Miami Heat vs. Oklahoma City Thunder

It honestly wouldn’t have surprised me if the Boston Celtics and the San Antonio Spurs were here instead of Miami and Oklahoma City.  The way Boston and San Antonio were playing in the conference finals, it looked as if it would be that way.  However, Miami won the last two games (6 & 7) and Oklahoma City won 4 in a row.  

Miami is in a tough spot though.  They were able to out run the Celtics.  That isn’t going to work against the Thunder.  Their bench will have to step up big time in this series.  LeBron James can have 40 point nights.  Dwayne Wade can be a defensive stalwart. And Chris Bosh can knock down a couple 3-pointers.  None of that will matter if guys like Shane Battier, Mario Chalmers and Udonis Haslem have tremendous performances.  Also Dwayne Wade hasn’t been the same since the start of the conference finals. Everyone looks beat up at this point in the lockout shortened season, but it’s really obvious watching Wade play.

The Thunder are on a roll, literally.  They swept the defending champions, the Dallas Mavericks.  They took care of the Los Angeles Lakers.  And after losing the first two games against San Antonio, they went on a tear winning the next four.  When it was all said and done, Kevin Durant was as cold blooded as any superstar the NBA has ever seen.  All the talk will be about seeing him go against LeBron James.  But I still believe that the Thunder’s chances rely on that feisty point guard in Russell Westbrook.  He has been playing great basketball throughout this entire playoff run. He keeps it up he might be hoisting a MVP trophy with the Larry O’Brien trophy.

Key Players: G Dwayne Wade and G Russell Westbrook

Results: Thunder in 6 games