I was talking with my friends yesterday about tonight's Game 5. They mentioned that the series is apparently over and there's no pressure on LeBron James to have a great game tonight to clinch the title. I have to disagree with both of those statements.
First of all, this series is nowhere close to over. While it may seem like all the pressure is on OKC to perform at a high level, the pressure is 100% on LeBron. He's been in the league for 9 years, calling himself "The King" for the same amount of time. Now, we'll see if he really deserves that moniker.
If OKC can get off the 1-on-1 stagnation they've had for this entire series, maybe they can pull this one out and LeBron will have to clinch it on the road. We know OKC has the best crowd in the NBA, thus also having the best home-court advantage. While most crowds quiet down after a 10 point deficit, OKC's crowd hangs in there at around 15 or 20, which is remarkable.
Ya know, I've noticed that an overwhelming majority of OKC fans are old (relatively, maybe 40s to 70s).
Anyway, if LeBron doesn't have a 30 point, 10 rebound., 7 assist game, people (including myself) will harp on it until next season begins.
It surprises me that Miami can go up 3-1 against the Thunder, but they lost 4-2 last year to the Mavericks, a much older team. To be honest, I figured that if they couldn't beat the Mavs last year, they would have no shot with the speed and agility of this OKC team.
I guess I was wrong...
Oklahoma City wins this game by 3 to send it back home for Game 6 (at least).
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
My first sports post will be about Game 4, which took place last night in Miami. With Miami up 2-1 going in to the game. The Thunder knew they needed to come out strong.
And they did.
The score was something like 18 to 4 within a couple minutes. Eventually, the Thunder got out to a 17 point lead. However, that was as big as the lead was going to get.
Seems like the Thunder have this one in the bag, right? Wrong! Oklahoma City blew it, and by the third quarter, Miami was leading by 10. I honestly don't believe OKC's defense was that bad. They lost that big lead because they couldn't get any TEAM offense going. About 75% of their offensive "sets" were 1-on-1 matchups. Kevin Durant, no matter how long he is, cannot make an open shot for himself. He needs a bit of help from his other guys, setting screens and getting him the ball where he wants it. I'll give LeBron a lot of credit there, because he's making it very hard for OKC to get Durant the ball in his sweet spot.
Westbrook was on fire yesterday, scoring 43 points on 20 of 32 shooting (62%). When he saw both Durant and Harden passing up open shots, he decided to take the initiative and start scoring. He took 13 more shots than Durant, and many people are complaining about that. I say if Durant doesn't want to score the ball, let Westbrook get a shot at it. Harden has been abysmal in this series. If he doesn't step up in Game 5, OKC might get eliminated.
People consider LeBron James to be the "King". Some want him to win this championship, while many others (including myself) don't want him to win because of the way he left Cleveland.
I'm picking the Thunder to win Game 5 tonight in Miami to force a Game 6 at their home.
Tomorrow, 9 pm tune in to ABC for the game.
And they did.
The score was something like 18 to 4 within a couple minutes. Eventually, the Thunder got out to a 17 point lead. However, that was as big as the lead was going to get.
Seems like the Thunder have this one in the bag, right? Wrong! Oklahoma City blew it, and by the third quarter, Miami was leading by 10. I honestly don't believe OKC's defense was that bad. They lost that big lead because they couldn't get any TEAM offense going. About 75% of their offensive "sets" were 1-on-1 matchups. Kevin Durant, no matter how long he is, cannot make an open shot for himself. He needs a bit of help from his other guys, setting screens and getting him the ball where he wants it. I'll give LeBron a lot of credit there, because he's making it very hard for OKC to get Durant the ball in his sweet spot.
Westbrook was on fire yesterday, scoring 43 points on 20 of 32 shooting (62%). When he saw both Durant and Harden passing up open shots, he decided to take the initiative and start scoring. He took 13 more shots than Durant, and many people are complaining about that. I say if Durant doesn't want to score the ball, let Westbrook get a shot at it. Harden has been abysmal in this series. If he doesn't step up in Game 5, OKC might get eliminated.
People consider LeBron James to be the "King". Some want him to win this championship, while many others (including myself) don't want him to win because of the way he left Cleveland.
I'm picking the Thunder to win Game 5 tonight in Miami to force a Game 6 at their home.
Tomorrow, 9 pm tune in to ABC for the game.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
The Monumental First Post
Hey guys! This is the very first post on my new blog. I previously posted on this blog: http://thesportzguru.wordpress.com/. I know this is going to be tons of fun. Remember, the point of a blog to interact with readers, and that's exactly what I plan on doing right here!
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