Interesting look at possible NBA finals matchups.

I disagree with the fast break sentiment. I think we'll still look to push the ball when we can. But finals basketball is going to mean finals level Defense. With Dwight and Asik in the fold you can guarantee that getting into the paint with any consistency is going to be a nightmare... even for the best player in the league. Plus... I believe that Harden, Lin, and Parsons will be better defenders this year. I expect Parsons to return to a near-elite defender at this position. I think we match up well against the Heat.

 

The thing I don't like about facing the Heat is how turnover prone we are. Heat will punish us for that.

 

A big part of that is the combination of:
- Making a concerted effort to get Dwight the ball, even when it's not the best option (to get him going)
- Being pretty damn bad at post entry passing - both in accuracy and timing

Once Dwight gets his rhythm, and gets comfortable and our guys get better at getting him the ball, I think we'll actually be relatively solid at protecting the ball.

- Harden won't have to do as much, and he should be far more efficient and less TO-prone (with defenses keying on him less). Parsons too, but to a lesser extent. Parsons should be more of a finisher (on breaks/cuts/threes) than a creator this year.
- Beverley protects the ball very well, and I think having him in the starting unit should be a plus in that regard.
- Lin will be in more of a comfort zone to "play his game" and he should hesitate less coming off the bench...plus he'd be facing bench players.
- Dwight needs to be better at passing out of the double and not deciding which move to do before attacking. If he learns to take advantage of our shooters, look out.

 

You can forget about the transition game during playoffs. OKC had 3-4 guys back after every one of our defensive rebounds. Playoffs defense completely took that out of our gameplan.