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June 17, 2012

Thunder vs. Heat: Game 3 preview

By Dylan Goforth Phoenix Staff Writer

— Former Phoenix Sports Writer Dylan Goforth, the biggest NBA junkie and now on the news side of the Phoenix staff, returns, albeit a bit later this year, to offer his commentary during the series.



Game 2 recap

The Thunder finally slept too long. After coming back from big deficits over and over this  postseason, Oklahoma City finally met a lead it couldn’t overcome.

And while it’s easy to blame the offense for Game 2’s early struggles, every team goes through a cold stretch at some point during a game.

The problem was lackadaisical defense – the Heat were motivated and focused while the Thunder were going through the motions. Once Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook woke up, the hurdle was too large to leap.

While Westbrook is catching a lot of flack nationwide for whatever reason, you might want to also take a look at the fact OKC’s frontline of Durant, Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins totaled as many rebounds (15) in 88 minutes as Chris Bosh did in 40.



Game 3 preview

If Bosh is going to play 40 minutes, and spend a majority of them at center, then Perkins and Ibaka need to give way to Nick Collison. Collison played just 15 minutes in Game 2, but he’s the only Thunder defender that can both box Bosh out under the basket and face guard him on the perimeter when he has the ball. With Bosh at center, Perkins has no role. And while Ibaka blocked five shots, he was constantly out of position on rebounds, letting Bosh go wild.

The Thunder need to steal at least one game in Miami. Coming off a pathetic start and a disappointing loss, they should be ready to bust out of the gates in Game 3. The only thing holding them back so far in this series is themselves. I’d expect Oklahoma City to set the tone early by getting Durant a lot of early shots off screens. No more letting him coast, he has to be a presence offensively for four quarters from now on.

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