This looks like one of his bad games with some of the shots he's missing and the jumpers he's settled for and his stats are still ridiculous.
You can tell, he definitely doesn't care about that 60% streak with some of those shots he's taken... pretty poor shot selection, but I guess it's all good when you're on NBA-Jam level fire. BTW, he's 1 shot below that 60% pace... needs to make the next one to get above.
It's the Spurs. Not necessarily saying they'll beat Miami, but they're the biggest threat. It's weird... all year in 2012, I picked OKC while everyone else was bandwagoning the Spurs. Now I'm on the SA bandwagon while almost everyone seems to have conceded the West to OKC. Fact is, the absence of Harden will most be felt against the elite. Against 75% or more of NBA teams, the Thunder can win simply based on Durant/Westbrook, tempo and their young legs. It's only when they meet another focused, elite team that they're truly challenged in the halfcourt... and when it comes down to it, they have almost zero post offense and only two guys capable of creating their own shot. Against Miami, that's not good enough. The MVP of the OKC-SA series was Harden. He was the catalyst down the stretch. People focus on Harden's struggles against the Heat, but the fact is, he's what gave them a chance in the first place. He slumped for four of five games and they lost, but without him at his best, they never had a shot, period. Everyone wants to craft this narrative that the Spurs are too old, but I don't buy that. They were a hell of a team last year and this year, assuming a healthy Duncan. They just ran into an OKC juggernaut with three superstars clicking on all cylinders. But the Thunder only have two this year, and that's why I think the Spurs come out of the West.
I think you are underestimating how well OKC matches up with the Spurs. The playoffs is all about match-ups and superstars. OKC has the best front court defense in the West and will have the best player on the court. The Spurs don't have a defender against Durant like Miami does, yet OKC has one of the best West defenders to take on Duncan. We like to laugh at Kevin Martin, but he isn't a potted plant. He must be guarded. And don't forget about Thabeet. :grin:
They had those matchup advantages last year, and it still took Harden acting as the catalyst in tight fourth quarters to close them out. I agree that OKC has enough to compete... I just don't see them finishing it out four games out of seven without James. Unless Duncan isn't healthy, of course.
DWade goes straight to the locker room after fouling out; he doesnt want to get a tech. if Westbrook did that, he's a bad teammate; cant control emotions.
I'm surprised Westbrook didn't lose his **** after being pushed in the back by Lebron. Lebron is good at basketball by the way.
With the streak SA was on last year, I don't recall people saying OKC was going to win. That young team collapsed in Game 1. and lost the next. They shook that off and recovered to win four games in a row. That is quite a learning experience. Don't underestimate that learning experience. You are making too big of a deal about how easy Miami had it with them. That's because LEBRON guards Durant. You are assuming OKC won't go in with extreme confidence against the Spurs again, knowing how to make a game plan to beat them again. You underestimate their nearly perfect matchups on defense. It wasn't all about Harden. You are trying too hard to script something while ignoring all the other match-up headaches OKC has on the Spurs that they don't have on the Magic.
