Wednesday, 13 June 2012

Miami Misses Freight Train; Hit Instead


Uh oh, Miami.  You just might be in a little deeper than you thought.

You limped into the Finals after having to beat an old, broken-down Celtics team in seven games.  Meanwhile, after a game one sucker punch by the Spurs, the Thunder barely lost game two, stepped on the accelerator of their F-16 style offense and bombarded the Spurs for four straight victories.

Oklahoma City was the favorite coming into this series.  They certainly proved why last night.  But I don’t think anyone saw them outplaying the Heat as much as they did in the second half.  This Heat team had the number two defense in the league.

Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook turned that defense inside out.  The Heat were going left when they needed to go right.  Right when they needed to go left.

The Thunder’s dynamic duo punished the Heat with an array of slashes, passes, jumpers, and drives.  When the final buzzer sounded, that one-two punch outscored the entire Heat team in the second half.

Erik Spoelstra inexplicably changed defenses in the second half, opting to switch all screens rather than hedge them and allow defenders to recover.  The result?  Constant mismatches for Westbrook and Durant.  And they made Miami pay.

Boy, did they make them pay.

Sure, particularly in the first half, the Thunder struggled on defense.  But what does it matter if the Thunder give up 100+ points?  They have more weapons in their arsenal than the United States Army.

The offensive blitzkrieg last night resulted in twenty-one scores in their final twenty-nine possessions.  No other team in the league can keep up with that kind of output.

The size, speed, and athleticism of this team are unmatched.  And they will go zero to sixty in the blink of an eye, leaving you so far in the dust that you will think they’ve vanished.

So be careful Miami.  Because if you aren’t, this series will be over in that same blink.


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