Heat escape back to South Beach with a split

Russell Westbrook guarded by D.Wade
Image source: observadorglobal.com

            The Miami Heat head back to South beach humming, at least for a night as they used an incredible start to game 2 of the NBA finals to pull out a win. The Heat once again started off well as they took an 18 to 2 lead at the beginningof the game while Oklahoma continues to struggle with slow starts. The Thunder just like in game 1 rallied but ultimately fell short after Durant missed a 7 footer on a controversial play in which Lebron may or may not have fouled him that would have tied the game with about 7 seconds left. The problem with Oklahoma City at least for this night, begins and ends with Russell Westbrook, who scored 27 points on 26 shots. Westbrook plays the ¨PG¨ position and yet he takes more shots than Kevin Durant who continues to have monster games in a very efficient way. It is not to say that Westbrook had a complete disaster of a game, he scored 18 points in the second half on 8 for 16 shooting.
         However, going 2 for 10 in the first half is a big reason why the Thunder fell behind and it makes no sense that westbrook didnt continue to feed the hot hand at the time. James Harden came out firing, making sure that his game 2 performance would be much better than his game 1, so why didnt westbrook the point guard of the team go to the hot hand? Instead his team fell in a big gap and Westbrook was decimated on national television by Magic Johnson, the greatest point guard to ever play the game. The stats show that when Westbrook shoots more than Durant the Thunder generally win, but thats because the team is better than most of the league on most nights. Yet, in the NBA finals against the other best team in the league, unless westbrook is making most of those shots at an efficient rate, the Thunder are looking at a long shot at winning the NBA championship. This series already looks like is going to be one of the best finals we´ve had in years (along with the 2010 Boston vs Lakers that went 7 games), but westbrook must be efficient if he´s going to continue to be a volume scorer. At this point of the season, we cannot expect Westbrook to change his game and be more of a traditional point guard, nor should he (they made the finals with him taking all those shots), but for Oklahoma to stop getting off to slow starts, their pg needs to follow the script of the second half of game 2, to start out game 3.

6 Fouls of the day

1. In a RARE incident involving a San Antonio Spurs player, Tony parker will be sidelined for a week after injuring his eye in the fight that broke out in New York involving Chris Brown and Drake, Parker who will play with the France national team this summer said he was with his friend Chris Brown when people started throwing punches at them
2. 2.Phil Jackson said he was not interested in coaching the New York Knicks if he had been asked nor the Orlando Magic. Jackson stated That Stoudemire of the Knicks, is a great player but that he needs to be in the right system and he just doesnt fit with Carmelo Anthony, who Jackson said needs to pass the ball more instead of just stop stopping ball movement once it reaches his hands.
3. After shooting terrible to start the playoffs, Battier has been on fire from three point range in his first two finals game, will he continue his hot streak from behind the arc? or will the Oklahoma City thunder make adjustments? either way, Battier´s shooting along with Bosh´s strong play will no doubt open up driving lanes for James and Wade, something they desperately needed during Bosh´s absence
4. Okc Coach Scott Brooks, limited Nick Collison´s minutes in game 2 and went instead with Perkins, a decision questioned by many, as collison´s intangibles were clearly missed in game 2, will Brooks once again limit him in game 3?
5. After a disappointing first two finals appearance by Lebron James against San Antonio and last year against dallas, Lebron has had 30 plus points in the first 2 games, it will be interesting to see if James will continue his strong play in the finals and maybe finally get over the hump and get his first ring
6. Spoelstra Continues to tweak and change his rotation on a game to game basis, playing Lebron James and Dwyane Wade heavy minutes, and failing to go deep into his bench, Spoelstra has changed his starting lineup numerous times during their current playoff run, and it will be interesting to see if it will continue as the finals roll on.