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June 21, 2012

Thunder-Heat preview: Game 5

By Dylan Goforth Phoenix Staff Writer

— Phoenix news reporter and resident NBA junkie Dylan Goforth breaks down the NBA finals in between games.

Game 4 recap: There are two types of teams that reach the NBA Finals for the first time. There are teams like the 2006 Miami Heat, who have a mix of young talent like Dwyane Wade and superstar veterans like Shaquille O’Neal, that win a title despite their core never having reached the finals together before.

And there are teams like the 2012 Oklahoma City Thunder, who are supremely talented, but might be too young and a little out of their element. Three consecutive winnable games have been lost by a series of brain farts (bad fouls on 3-point shooters, turnovers and two horrific, unnecessary late-game fouls by James Harden and Russell Westbrook) that have held the Thunder down.

Oklahoma City looks to be so close to figuring it out, but they can’t get Kevin Durant, Westbrook and Harden on the same page. Harden has a great first half of Game 2, Durant is lights out, but Westbrook struggles. Or Westbrook plays a heroic Game 4, while Durant and Harden wander around aimlessly, like a couple of teenagers who’s X-Box fell apart.

Game 5 adjustments: Work to specifically get Harden early open looks. Let Durant initiate the offense so he can’t be bodied out by LeBron, and let Westbrook play off the ball and terrorize Miami’s defense. Oh, and let Nick Collison play more than 17 minutes.

In the last two games, Harden has opened his time on the court by missing some open 3-pointers as a bailout option late in the shot clock. A lot of times coaches will open a game by specifically getting the ball to a post player to get him engaged in the game. Do the same for Harden, and see if you can’t get him on a roll.

As bad as things have looked for OKC in the last three games,  they’ve been within a single possession late in both games. If they can get their Big 3 playing even remotely well together, they can send the series back to Oklahoma City and anything can happen.

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