The Thunder are getting a little too comfortable with this "comeback in the second half" business. After a subpar showing in the first half and some understandable first-Finals-game-ever jitters, they did what they've done the last three series and turned up the juice in the second, outscoring Miami 58-40 en route to capturing their first ever Finals victory.
Since I sat and watched the game tip to buzzer, I feel like there's not much to say that hasn't already been said, somewhere, by someone. The Heat jumped out on top by moving the ball (seriously, they were playing hot potato like you would have never thought from them) and drilling three pointer after three pointer early on. Chalmers got in the act, Battier was feeling the rejuvenation; it was kind of a scary thing to witness. As I told my buddy yesterday before the game, I am aware there's no way for the Thunder to truly stop LeBron. Only he can stop himself from getting what he wants, but if his teammates shoot 50%, it's going to be game over. In the first half, it seemed like his teammates were going substantially better than that, and it led to a 7 point halftime lead (which everyone agreed was far closer than it should have been).
In the third quarter, the Thunder got their act together. And it was a thing of beauty. I have to credit Brooks for recognizing what wasn't working early and fixing it late. He hasn't been the best at that, but two huge keys for OKC in the second half were Thabo Sefolosha and Nick Collison. Collison was ALWAYS around the screen when Miami tried to pick and roll. He always put himself between the ball and the basket, something which Perkins was struggling with in the first. And Sefolosha made Wade and LeBron work hard for every shot, every dribble. There's simply no way to quantify that contribution. His pokes led to numerous loose balls, forced shots as the shot clock was running out, and a serious amount of frustration for Wade.
Of course, the other part of the story is that Durant and Westbrook went into obliteration mode. Westbrook was an absolute demon for the Thunder, firing himself into the lane and dropping filthy lefty finger rolls all night. His springs are ridiculous. Whereas most human beings need to collect themselves to jump high into the air, Westbrook will be sprinting full speed and suddenly lift himself three feet off the ground. There's not a tougher guy to score on in transition than LeBron James, but even he looked like he was standing in cement a few times while Westbrook was gliding over him for two. I will still adamantly declare that any possession where he dribbles, dribbles, doesn't pass, and then pulls a jumpshot (especially three pointer) is a terrible possession, but you can't deny his impact on the game last night.
Then there's Durant. He scored a cool and quiet 36 points (read TrueHoop's take here). Seriously, if you watched the game, you would have likely thought Westbrook outscored him. Instead, Durant had 9 more points than Russell's 27. He forced one bad shot (the turn around jumper in the corner, I think he was trying to draw a foul) that made you think, "Ahh, too aggressive," but otherwise, his points just steadily piled up, playing the tortoise to Westbrook's hare, casually draining open jumpers and right handed scoop shots. Sometimes I think he might have a medical condition that makes him immune to high pressure situations. I'm not even joking about this. Anyone in their right mind would have panicked about being cut up by the Heat at the start of their first Finals game ever. LeBron James is rightly terrifying, and it didn't seem like he was doing his worst damage early on. But the Thunder went into halftime, feeling a little momentum from the end of the half, and they probably all looked towards Durant, team leader, team hitman, and saw how calm and unconcerned he was. It's exactly the attitude I expected every game from the San Antonio Spurs: "We don't care how much we're down, what the series score is, who is playing well for the other team. We've got this. And if we don't get this, we'll get the next one." Somewhere around Game 4 of the WCF, the Thunder stole that confidence from the Spurs. You'd never be able to convince me it wasn't Durant's doing. And that's why they're sitting with a 1-0 lead in the Finals.
Miami Summary
Game MVPs:
-LeBron James (30 pts, 9 reb, 4 ast, 4 stl)
-Shane Battier's first half (13 pts, 3/3 3FG)
Unsustainable Positives:
-The lights out shooting to start. I know these are professional guys and I know Miami built its team to be outside shooters surround LeBron and Wade, but two seasons worth of evidence is enough to discount one hot half. Especially from Chalmers.
-Starting the game with an 11-to-1 assist to turnover ratio. Everything was working for them early, and that's a common theme, but as the series gets more tense and the need for LeBron to exert his power grows, those assist numbers will drop.
-42 minutes for Wade and Battier. There's talk that Wade is injured, and maybe it's true, or maybe all of the unnecessary flying to the ground is catching up to him (sorry, cheap shot). They needed to play because it seemed like Miami could steal Game 1 on the road. Now that they didn't, you wonder if the minutes are going to slow them down in Game 2 (or further).
Sustainable Positives:
-LeBron getting to the hoop. This is not new, this is exactly what everyone has been saying about him for years and years. If he has a head of steam, there's never been anyone to compare to him (and I include Jordan, it's simply a matter of the physics of LeBron's weight).
-Ball movement. Like the Thunder, the Heat are almost unstoppable front-runners. Wade and LeBron are zipping the ball back and forth setting each other up for layups and dunks. When they're trailing, the offense goes stagnant.
Unsustainable Negatives:
-Wade shot 7-19. This is growing closer to a sustainable one as his effectiveness wanes. But he's going to have a game or two where it's all him.
-Bosh was 4-11 and a -16 +/-. He's a better player than that, no matter how much I like to see him fail.
Sustainable Negatives:
-All the missed jumpers in the second half. Wade has always had an issue with the jump shot. He came into the league without one, had one for a little while when everyone was terrified of him getting to the rim, and now it seems like it's fading on him. Instead, he's much more content with pump faking and trying to draw the lean-in foul every time he gets the ball. I'm growing very tired of his referee baiting. He's going to start looking like Derek Fisher soon.
Oklahoma City Summary
Game MVPs:
Russell Westbrook (27 pts, 8 reb, 11 ast, 2 to)
Thabo Sefolosha (9 pts, 2 stl, 1 blk, best on-ball defense in the game)
*Obviously there's a pull to include Durant. But for me, he could have had that game in a win or a loss. Westbrook rebounding from his poor start was a huge difference maker in the second half.
Unsustainable Positives:
-Westbrook had 11 assists and only 2 turnovers. That's very unusual for him. I think the Thunder could really use Eric Maynor's true point guard skill set off the bench.
-Team shooting. As a team, they shot 52%. Just not likely to continue against the Heat's defense, though they didn't really make too many shots I expected them to miss.
Sustainable Positives:
-Westbrook getting to the hoop. When he sits and watches his own game film, he HAS to see how effective he is when he's at the rim, and how ineffective he is taking long jumpers, right?
-Sefolosha's defense. They showed that he had 9 minutes in the first half. Perhaps it was a move to save his legs for the second, but I was significantly worried about the fact that the Thunder took Game 6 against the Spurs without a contribution from Thabo. Brooks needs to know that he needs to be on the court. And at this point, I much prefer his defense to be on James than Wade.
Unsustainable Negatives:
-They only got one really good 8 minute stretch from Ibaka and one buzzer beating jumper from Harden. I think Ibaka is going to make a much bigger impact defending the paint coming up. He had 0 blocks, which means he's due for like 6 in the next game. And Harden seems to be a guy who doesn't mind not getting his. He thinks, "It's no big deal. I'm gonna have my game. Just watch."
-They shot worse from three point (29%) and the free throw line (74%) than Miami (42%, 78%). That's just not going to continue.
Sustainable Negatives:
-Perkins had two turnovers. As many as Westbrook, on maybe 1/40th the number of touches. Don't pass him the ball if he's more than 8 feet from the basket. Seriously.
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