2012 NBA Finals: (2) Heat vs (2) Thunder

[stereoxide]

Great run by the Heat. But unfortunately Wade looks like he's injured courtesy of Ibaka's block.

[john26]

wade's injury looking worse than derrick rose's. do the heat still have the amnesty?

[SkyLine03LT]

If this energy and intensity keeps up, this game will go down as one of the greatest games in the Finals' history. The Thunder finally figured out the slow starts and Westbrook looks good. Everybody's gonna say he decided to 'prove the haters wrong', but he's just playing the same way he always plays, the only difference is he's knocking down the shot more often than not. I expect him to slow down in the 2nd half, but that's OK, they still got Durant, who's been overshadowed by Robin Westbrook. Collison gave them good energy in the 1st quarter but was invisible in the 2nd, I don't even know whether he played or not.

The Heat came out storming in the 2nd quarter and did a great job turning that pace in their favor, LeBron has been phenomenal and looks like he's gonna have a 30-15-15 game. Norris Cole gave them the edge and I like the Hustle from the whole team, especially Bosh.

My main concern right now is Dwyane Wade and his back. It looked like he hurt it trying to keep his balance after contact with Ibaka. That kind of injury is a pain in the ass, I know because I've been dealing with it for over 6 months now and it's really gonna affect his game, especially because of his attacking style of play as it hurts even when you run and especially when you jump. You could see he didn't have the same lift on his jumpers after he hurt it and that will cause him to miss. Which is a bitch because his 25 points was big in game 3 victory, and that means LeBron will have to have Celtics series performances from here on now for the Heat to win. A big blow, I wish Wade for the best.

[shadowgrin]

Dwyane Wade doing a Paul Pierce. Less flopping and faking injuries plz.

[Mavs4Life]

Laught out loud at the Sonics fan rooting for the Heat right behind the Thunder bench.

[benji]

Heat are in massive trouble right now, they're going to need a 20 point lead or so to withstand LeBron's guaranteed collapse in the fourth.

[Phil89]

Who needs a 20 point lead when you have the refs giving you every call?



Really hard foul by Westbrook here.... Like JVG said, why not give it to Aldrich sitting on the bench.

[Spree#8]

that's a fact, many calls tonight have been... interesting.

[benji]

LeBron sensing the series is over with Westbrook doing what he can't in the fourth and is trying to get out of there, get another excuse.

[Mavs4Life]

Somebody close the door in the Triple A, the winds blowing.

[benji]

Supernintendo Chalmers does what LeBron doesn't.

[Mavs4Life]

And you can blame Russell Westbrook for the Heat winning this year.

[Spree#8]

nice job, Russell!

[benji]

[JoeJames]

nice job, Russell!

Nice, but worthless

[Andrew]

that's a fact, many calls tonight have been... interesting.

No question. It's becoming passe to complain about the officiating but it continues to be notably bad. The phantom foul on Westbrook on Durant's clean block, blatant carries, no consistency either way as to what constitutes an offensive or defensive foul, offensive flopping rewarded...you hate to see it sully games at this time of the year, especially in such a competitive Finals series.

Pretty much over for the Thunder. I guess if they can somehow win Game 5 then there's an outside shot of pulling off the comeback at home but it's difficult to see it happening. What happened to James Harden? Given all the daylight in the world, even an open dunk, he just can't buy a basket for most of this series. Impressive game by Westbrook but some blunders at the end there and a loss separate it from being one of the great Finals performance in recent memory.

Great game by LeBron. Once again, no hesitation or tentativeness down the stretch. Definite redemption for last year's hiccups.

[monja]

"He'll be a'ight." lol

Though really hoping LeBron's injury isn't serious.

[SkyLine03LT]

Who needs a 20 point lead when you have the refs giving you every call?



Really hard foul by Westbrook here.... Like JVG said, why not give it to Aldrich sitting on the bench.

Clearly a foul on Durant and you can easily see it. If you can't you either need glasses, are stupid or just plain retarded. The refs are just showing sympathy for Durant so that he doesn't sit out another half of game in foul trouble, so they give it to Westbrook.

Great win for Miami and a great game to watch, this will definitely go down as a classic series. I hope Miami will close it out in game 5, it will be interesting to see how KD and Westbrook will respond to desperation. By the way Westbrook will be criticized A LOT for that final minute, I hope he handles it because now's not the time to shrink. He was the reason they lost but he was also the reason why the Thunder had that big early lead and why the game was so close in the first place.

[Andrew]

Clearly a foul on Durant? By NBA standards, not so much. At most he got him on the hand and the hand is generally considered to be a part of the ball, though they admittedly pick and choose when to employ that approach.

[rise]

Probably the worst officiating in a game since the Kings-LA series all those years ago. Holy shit.

OKC really did choke this away in the final minutes though. When Bron went down, they should've given it to Durant every chance they got.

I really thought Westbrook was going to score 50 the way he was going. Early the 4th, no matter what they did, RW just wasn't going to miss.

EDIT:

For the Miami fans whining about a call or two that went OKC's way when they shouldn't have... seriously?

[benji]

This is going down in history as The Cramp Game.

Probably the worst officiating in a game since the Kings-LA series all those years ago. Holy shit.

Haters are motivators.

[Stress Fracture]

Oh, Russel.

[Andrew]

OKC really did choke this away in the final minutes though. When Bron went down, they should've given it to Durant every chance they got.

Agreed. They pretty much choked it away early on too; although it's hardly unheard for teams to come roaring back after a slow start as Miami did, they just went cold and didn't offer up much resistance to the Heat's run. A golden opportunity to make a statement and even up the series, squandered.

[SkyLine03LT]

Clearly a foul on Durant? By NBA standards, not so much. At most he got him on the hand and the hand is generally considered to be a part of the ball, though they admittedly pick and choose when to employ that approach.

Well when a player blocks a shot, i.e. slaps the ball out of the defender's hands and then touches their hand when the offensive player don't have the control of the ball anymore yeah, that's a clean block. But on that play, as Durant touches the ball Wade still has it strongly in his hands, and only loses it when Kevin's hand slides on the ball and eventually knocks Wade's fingers back causing him to lose the ball- in which case the contact on the hand caused him to lose the ball, not the slap on the ball, which both I and seemingly the refs consider a foul.

[benji]

It's amazing that LeBron, despite being barely able to walk and practically paralyzed, put up a near triple double.

While Harden bombed, Durant disappeared when it counted and Bestbrook blew the game.

Shows you what true greatness is. Thunder should probably start exploring trades to try and get some winners on this team. They should definitely offer Durant/Harden/Westbrook/Ibaka/Collison for Kobe. A Kobe/Fisher backcourt is championship proven.