Heat Start Hot Once Again; the Thunder not so Much It what really became a reoccurring theme during these Finals, the Heat started fast and the Thunder did not. From the 7:30 mark of the first quarter (Battier 25 ft shot) until the 1:50 mark (Miller 25 ft shot), the Heat connected on an impressive [...]

The Thunder Dictate Tempo to Start the Game; Struggle to Maintain It For the first time during the NBA Finals, the Thunder dictated tempo in the opening quarter.  After averaging 19 points in the first quarter of the previous three games, Oklahoma City exploded for 33 points (on 63% shooting) during the opening frame of [...]

Easy Looks for Miami to Start the Game The Thunder were far too cautious with their defensive assignments to open the game.  After allowing Miami to knock down 14 three pointers through the first two games of the NBA Finals (including 9 by Shane Battier), Oklahoma City was cheating up high during much of the [...]

The Heat Start Game 2 in Attack Mode Although the Heat jumped out to an early lead in Game 1, they were much more assertive on both ends of the court to start Game 2.  Much of their early game offensive success was attributed toward not settling for outside jumpers.   Miami’s 44 jump shots in [...]

In-Game Observations Interesting matchups to start the game by both teams.  As expected, Dwayne Wade opened the game covering Russell Westbrook.  However, LeBron James was matched up against Serge Ibaka, not Kevin Durant (Shane Battier opened up on Durant).  Due to the Heat’s smaller lineup, Ibaka was forced to cover Battier on the opposite end.  [...]

1) The Heat will steal Game 1 on Tuesday The winner of Game 1 of the NBA Finals goes onto win the series over 70% of the time.  Unfortunately, the Heat won Game 1 versus the Mavericks last year and entered the wrong side of that equation.  Still, Miami is going to be riding a [...]

Series Outlook: Do you remember those NFC Championship matchups between the 49ers and Cowboys back in the early to mid-90s?  If so, you probably also recollect that whichever team advanced from that matchup went on to successfully win the Super Bowl.  It wasn’t that the competition coming out of the AFC wasn’t formidable during those [...]