Kobe Bryant has won 5 championships. His teams have almost always been title contenders and every year The lakers don’t win it is seen as a disappointment. Kobe hasn’t won a championship in 11 of his 16 seasons though. We definitely don’t see Kobe’s career as disappointing. It’s impossible to win a title every year and part of reason Kobe’s five rings are so respected is because we KNOW how hard it is to win them. Kobe is by default every one’s favorite Laker during his career. Old-school fans can talk about Magic, Kareem, and my Grandma will talk about Jerry West or George Mikan if you let her. For people 30 and under though Kobe is that dude. He’s earned it and as a result people willingly overlook his faults and failures. Kobe is either the best or second best player of his generation his only competition being Tim Duncan(Kevin Garnett is third). When the Lakers lose its not because of Kobe, but his teammates, which Kobe’s attitude reinforces. This year the ire of Laker fans is focused on Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum, Kobe’s two all-star big men. It’s funny because those two guys are the most responsible for the Laker’s success outside of Kobe and yet they are taking the blame for the Laker’s loss to a better OKC Thunder team. Last year Pau Gasol got most of the abuse and in 2008 against the Celtics Lamar Odom got a lot of flack. Before that Kobe not only called out his teammates but the entire laker organization when he demanded to be traded. Kobe scoffed when the Lakers were unwilling to trade Andrew Bynum for Jason Kidd. In the 2008 against the Finals a famous douchey baseball player sat court side and was appalled at Kobe’s treatment of his teammates. This year Kobe yelled at Pau Gasol almost as much as he shot the ball.
Kobe on losing “It’s kind of unfamiliar territory, i’m really not used to it.” ACTUALLY, YOU ARE used to it.
Some people look at this behavior and think Kobe’s a winner and he is just demands that his teammates meet his effort on the court. Other people look and think what a dick. Most of the latter people are not Laker fans. I am a laker fan and I feel like both views are valid. I understand where Kobe is coming from but I do think he’s being a dick. I also think he’s wrong and blind to his own mistakes almost as much as Kobe Stans are. How many times has Kobe thrown a bad pass or made a costly turnover and then yelled at his teammates for not catching his BAD pass? Yo it happens a lot of I’m tired of it.
Kobe calling out Pau Gasol after game 4 of the Thunder series was bullshit. Kobe went 2-10 from the field n the fourth quarter in that game. In game 2 Kobe completely blew the game. Pau Gasol had one bad turnover in game 4, Kobe had 3 in game 2 and they directly led to the Laker’s defeat. Kobe had a decent series again the Thunder and had a very good game in game 5 (although he had 0 assists. 0!) but he was far from great in this series. Bynum and Pau were below their usual standards but this is what happens when a team is better than you. Each one of those guys had a few good games in that series but overall all three were below their usual standards, Kobe included. Kobe averaged 31.2 points in the series so people will think he was great but Kobe shot 43% for the series, respectable but he shot only 39% in the first four games three of which the Lakers had a good shot at winning. That’s Allen Iverson-esque ish right there. I’m not saying that Kobe was bad in the series but compare that to Kevin Durant who scored 27 a game on 52% shooting. Russell Westbrook, who was the BEST player in the series (and possibly the best player on The Thunder?) scored 26 a game on 49% shooting. Scoring isn’t the only thing those guys did well Russ averaged 5 assists AND 5 boards and Durant had 8.6 boards a game and 3.2 assists. Kobe had 5 boards and 3.4 assists. Down the stretch Durant and Westbrook made all the big plays, not Kobe. THOSE are the guys Kobe is in competition with, not his teammates. And Durant and Westbrook were better than him. I’m not saying its all on Kobe, Bynum and Pau had mediocre series themselves which contributed to the Laker’s problems. The Laker’s supporting players outside of Kobe, Pau, and Bynum are not great which I’ve been saying all year. Only Ramon Session’s play was disappointing, we don’t really expect much from those other guys. This year’s Laker team was flawed from the start and a part of that falls on Kobe. They lacked outside shooting but Kobe still had Bynum and Gasol and instead ignored them in game 5 nd tried to do everything himself. I understood this strategy in 2006 when Kobe had bad teammates but ignoring Pau and Drew was ridiculous. You thought you were gonna win game 5 going one on five, Kobe? Really? How’d that work out for you in 2006 and 2007? Thought so. Even more crazy was Kobe yelling at Pau repeatedly. Andrew and Pau don’t get the ball enough. The Lakers will look to go those guys but give up rather easily when they’re being guarded tough. Pau and Drew both shot poor from the field against the Thunder but they BOTH actually shot slightly better form the filed than Kobe did. When Kobe is struggling he gets to shoot himself out of funks. Pau and Bynum don’t have that luxury as Kobe and the other Lakers will stop looking their way when they’re struggling.
Every Laker team is different and the reasons for the Laker’s failures are complicated. Some Laker fans are mad at this year’s team, which I don’t really understand as they were never really that good at any time this year. Last year’s Laker team went out much worse getting swept by Dallas in the second. Pau got the blame that year and deserved a bit of it, but not all of it. Kobe didn’t get any blame even though he was outplayed by Dirk Nowitzki. Kobe averaged 23 for the series and only had 2.5 assist a game and 3 rebounds. Those are sub par number for Kobe. Especially when you compare those numbers to his playoff runs in 2010, 2009, and 2008 not to mention his runs with Shaq in the early 2000s. Kobe escaped blame because he has the five rings just like he escaped criticism in the 2008 finals. Kobe scored 25.6 a game against a great Celtic defense. But the Celtics held Kobe to 40% shooting which is not good. Gasol wasn’t as good as he normally was and got more flack than Kobe did. I remember Lamar Odom getting killed after that series but his numbers were actually about the same as in years the lakers won the whole thing. Lost in the blame game, the Celtics were fucking great that year, as were the Mavericks in 2011 and OKC this year.
There is the evidence that Kobe is not perfect. No one is. Except Michael Jordan form ’91-93′ and 96′-98′. Kobe can be slowed down and is susceptible to bad series and shooting from time to time. When players go through this, the media and fans have a tendency to act like they suck now or they’re soft or whatever bullshit storyline they want to add. Because Kobe has won so many rings he escapes this bullshit which is good, but his teams don’t escape it. Worse yet, Kobe feeds into the bullshit by calling out his teammates and screaming at them on the court. That shit is wack as fuck. What’s funny is that Kobe has gotten doses of this shit in his career also. Remember the Shaq-Kobe lakers? Those teams were amazingly successful but Shaq was real quick to throw Kobe under the bus. That wasn’t cool Shaq. They won three rings in a row and then lost in ’03 to the Spurs and in 04′ to the Detroit pistons. After they lost Shaq was traded to Miami Heat who won a title in 2006 and Phil Jackson retired for a year and wrote an anti-Kobe book. I can call out Kobe for his play in the 2004 Finals. Yo, he was HORRIBLE and he might have single-handily shot the Lakers out of the title. Really, I’ll post the box scores. HERE. I won’t call him out for the Shaq-Kobe split. At the time every one blamed Kobe for the break-up and many Laker fans were anti-Kobe (don’t even try to front, you know who you are). People didn’t jump back on the Kobe bandwagon until he went off for 81 points in 2006 and he was still criticized for not winning a title without Shaq until 2009, when he won a title without Shaq. Now Kobe has one more ring than Shaq and people try to act like all of the other shit never happened. Whatever. Kobe was alway a great player during that time but this revisionist history ignores the difficulty of his journey and makes it less meaningful.
Kobe is pretty much the same guy he’s always been. Before Kobe won without Shaq he was routinely tagged as a selfish gunner. During the 2009 playoff run media members claimed that Kobe had learned to trust his teammates. Actually, NO. He was the same dude he and his teammates were just playing better than before. He also had Pau Gasol on the team. Yo Kobe, Pau Gasol is the biggest reason why you have five rings instead of three, stop yelling at him! Kobe has had one of the best NBA careers of anyone, and is one of the all-time greats. The competitive fire Kobe has is a big reason why he’s been so great and successful. Lakers fans have it better than almost every other fan base in the world. It’s ok to be disappointed for not winning every year but calling dudes out, yelling at people is wack. That’s not what a great leader does. I’ll enjoy watching the rest of Kobe’s career and I hope that the Lakers win another title or two. I’m not gonna act like they’re entitled to win a championship every year. I know that as great as Kobe is, more of his Laker teams lost than won. Winning is hard, that’s why it means so much.
One More Than Shaq: without all of the defeats, Kobe’s titles wouldn’t have meant as much.
P.S.: The WORST is when LeBron James haters talk about Kobe’s rings in comparison to Lebron having none. Lebron Haters are the worst people on this planet.
4 HOOPS HEADS 