Is it too early to judge this Cavaliers team? Quick notes on tonight's game

   

    

 As the Cleveland Cavaliers look to regroup for a showdown with the New Orleans Pelicans after their loss to the OKC Thunder, questions continue to surface about this team. Lebron James, who has been under a microscope as only he could, missed a marquee game because of a sore knee. This will certainly just fuel the fire of the critics who say he's slowing down. James is even being ridiculuosly tallied on his dunks this year and how he's dunking at a much lower rate. The notion that James is slowing down is absurd, he is still putting up great numbers, leading this team in just about every important team category. While his scoring is relatively down, we noted that scoring is down across the league in general. Kobe Bryant leads the league in scoring at 25.5 PPG, a few years ago that would have been good enough for maybe 4th or 5th in scoring so we can give James a pass on that.
    As you watch the Cavs progress through this early stage of the season however, there are certainly concerns. The Cavaliers are not a good defensive team. James is far and away their best defender,  their other two marquee players (Love and Irving) are average defenders at best. Watching the game tonight, with James out and Kevin Durant still on a minute restriction, the attention turned to the point guard battle between Russell Westbrook and Kyrie Irving. However, from the onset you can tell the difference between the two players, Westbrook started defending Irving and was on him much of the night, while Irving began the game defending Andrew Roberson (who?????).  To say that the Cavs can get out of the East is a fair argument. The East is a weak conference, not taking anything away from the Toronto Raptors, but if the Raptors are first in standings, then you can certainly see Cleveland steamrolling their way to the finals on pure offensive firepower.
   The cavaliers also need to figure out what to do about Dion Waiters. Waiters' game simply does not revolve around standing in a corner and jacking up jumpers, and he certainly is not making any attempts to try to hide his believe that his game is more than that. The Cavs got outscored by 17 with Waiters on the floor today.
   On another note, even with James out, Kevin Love still did not get many touches, attempting just 13 shots, he finished with 18 points and 16 rebounds. Clearly Irving has made a point that after James, he will certainly be the one taking the most shots on the team. He finished with 21 shot attempts for 20 points and 6 assists. Again, maybe it is still a bit early for this team to judge on what the final product is. Meanwhile we can continue to microscope the fact that Lebron isn't dunking as much as he used to.

Harden debuts with a bang for the Rockets

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The Oklahoma City Thunder fans will have nightmares with James Harden for a while. Harden debuted yesterday with his new team and had perhaps his best game as a pro, dropping 37 points and 12 assists. A small sample to those skeptical about Harden's ability to take the role of being the man of a team. Now do not expect Harden to drop eye popping numbers like this every night, but its the perfect way to remind the world that James Harden is a star and is only 23 years old. Yes they played the Detroit Pistons, but so what? When Kobe Bryant dropped 81 points against the Toronto Raptors nobody said anything about it being against the raptors, 37 is 37 no matter which team you play. Harden and his new backcourt buddy Jeremy Lin looked great today, finding each other, highlighted by a backdoor cut by Harden which Lin found for an open dunk
Consider this, only three players in the last 25 years have put up the same numbers or better, than Harden put up yesterday, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, and Dwyane Wade. Three hall of famers, and people want to say that this was a bad trade by Houston? Kevin Martin is a very good player, but he is not James Harden. Coach Kevin Mchale believed it was a challenge for Harden to figure out what the team is doing, after all he just got there. So what will happen when Harden does know what he's doing within the context of the offense? Harden is coming signing his 5 year 80 million extension, and he's determine to show everybody that he's worth every cent.

There rockets are still players away from even making the playoffs, but its a very good start. Should OKC not make it back to the finals this year, they'll look back to this trade and how things could have been different. After all, they could have just waited it out and see how far OKC got this year before making such a hasty decision. Meanwhile Harden will continue to show night in an out that OKC made a mistake and it started last night, in the tune of 37 and 12.

Lebron James and Kevin Durant working out again, but does it matter?

Lebron James is the reigning Finals MVP, and it came at the expense of Kevin Durant, which many now consider to be his #1 rival and second to James for the title of best in the world. They spent some time last offseason working together, and after a summer of being Olympic teammates, they are once again working out together in preparation for the upcoming season. Now, a lot is being put into this in regards to Kevin Durant.
Should Kevin Durant be working out with his #1 rival and the player who dominated him in the biggest stage of professional basketball? Opinions vary on this subject, such as that of Skip Bayless. Bayless, who goes on a ridiculous and disrespecting rant about how Durant is being "Owned" by James, is of those who say that Durant should not be working out with James. Then again, who listens to a man who says Tim Tebow is more box office than Kobe Bryant?
In our minds, when you look at it from a competitive standpoint, Kevin Durant should not be working out with James. It gives the view that perhaps Durant has already forgotten the pain of losing in the NBA finals against the Heat. You never saw Magic working out with Bird during their historic rivalry years. But looking at it from  a point of trying to get better, Lebron James is clearly the best player in the world, and one of the hardest workers in the league, so who better to workout with?
Some will argue that there are other hard workers (such  as Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul, and the list goes on) that Durant could work out with. But, what are the chances of Durant and James meeting again in the NBA finals next june anyway? Yes, they are favorite in their respective conference. But, the Thunder now have to deal with the Lakers and their revamped roster, while the Heat have to stay healthy after a summer that saw their two supestars Wade and Lebron, go through a tiring playoff run. This playoff run consisted of having to carry the load of the entire team between them two after Bosh went down, and while Lebron did not go through any lingering injuries, Wade needed surgery. While Lebron continued his taxing season by playing in the Olympics.
All in all, can any of you remember the last time two teams made it back to back in the NBA finals? We can, The Bulls and Jazz in 97 and 98. That was 15 years ago. Regardless of this, Kevin Durant is a competitor, as is James. If they meet in the finals again next june, Durant will be thinking about that ring that James took from him, while James will be thinking that Durant its in his way of being considered one of the greatest of all time ( which take multiple rings). If anything, they will go harder at each other out of pure respect for the talent and hard work and dedication they put into trying to be the best.

Top PF going into 2012-2013, #2 Dirk Nowitzki

We continue our countdown of the top power forwards heading into the 2012-2013 NBA season with Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks at #2. The big german could have easily been our #1, but after much debating within our committee we decided to place him at #2. Nowitzki is coming off a disappointing season for his great standards. He was ousted in the first round of the playoffs by the eventual conference champions Thunder. Dirk's number for the regular season were 21.6 PPG, and 6.7 RPG. However, during the playoffs he was scoring a whooping 26.8 PPG.
Nowitzki, has held the "best power forward in the game" title for a few years now. His offensive power is matched by none. Dirk is one of the greatest shooters the game has ever seen amongst all positions. He is a 7 footer with quite a wide wingspan and a great high release on his shot. He plays with both his back to the basket but more importantly facing up. Now his numbers were down to begin the season because of an injury but once he picked it up, we seen him back to his old tricks. Look at this play, Dirk backs up his defender in the low post (something many think he does not have), and then catches him with the beautiful up an under. Nowitzki knows he can get his jump shot off against anybody, but that doesn't mean that shooting a perimeter shot is always the best option for him. His bread and butter is of course his jumpshot, which is better than half of the league's guards. He can score off the catch and shoot, coming off screens, or off the dribble. When defenders try to play up on him, he goes right by them. In addition, Dirk can shoot the three with consistency, and is a career 88% free throw shooter. Basically, he's unstoppable on the offensive end. His patented one foot fade away jumpshot is unguardable, and even when you play perfect defense, he will score easily.
Now Dirk's unmatched offensive ability masks a lot of his deficiencies. For somebody who is 7 feet tall, he isn't a great rebounder. His career average in that department is 8.3, and last season it was an abysmal 6.7 RPG. Now, generally Dirk steps it up in the playoffs in regards to rebounding, his career rebounding average is 10.3 for the playoffs. Yet, in four games games against Oklahoma City, he averaged a mere 6.3 RPG. He definitely needs to step it back up this season if he wishes to continue to be considered the top 2 or 3 power forwards in the league. In addition, Nowitzki is an average defender, he averaged a very disappointing 0.5 BPG this season, and against Oklahoma city, failed to register a single block.
Nowitzki will continue to dominate the game with his scoring and elite shooting. However, for him to maintain his high standing on this list, he must rebound much better than he did this season and must bring his shooting percentage a little bit up back to its normal 47% percent clip. We don't expect Dirk's offense to drop off too much over the next few years (considering that he doesn't depend one bit on his Athleticism), and thus he will high on this list a year from now.
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Dwight Howard drama finally over (apparently) as he's traded to the Lakers

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After months of drama and saga, it seems that Howard finally will get his wish. According to sources, the 4 team proposed trade is as follows: the Lakers would of course receive Dwight Howard, the Denver Nuggets will get Andre Iguodala, Philadelphia (coming from Philadelphia) will get Andrew Bynum (coming from the Lakers) and Jason Richardson (coming from the Magic), and the Magic would get a first round draft pick from each of the other 3 teams,  and Rookie Moe Harkless from Philadelphia.
Now several key notes to consider, first Dwight Howard will still NOT sign an extension with the Lakers, he would still seek to become a free agent next summer and it is  perceived that the Dallas Mavericks would be his preferred destination should he not return to the Lakers. Secondly, notice that Kobe Bryant got his wish, Pau Gasol was not traded. The Lakers now catapult themselves into immediate championship contenders alongside the Oklahoma City Thunder and the defending champions.
The Philadelphia 76ers here are the surprise winners, they have been looking to trade Iguodala for some time now, who could have thought that they would land the second best center in the league in Bynum???? If this trade goes through, there is no reason why Bynum would not sign an extension with the 76ers, they are a already a playoff team without him, they have great young talent and Bynum grew up about an hour away. Could you imagine a backcourt of Jrue Holiday, Evan Turner, Nick Young, alongside Thaddeus Young and Andrew Bynum? They will be scary, perhaps not tittle contenders, but trouble in a first or second round series.
The Denver Nuggets acquire Iguodala and George Karl will put the swift army knife to good use, they are young and exciting. Ultimately, the Magic will now be very bad for a few years as is usually the case when a team trades their superstar away. As for the Lakers, the success of this trade (SHOULD the trade go through) depends on two things, the first their ability to win a championship right away, and two, can they manage to convince Howard to stay in LA.  There are still many questions to be answered, will Kobe and Nash make it work in the backcourt? How will Howard's back hold up coming off surgery? And finally, Will David Stern pull a "Basketball reasons" excuse to cancel this trade just as he did with Chris Paul's trade to the Lakers?

Top PF going into 2012-2013, #7 LaMarcus Aldridge

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We continue our countdown of the top power forwards heading into the 2012-2013 NBA season with LaMarcus Aldridge of the Portland Trailblazers. Aldridge had a breakout season, culminating in an All Star team selection (his first). He averaged 21.7 PPG 8.0 RPG on a very efficient 51% FG. Quite frankly this should have been his second straight all star selection. Aldridge is a very skilled player, he's an underrated athlete and is freakishly long, it also doesnt hurt to have a legit 6-11 height.
Aldridge is not a power player, he is a finesse forward and a matchup nightmare. He is a great low post player, he fights for position well and understands the importance of shooting inside the painted area. He has a polished low post repertoire which begins with his positioning. Rarely do you see Aldridge catch the basketball too far out of the paint, he is usually one or two dribbles away. He has an established baby hook shot, a good up and under and loves to spin baseline where he uses his length to get off a quality shot. In addition, he gets lots of easy basket mainly on using positioning to get point blank baskets.  These type of easy baskets is what makes Aldridge unique in that he can rack up points quickly and quietly.
Aldridge also has a good mid range jumpshot which helps keep defenders honest and not play off of him. This makes Aldridge a very good pick and roll/pop player, he can set the screen and pop out to comfortably hit the jumpshot, he has a good form and a high release. When he rolls do not expect an above the rim play, but he is very crafty around the rim with both hands. Another good asset of his jumpshot is that it is a very high release similar to that of Kevin Garnett's. In that play you notice several good things, he catches the ball inside the paint which is where you want your bigs to take the majority of their shots. Afterwards he takes a turn around jumpshot using his length to get it off comfortably. Here, Perkins plays Aldridge beautifully, he kept him out of the paint and forced him into a tough shot by denying him driving lanes, but Aldridge's length still allows him to take a shot he knows he can make. You cant teach length and size, and Aldridge knows how to use his.
Now, Aldridge is an average defender and thats putting it pretty. This past season he did not average a single block (0.8 BPG). Aldridge has the talent and physical gifts to be an elite defender, with his height and length there is no reason why he should not be averaging at least 1.5 BPG. He's quick enough on his feet to be a very good one on one defender and his length guarantees him the ability to contest most shots. Aldridge also averaged a very not impressive 8.0 rebounds a game this past season. Aldridge is a great offensive player, but his lack of work on the boards and defensive end are holding him back from climbing on this list and being a perennial all star.  His offensive production is not enough to offset his lackluster defense if he wants to climb on this list. If he does, Aldridge has the potential to be a top 5 PF in this league.
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Top PF going into the 2012-2013, #10 Serge Ibaka

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We start our countdown of the top power forwards heading into the 2012-2013 season with Serge Ibaka of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Ibaka became the starter once Jeff Green was shipped out and has been a force on the defensive end. He was a key component this last season in the Thunder's run to the NBA championship. Ibaka averaged 9.1 PPG, 7.5 RPG, and a incredible 3.6 BPG during the regular season. He led the league in the blocks department and the next closest person was the mercurial Javale Mcgee with 2.16 BPG.
Now, Ibaka had a very disappointing NBA finals against the Heat averaging just 7.0 PPG 5.2 RPG and   2.0 BPG on 42% shooting. But we must look at his whole body of work to realistically evaluate him. Ibaka's strong hold is of course on the defensive end, he made the All-NBA defensive first team. Ibaka anchors the OKC Thunder, he is a great weak side defender and covers up a lot of defensive mistake by the Oklahoma perimeter players. Take for example this pick and roll play between Parker and Duncan on the right side of the floor. The whole right side was clear and Parker masterfully split the pick and roll just to find himself rejected by Ibaka on the weakside help. What makes him such a formidable weak side helper is his speed and quickness, it took him less than a second to get to Parker, and his timing is impeccable. Then combine that with his Athletic ability and you have this play.
In addition, Ibaka is also a very good one on one defender, he is aggressive, has great upper body strength and has great lateral quickness. In this play, he is beaten off the dribble by Gasol and recovers beautifully to save his team 2 points. He is great blocking shots while helping, guarding his own man, or even on the fast break. Bottom line he has great instincts. Not to mention the fact that he alters a significant amount of shots at the rim that dont show up on the stat sheet.
Ibaka's defensive tenacity overshadow his capable offensive skills. He has developed a great jump shot out to the 18 feet area, and has great hands. He catches everything and finishes well above the rim, this isn't more obvious than in his 26 point 11/11 FG performance against the Spurs in a crucial game 4 against the Spurs.
Ibaka has a series of highlight blocks, and is an elite defender. He will turn 23 this september and still has room to grow. If he continues his development offensively, then look for Ibaka to rise on this list. He needs to continue to develop his jumpshot and establish a legit low post repertoire, this must begin with a go-to move which he has yet to show. Defensively, we don't see how he can get much better, his rise on the best power forwards of the NBA will depend on his offensive game. If he does watch out.
NBA News
-Sources say that the Magic will keep Howard for now
- Kirk Hinrich will return to his former team the Bulls
-Bulls are also interested Marco Belinelli
-The Heat are interested in Darco Millicic, which would give them 4 out of the top 5 picks of 2003
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Nash to the Lakers puts them right back in the hunt

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It shouldn't be a surprise, we are talking about perhaps the most decorated franchise in basketball. Steve Nash, will go to the Los Angeles Lakers in a sign and trade deal that will land the suns a bunch of future first round pick. This deal seemed like a long shot for a variety of reasons. First, the Suns would not want to send the face of the franchise to one of their biggest rivals in the last decade. Steve Nash himself said its just not something he would do, he much rather beat them than join them. Second, the only way that Nash could end up in Los Angeles is with the help of the Suns in order to complete the 3 year deal that Nash wanted. So now, how good can the Lakers be?
This trade now gives the Lakers four perennial All-Stars in the starting lineup, its amazing that the Lakers get Nash and have to give up essentially nothing to get him. Nash is one of the best shooters in the league, and perhaps the best pure point guard over the last 10 years, at age 38 he averaged 12.5 ppg and 10.7 Assists. Now, it is unrealistic to expect him to average such gaudy numbers this upcoming season. Kobe Bryant will continue to dominate the offense and the Lakers do not play at the same up tempo style that the Phoenix suns play.
It will obviously take Kobe and Nash some time to learn how to play with each other considering they have both been ball-dominant their entire careers. Everybody expects Kobe to continue to dominate the ball, but perhaps if he gives Nash the reigns of the offense the Lakers might be better, it all comes down to coach Mike Brown, he will have to find a way to make it work. Gasol and Bynum should definitely be pleased with this trade, Nash will get them the ball in comfortable spots and they will now run in the open court because they know the ball will come to them.
So how good can the Lakers be? expect them to challenge for the Western Conference championship, as more days pass, it seems less likely that the Thunder are the overall favorites, the Clippers are having a strong offseason so far, and have a legit change of signing Ray Allen. Now you throw the Lakers in there and you dont know which way to go. The priority of the Thunder should clearly be signing back six man of the year James Harden. They also have to worry about free agent Serge Ibaka, and will most likely lose one of the two. The Laker's advantage will continue to be their size, but now they are poised to have an advantage in both the front court and the backcourt. There aren't many teams that can compete with their size. the Clippers have size and depth and thats why we believe they will be in the Conference Championship come april. So now between the Lakers and OKC, there will be a lot of determining factors.
The Lakers still need to do something about a very weak bench, with the departure of Odom a season ago the Lakers bench was one of the worse benches in the league. Another interesting factor, will be Health, Nash has well documented back problems and will no longer have the Phoenix medical staff, who are by far the best medical staff of the league. But barring injury, expect the Lakers to be challenging for the top seed in the West and will end up no lower than third in the very competitive Western Conference.
-Steve Nash is also trying to convince teammate and longtime friend Grant Hill to go with him to LA
-How good do you think the Lakers can be? comments and questions are welcomed
-Michael Beasley has agreed to sign with the Suns for 3 years and 18 Millions

Anthony Davis overall #1 in 2012 Draft, but which team came out winning?

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As everybody expected, The Hornets selected Anthony Davis with the #1 overall selection. The hornets now have perhaps the only player in the draft with Superstar potential so no surprise there. But they also got Austin Rivers at the #10 spot who has all star potential. Rivers is a VERY competitive player who will work hard and wants to be the best player on the floor. The Hornets top priority now is to sign Eric Gordon but they certainly utilized their draft picks to the max and should be very happy with their selections (they also got Darius Miller in the second round)
The Charlotte Bobcats had the second pick and had at least 5 offers for the pick from other teams. Nevertheless they stayed with the pick and selected Michael-Kid Gilchrist. The bobcats need help at basically every position and Gilchrist is arguably the best player behind Davis and certainly has the best motor, he will be a lock down defender for them and will help them in a number of ways, regardless of whether they had chosen Gilchrist or Beal or Robinson, they weren't going to go wrong with their pick and most certainly still need TONS of help for the Jordan-Owned team.
The Wizards had the third overall pick and selected Bradley Beal, who many considered to be the best player in the draft after Davis. Beal is constantly compared to Ray Allen, and was a very sought out player (The thunder supposedly offered the Bobcats James Harden for the second pick so that they could draft Beal). This pick is a great pick for Washington who need a guard who can space the floor for Wall. The Wizards have slowly been getting rid of players who have been a disturbance (to say the least) in the locker room. They traded for Trevor Ariza and Emeka Okafor and now have a solid starting 5 with a Lethal backcourt. All that remains to be seen is if Wall will have a breakout year.
The Cleveland Cavaliers had two picks in the first round and they sure put them to good use. With Rookie of the Year Kyrie Irving at point guard, they went ahead and drafted Dion Waiters, a legit scorer who has drawn comparisons to Dwyane Wade, and Tyler Zeller the 7 footer from UNC. Now the cavaliers have very good talent at the 1,2,4 and 5 position. They will be a very fun team to watch and they get a A- from this one man committee.
The kings added even more talent with Thomas Robinson who will now play along talented center Demarcus Cousins, and should compete for a starting spot immediately. The phoenix suns however seem to be getting ready to deal with their post Nash era by drafting the purest PG in the draft available in Kendall Marshall. There were concerns about his ability to shoot the ball coming out of UNC, but at the end of the season he helped his stock a lot with some big shooting performances for his team. In addition he will play for Alvin Gentry who plays a fast tempo offense and wants to run the score high, so Kendall Marshall has definitely landed in the right place.
Overall there werent any big surprises in this draft but it should come as a big surprise that Perry Jones who has All Star potential, fell to the end of the first round because of concerns of a knee injury. This man will definitely be the steal of the draft and look who lands him... The Oklahoma City Thunder, Jones is a 6-10 prospect and should the Thunder not sign Ibaka, who is a free Agent then they now have insurance.

A series of Storylines will define game 3 of the 2012 NBA FINALS

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         The Oklahoma City Thunder and Miami Heat will continue tonight what seems to be shaping up as a classic NBA Finals. In Game 1, the Thunder erased an early deficit and rallied behind Durant´s monster 4th quarter. Game 2, Miami once again jumped out to an early lead and the Thunder fell short of another monster comeback at the end.  Several storylines have developed, and will continue to be watched tonight. Russell Westbrook, after being severely criticized after his game 2 performance has stated that he will not alter his play despite the criticism. Westbrook will be the center of attention tonight, as everybody closely watches the amount of shots westbrook takes as well as the shot selections from the Thunder´s point guard.
         How Westbrook comes out to start the game is crucial, as Oklahoma has faced double digit deficits at the beginning of both games 1 and 2. The Heat know Oklahoma´s tendency to start out slow, and Oklahoma will not have the benefit of their home crowd for the next three games. Miami will no doubt play much better at home, if Oklahoma continues to start out slow, this series wont last as long as much people expect. On the flip side, after a bounce back game 2, it is important to keep an eye on Dwyane Wade, as he continues to battle a mysterious Knee injury. Wade (just like Oklahoma) continues his first half struggles and looks to provide another strong game to help out Lebron. With Bosh now in the starting lineup, Wade no doubt benefitted from Bosh´s floor spacing, and knee injury or not, will look to continue to attack Oklahoma´s defense.
          Tonight, for the first time in a long time, nobody will ask Spoelstra what his starting lineup will be, with bosh back in his comfort zone in the starting lineup, and Battier playing the best basketball of his postseason there will definitely be no change tonight. Bosh, who is well rested in part because of his injury seems to have embraced his role as the Heat´s center after his strong performance on the boards with 15 rebounds (a much needed effort against OKC´s strong frontcourt) in game 2. While the big 3 for Miami played like the big 3, we cannot undermine Harden´s strong 21 points on only 11 shots. Harden obviously gives the Oklahoma bench an advantage now that bosh has rejoined the starting lineup, look for harden to be much more aggressive tonight and take well over 11 shots.
            Of course all eyes will no doubt be on Lebron James and Kevin Durant, after gaining the best of lebron with his monster game 1 fourth quarter, Lebron escaped game 2 with a controversial ending in which many believe James fouled Durant on the last play of the game. However, the game was not decided on this play, it was decided on the 18-2 deficit that the thunder fell in. Foul or not, the Heat are lucky because Durant missed a shot he makes 9 out of 10 times. Just like a foul could have been called on Lebron at that moment, Durant´s six and final foul could have been called earlier when Battier was called for a blocking foul on Durant. Tonight expect spoelstra to do much of the same, and split the duties of guarding Durant between Battier and Lebron. Most would like to see Lebron on Durant the entire game, (Durant asked to guard Lebron before the series began) but lebron is already being asked to do so much, that it is not convenient for Spoesltra to leave James on Durant the whole game. Consider the worries of Heat faithful that say Lebron is playing too many minutes another factor that will stop Spoesltra from leaving Lebron on Durant for 48 minutes.
            The game will be decided in the first and third quarter, if OKC gets out to another slow start, expect the heat to leave tonight with a 2-1 series lead, the third quarter will also be crucial, but OKC will not be at home tonight, if they fall behind, they will stay behind. For the Heat, Lebron James must continue his strong play and hope that Dwyane Wade provides the Dominant 1-2 punch they need, and rebound the ball well. The heat kept Oklahoma out of their transition game in the last contest, something that hadnt been done to OKC this entire postseason. One way or another, the storylines leading up to tonight´s game will give way to an epic game 3.

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.

Heat is on D.Wade and the Heat tonight

As game 2 fast approaches in Oklahoma city, all eyes will undoubtably Be on Dwyane Wade. Wade, who before Tuesday's game 1 was averaging 30.6 ppg in the finals, has been everything but himself. Battling a knee injury which he has spoken little of, Wade has allowed teammate and league M.V.P Lebron James to carry the load. Lebron himself has said that he tries to tell Wade from time to time to take over and be that Dwyane Wade that everybody has come accustomed to seeing. Lebron James had another well rounded game with 30 points and 9 rebounds, but he didn't shoot the ball well and it wasn't enough to upset Kevin durant's huge 4th quarter and second half rally. Meanwhile Wade managed only 19 points on 19 shots, and at times seem reluctant to even take shots, twice he came down and struggled to decide whether to shoot the ball or pass it (first time he was called for a travel and second time he pump faked the shot wide open and when he finally shot it missed it). When Chris Bosh and Lebron came to Miami to join Wade, the idea was for each to no longer have to carry th burden of carrying the whole team by themselves and win championships. Whether Wade is hurt or not, he needs to be more than just A deferring superstar for the heat to stand a chance against the young and hungry Oklahoma City Thunder. If Wade needs prove of it, he just needs to look back to last year's finals when Lebron inexplicably played well below his standards and left Wade to do all the work and in the end Dallas took the championship from them in six games. Wade has said that he will look to score more in game 2 and Oklahoma expect wade to have a much bigger game, James harden is expecting a much more aggressive Dwyane Wade, and Perkins has warned everybody that Wade usually follows a bad game with an huge one. However, Miami must also expect a better game from Harden who spent much of game 1 in foul trouble. Another big storyline is how long will Eric Spoesltra allow durant to be defended by players not named Lebron James. Durant (who asked to guard the M.V.P before the game) was on fire in the fourth quarter and by the time Lebron got on him, it was, in my opinion too late for Lebron to try to cool him off. Spoelstra must also decide whether he continues to bring Bosh off the bench, at this point Bosh is ready to start and they need his production to ease Lebron and Wade's scoring burden.If Miami wishes to take the series back to South beach tied at one game apiece however, it will ultimately rely on whether Wade can shake off his struggles and deliver a vintage performance to help his M.V.P teammate and shift the momentum in Miami's favor. Otherwise the Heat will fall in a 0-2 hole that will send the Heat into a world of trouble and Wade into more questions about whether he is still an Elite player.