1. Oklahoma City [67-15] vs 3. Portland [48-34]
This series certainly lived up to expectations, despite the rather one-sided looking 4-1 record.
Oklahoma City grabbed a crucial win in game 4 in Portland and then sealed their passage to the Finals in game 5.
Kevin Durant stood up as leader of his team and put in a couple of 30+ point performances when it counted.
Paul, Roy and Wallace all performed well for the Blazers, but they were unable to all perform in the same game.
Russell Westbrook's duel with Paul was another highlight. Westbrook equalled his own record with 26 assists in game 5.
Results
POR @ OKC - 122-133
POR @ OKC - 104-121
OKC @ POR - 112-117
OKC @ POR - 127-122
POR @ OKC - 104-117
Thunder wins series 4-1
Stats Leaders
Thunder
Points: Kevin Durant - 31.8
Assists: Russell Westbrook - 12.2
Rebounds: Brook Lopez - 10.3
Blazers
Points: Chris Paul - 29.3
Assists: Chris Paul - 10.4
Rebounds: Emeka Okafor - 10.1
1. Miami [61-21] vs 6. Orlando [44-38]
Miami were just as impressive as Oklahoma City as they dispatched Orlando in only 5 games.
It was a series of mismatches. Richardson guarding LeBron and Outlaw guarding Howard in particular.
In the end Miami proved to have too much fire power for the Magic contain, despite Howard's best efforts.
Howard took full advantage of Chris Bosh's absence, but his team mates couldn't match his work rate.
Results
ORL @ MIA - 138-145
ORL @ MIA - 151-160
MIA @ ORL - 115-125
MIA @ ORL - 135-116
ORL @ MIA - 122-127
Heat wins series 4-1
Stats Leaders
Heat
Points: LeBron James - 29.1
Assists: LeBron James - 6.4
Rebounds: Chris Bosh - 13.8
Magic
Points: Jameer Nelson - 26.1
Assists: Jameer Nelson - 8.0
Rebounds: Dwight Howard - 12.7
1. Oklahoma City [67-15] vs 1. Miami [61-21]
In what is fast becoming a new Lakers/Celtics-esque rivalry, the Thunder and Heat face each other in the Finals for the second successive year.
Miami have had to wait an entire year for this moment, but now they finally get their chance at revenge for last season's Finals loss.
Last year aside, this match-up was on the cards all season. These two teams dominated and were the only two teams to crack the 60 win mark.
Oklahoma City won the western conference by 16 games, whilst Miami were 15 games clear of their closest challengers.
Also worth noting is that these two teams both had 3 players selected to play in the all-star game. More than any other team.
During the season these teams met only twice. On both occasions the travelling team was able to gain tight wins.
Nearly every match-up will be key in this series. But LeBron vs Durant and Wade vs Westbrook will be particularly tasty.
The contests may even come down to who gets the upper hand between Harden and Miller, and Lopez and Haslem.
Both teams also have particularly deep benches. Look for the likes of Brown and Chalmers to come on and provide added scoring.
A major boost for Miami is the return of Chris Bosh. He missed both of their series against Detroit and Orlando through injury.
It is expected that Lopez will play Haslem more loosely and help Horford double-team Bosh to stop him being effective.
Particularly of concern for the Thunder is their defensive rebounding. They have been inconsistent all season with it.
They can ill afford to let a team like Miami get second chance points in a series as tight as this one.
Season series: Tied 1-1
02/02/11 - OKC @ MIA - 138-133 (OT)
26/03/11 - MIA @ OKC - 99-98
Stats Leaders
Thunder
Points: Kevin Durant - 31.8
Assists: Russell Westbrook - 12.2
Rebounds: Brook Lopez - 10.3
Heat
Points: LeBron James - 29.1
Assists: LeBron James - 6.4
Rebounds: Chris Bosh - 13.8
Oklahoma City
Starters
Brook Lopez - Al Horford - Kevin Durant - James Harden - Russell Westbrook
Bench
Shannon Brown - Corey Brewer - Wesley Matthews - Serge Ibaka - Hasheem Thabeet - Sonny Weems - Ronald Murray
Inactive
Rocco Roe - Byron Mullens
Miami
Starters
Udonis Haslem - Chris Bosh - LeBron James - Mike Miller - Dwyane Wade
Bench
Mario Chalmers - Mike Bibby - DeShawn Stevenson - Roger Mason - Travis Outlaw - Zydrunas Ilgauskas - Marquis Daniels
Inactive
Acie Law - Stephen Henry - Shavlik Randolph
Phil89 wrote:The competitiveness of games has risen with each series during these playoffs. The way it should be really.
Cruzerr wrote:Finally, another finals match up. Great to see this one
Andrew wrote:Phil89 wrote:The competitiveness of games has risen with each series during these playoffs. The way it should be really.
Absolutely. As much as I've enjoyed winning 50+ in a row in my Dynasty, I think I'll be tweaking the sliders to make things a bit more challenging and keep things interesting for all concerned.
Andrew wrote:That's my problem, I'm already on Superstar difficulty so it'll come down to slider tweaks.
Anyway, so far it's been an unexpected turn of events for the Finals, didn't expect you to be down 2-1 at any point though you did a pretty good job with that rally. Pulling for you to win the next three straight.
Thierry • wrote:Wow, interesting series Bosh is exploding for them.
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