Wednesday Bolts – 6.13.12
Henry Abbott of TrueHoop on Kevin Durant: “The end result of all these quick attacks is a player who is incredibly difficult to guard. Even if you want to double-team him on the catch — about as aggressive as NBA defenses ever get — you generally have less than a second to do so. Against most of Durant’s moves, there can be no help. Water doesn’t dawdle on the way to the ocean. In Durant’s hands, the ball doesn’t dawdle on the way to the cup. His big scoring nights are like rainstorms — all those little drops, and presto, the bucket is full.”
Ken Berger of CBSSports.com: “You watch Durant thriving here, in this environment, and you understand why he likes it so much — why he didn’t have the same singular obsession to move to a glamour market and team up with more stars. Why look for a star to team up with when you can guard him in the fourth quarter of a Finals game and score on everybody else? Game 2 is Thursday night in Oklahoma City, where we will all be treated to more star power, more dueling role players and more brilliance from two of the game’s greats at the height of their considerable powers. Round 1 goes to Durant. Now, it’s time for the counterpunch. This is what we call fun.”
I wrote all about Russell Westbrook at CBSSports.com.
Gregg Doyel of CBSSports.com on Dwyane Wade: “When nobody was around him, Wade would shoot with confidence. When a Oklahoma City defender would contest the shot, Wade conceded that he’s not going to make it and tried to dupe referees into sending him to the foul line — where he could shoot some more with nobody around him. Otherwise, he flailed his arms and kicked his legs and flopped to the floor, giving up on the shot before he even shot it, then wasting precious seconds staring at the nearest official in disbelief. How was that not a foul? Meanwhile, Russell Westbrook is dunking at the other end.”
Lil Wayne tweets: “Again I was treated like sh!t by the Thunder arena staff…dam..I hope da Heat beat da dog sh!t out em!!”
ESPN Stats and Info: “LeBron James was primarily guarded by Kevin Durant in the first three quarters of Game 1, but in the fourth quarter, Thabo Sefolosha got the call. James scored 17 of his 30 points on 58 percent shooting against Durant, but was held to seven points on 29 percent shooting against Sefolosha.”
Tom Haberstroh of ESPN.com: “Simply put, the Thunder beat the Heat at their own game. The Thunder controlled the tempo and crushed the Heat in transition in front of an ear-splitting home crowd. Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant put on a show after halftime, outscoring the entire Heat team in the final two frames 41-40. The crowd chanted “M-V-P” and it was well deserved.”
Berry Tramel: “The Heat showed its hand — letting LeBron play rover much of the game to jump over on Durant or Westbrook on a whim — and now the Thunder can counter, with the blessing of a one-game lead. And the knowledge that as fun and exciting and thrilling as it plays, it also plays with grit.”
Marc Stein of ESPN.com: “The Thunder’s between-games task is a lot clearer and simpler. They’ve just got to make sure they don’t get swept up in the hoopla of a 9-0 record at home in these playoffs. Or the fact that they’ve rallied from at least 13 points down in every round: Game 4 at Dallas, Game 4 in L.A. against the Lakers, Game 6 at home against San Antonio and Tuesday night’s Game 1. Can OKC resist the temptation to overreact to what we just saw? Can’t see it happening in mid-June as freakishly mature as they’ve been.”
Jared Dubin of HP breaking down Westbrook’s 11 assists: “Some of these are simple passes for Westbrook to make and he likely would have made them at any point in his young career. But others are the type of more advanced passes that we hadn’t really seen out of him before this season. He’s growing and maturing, making smarter decisions with the basketball with every passing game. He had just two turnovers to these 11 assists in Game 1. It doesn’t seem as though the Heat have anyone who can really keep him out of the lane other than LeBron, and he’s presumably going to be kind of busy dealing with Durant for much of the series. If Westbrook can continue to attack, get to the middle of the floor and draw multiple defenders, passing lanes will be open. If he keeps making the simple passes, he’ll get his fair share of assists. But if he can keep making the more difficult ones, the ones we expect out of “pure” point guards, he’ll rack up a few more double-digit assist performances like Game 1.”
Ian Thompson of SI.com: “The underdog Heat must find a way to make the Thunder uncomfortable and to make them feel a kind of pressure they’ve never experienced before. James must supply that pressure, and the best way for him to generate it is defensively. He was the linebacker in this game, and real linebackers look forward to their first big hit. For James the equivalent would have been to make a few big stops and generating the urgency to finish what he started — to work himself into the block, drive into the paint and create the easy baskets and earn the free throws that wore out the Celtics last week and will provide Miami with its best hope of controlling the pace over these most important games ahead.”
Kurt Helin of PBT: “OKC can match Miami athletically and they execute for Scott Brooks for 48 minutes in a way the Heat simply do not for Erik Spoelstra. As they did against the Spurs, the Thunder showed an ability to elevate their game to the moment, to adjust and attack. Can Miami match that? Miami is nowhere near out of this series — more teams than you can count lost Game 1 of the NBA finals and came back to win it all. Including Dallas last year.”
Darnell Mayberry: “The Thunder is too deep, too talented and too young and energetic for the Heat to try to get by with a seven-man rotation. Simply put, OKC is too good to get beat by two great players. It ain’t happening. And I am willing to beat anybody that Battier and Chalmers don’t combine for 29 points the rest of this series. If I’m right in my assumption, that will put even more pressure on the Heat’s big three. Spoelstra better start trusting his bench and trusting it fast.”
Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com: “There are a few truths the Miami Heat will have to come to terms with in these Finals and perhaps it was best to confront them right away. They are playing a team that is deeper than them, both in terms of energy and bodies. They are facing an offensive force they are not accustomed to seeing in the Eastern Conference. And so far as Dwyane Wade, well, it’s not 2006.”
Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports on Westbrook: “Westbrook finally got that something when he drove hard for a shifty lay-in with 31.4 seconds left before the half. Westbrook and Battier then got testy after getting tangled. Westbrook swung his arm in retaliation and received a technical and personal foul; Battier was also given a technical. Suddenly, the nice guy was gone in an Incredible Hulk second as he walked toward the crowd and screamed with a wild look in his eye. Westbrook also fired up the Thunder faithful, who roared back in appreciation.”
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports: “There’s so much pressure on James, so much history, but everything is so much different for Durant, so much purer. He’s 23 years old, well before his time, and one of his great gifts is the ease with which he comes to these immense moments. Here Durant had come, stepping into the NBA Finals, and it was like he had been here his entire life. Give him the ball, the stage, the moment, and Kevin Durant was something to behold on Tuesday night. The stakes rise, the defenses stiffen and it doesn’t matter who’s standing between Durant and that championship trophy: Dirk, Kobe and now LeBron. All going down, all falling to Durant in these fourth quarters. His town, his moment and, perhaps, his time now.”
Kelly Dwyer of BDL: “The Heat will get better. LeBron James will act quickly, as this offer will only last for so long, understanding that as great as seven points and two boards in the final quarter of a Finals game is (seriously, that’s 28 points and eight rebounds in a full game, because we’re good at math) somehow not enough considering the failures of his supporting cast. The failures, if we’re to be cruel, of even the two other members of his Big Three, who managed just 29 points on 30 shots in this massive game. The Thunder earned this win, and forced Miami into all sorts of things offensively that didn’t work, but that doesn’t mean the Heat won’t improve. Significantly, even. The Thunder have to prepare for that.”
Game 1 drew an 11.8 rating for ABC, the biggest ever for the network since they’ve been carrying the Finals. It got a 44.3 in OKC and a 30.5 in Miami.
Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com: “The Thunder played with more energy, greater ease and better judgment. But hints aren’t definitive, at least not until they bare themselves out four times in a seven-game series. Still, it’s rare that we’ve seen the Heat lose a game over the past two seasons because they were simply the inferior team. That looked like the case in Game 1.”
Chris Sheridan of Sheridan Hoops on KD: “This guy is just too damn good. And if Miami doesn’t figure out a way to outscore Durant’s team (because they aren’t going to find a way to stop Durant from scoring), this is going to be another long summer of self-reflection for the Miami Heat.”