6 Thoughts
1) First of all, I'd like to commend myself. I sat and watched this game quietly. I didn't yell at the tv, I didn't complain (much) about the officiating (although how can DWade go to the rim at the end of the 3rd quarter, get bodychecked on the release by Fisher - no call, then Westbrook comes down the other end and gets a brush-by foul to give OKC the lead after 3? okay, done...). To have a realistic shot in this series, Miami needs to get one out of these first two in Oklahoma City, which, as it turns out, is in the state of Oklahoma. The Heat jumped out to an early lead, weathered the storm through much of the third quarter, then hung in almost the whole fourth quarter, but couldn't match OKC's energy, or shot-making, down the stretch. Wasn't a great effort, but it wasn't bad. Gonna have to come back Thursday and see if they can push just a little bit harder. Let us go...
2) Playing this OKC team is like night and day from playing Boston. I'm not even talking about the fact that OKC is actually playing basketball, and not trying to slow the game down (while at the same time, douching it up) like Boston. It's hard to describe what Boston even does as "basketball" - it's more like waiting in some worn-out buffet line in West Palm Beach with a bunch of senior citizens: annoying and gross...I'm actually just talking about likability. I mean, yes, Russell Westbrook is an a-hole, we all know that. But, dude, at least he is clean. And I like Harden, and I like Ibaka ("you're going to play with some of the best young players in the world: Russell Westbrook; Serge Ibaka..."), and I love Kevin Durant. One, he's totally awesome, he's a 7 foot freak who is one of the best shooters alive, competitive, and aggressive. Two, he seems like a totally nice kid. Three, he doesn't have a huge personality, but just enough of one to be endearing - I've been looking over at The Captain in Dos Minutos Int'l HQs for weeks now, out of the blue, and saying, "Doodle Jump...Man, that's messed up..." That's Durant's text service ad - when he tells me that he sympathizes with the extreme overage charges on my current plan (even though he clearly doesn't have to worry about an expense like that), I totally believe him. Only Chris Bosh on the Heat is as sympathetic an advertiser. In the last series, I hated Kevin Garnett with the fiery rage of a thousand suns. But I can not hate Kevin Durant. Annnddd, he was terrific tonight, Miami couldn't stop him in the 4th quarter, when he poured in 17 points. His counterpart, KJ James, was good, with 30 points, with 9 rebounds, 4 steals, and 4 assists, but he shot only 11-24, and I didn't think he was quite decisive enough with his offense. He kept Miami alive in the third quarter with three driving layups, but in the fourth OKC walled off the paint, and there wasn't a lot of space for KJ to operate. He can't do everything himself. He needs a little help...
3) ...and Dwyane Wade was not good. It did not look like he could turn the corner and get into the lane. He settled for a lot of long-range jump shots. Major problem with this: not a good long-range jump shooter. He finished 7-19 for 19 points - he did have 8 assists and 4 rebounds. When the ball stuck in the second half - and it stuck a lot - it was often Dwyane just dribbling the ball out on the perimeter, making half-hearted probes at his defender. I'd say his knees are bothering him and he's not 100%, but guess what? He's old for a two guard, he's never going to be 100% again. He's still really, really, really good. Is he good enough to help KJ get over the top on OKC? Don't know...
4) Miami broke out to an early 13 point lead. Shane Battier: three straight triples in the first quarter, topped it off in the second quarter with a running half-hook shot that he started by fumbling the ball on his waist - 13 points in the first half, and 17 for the game! Iso-Batt! At one point when he was really sizzling, I called him "Batman" (Battman?), and M.Minutos didn't know who I was talking about - who is actually less of a Batman than Battier, unfortunately?
5) Mascots for professional sports teams are kind of dumb anyways. I mean the dudes are all grown-ass men: "Hey, we're the Jaguars! Yeah - Jaguars forever!" So lame. And amongst the lamest of all is the Heat. It's arguably the worst sports name there is, besides Celtics and Bulls. Are the Heat plural? Or is it singular? The Thunder is not quite as bad - at least thunder can rumble, all heat can do is give you sun stroke. ABC play-by-play announcer said of Shane Battier during the game, "He was almost a Thunder!" Really, is that how we are going to do it? A Thunder? But instead he ended up a Heat? Listen, I'll do it that way, but it sounds pretty dorky...
6) Small is the new huge. #penis
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Well, it pretty much seems like Miami is going to have to win Thursday to have a real shot at this series. Too hard to win three straight at home against a really good team. If you need me before then, I'll be watching Game 7 of the Boston series - so much easier to beat them than OKC! You don't believe me? You don't believe I have that game DVR'D and marked "save till I delete?" I'll do you one better: I still have last season's Game 5 of Chicago-Miami - I'll be watching that, too! See you Thursday, Thunders!
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