OKC THUNDER

[zipazoid]

Total OKC bandwagoner. Thunder in five.

Yes, Bron's a beast...when he wants to be. We've seen this before from him - human highlight reel no doubt, but when it comes to crunch time....hello?

And no, game 7 against the Celtics wasn't crunch time. As of now, all Bron's done is take the Heat to the same place he took the Cavs - the NBA Finals.

To quote Metallica - Where's your crown, King Nothing?

[Gresh24]

Originally Posted by jamo

Except he's going up against probably the only other player in the league that can match him shot for shot, drive for drive.

I've got the Thunder in 6. LeBron/Durant is pretty much a wash, same with Wade/Harden, but the Heat don't really have an answer for Westbrook and I think Ibaka and Perk can hold Bosh in check. I think just the fact that the Celtics (who were giving significant minutes to Ryan Hollins, Greg "The Stiemsroller" Stiemsma, Marquis Daniels, and Keyon Dooling) took the Heat to 7 says something about their team past LeBron and Wade.

And yes, I'm still bitter about what I think the Celtics could have done without the injuries to Jeff Green, Avery Bradley (who would have played shut down defense on Wade and whose future I'm very excited about), Chris Wilcox, and (gulp) Jermaine O'Neal (though it's no surprised he got injured).

Wade/Harden a wash???  Are you kidding?

[jamo]

Wade/Harden a wash???  Are you kidding?

Have you looked at their stats? They're pretty much even. Wade has the lead on points by a few and blocks (and assist, barely) but they're pretty close on rebounds, steals, and shooting percentage. Harden is a slightly better free throw shooter, a much better 3-point shooter, and takes far fewer shots per game. Harden actually had more win shares this season.

[Gresh24]

WOW, ok...

[uttexas]

Go Thunder! Wade scares me, LeBron not so much. Wade gets lots of love from the refs, rises to the occasion, and can play out of his mind winning championships by himself (Mavs/Heat final '05) LeBron's game tends to diminish as the moment gets bigger. Even though Wade plays dirty, I'd definitely be happy to have him on my team (Detroit really screwed up picking DarKo Milicic over Wade and 'Melo)

[Kapanda]

I think that the stuff on Lebron's game diminishing is waaay exaggerated! It's not so much that his game diminishes, it's more that the relevance of his game inflates, so if he is not playing at his very best at the moment that matters most, then it looks like he isn't playing well. But no one can consistently play their very best all the time. There is an element of randomness to it.

[Kieran123]

I don;t know why Battier/Chalmers didn't get the ball given to them more last night. Wade played good ( passing was great ) - Bosh and James were average. Battier was hot yet he got nothing from the team FFS.

Good win for OKC.

[boogielicious]

Please beat Miami.  I get so tired of watching LeBron highlights where he takes three steps then jams the ball.  They let the Celebrity superstars play by different rules.  It will be good for OKC to win  a championship too.

[Gresh24]

Pretty big game tonight.  Miami could really use a win and/or the Thunder could really take control....

[Domenic]

Same. I've always loved the Thunder for sick uniforms and KD, even when we had Lebron.I'm from Cleveland, huge Cavs fan. I always called OKC my second team. Funny enough, before there was Thunder I always loved the Heat with Shaq and Dwayne. I'm still kind of a closet Lebron fan. Eith way, I'm happy. I might be a little dissapointed to see Lebron lose though if he does, in a weird way. You know? Oh, what's that, you don't?....oh well, ok, I didn't expect you to, I'll just retreat to my corner then.

[Kapanda]

One thing's for sure: these guys know how to keep it exciting!

[Kapanda]

Watching this live, it doesn't matter whether OKC actually wins this one (well it does but...)

****ing awesome comeback! Durant is money!

[DoglegJoe]

Originally Posted by Kapanda

Watching this live, it doesn't matter whether OKC actually wins this one (well it does but...)

****ing awesome comeback! Durant is money!

This. I love the NBA.

Tough to see Durant miss that final shot though. Outside of a "last play" situation that's a foul but I like the no-call. Great game regardless of the final score. Miami taking a game in OKC is huge, that crowd was in the game even when they were down >10. I imagine it would be tough to stay in the game without that crowd behind them; they better not let the Heat get ahead early again.

[RonTheSavage]

Originally Posted by Golfingdad

I think that is exactly right.  I was on that bandwagon as well.  But that was a couple of years ago now, and he has basically admitted it was a mistake to go about it in the way he did.  And outside of that one summer, he has done virtually nothing wrong.  He works hard, he's the most talented, he's not a thug or a criminal, so its interesting that people still hate him so much.

Very Well Said. In this day and age of the selfish look at me thug criminal athlete LeBron James is way ahead of the curve. He had a bad summer but lets not forget that he's basically a kid thats been surrounded by yes men his entire life. I think he's turned out pretty damn good.

Go Heat!

[djbarnes]

Looks like OKC is done.  Harden has been a deer in headlights.  I think the big difference is Miami has been there before and OKC hasn't.  OKC has the guns, they just didn't have the experience this time.

--Donnie

[Gresh24]

Originally Posted by jamo

Have you looked at their stats? They're pretty much even.

Wade has the lead on points by a few and blocks (and assist, barely) but they're pretty close on rebounds, steals, and shooting percentage. Harden is a slightly better free throw shooter, a much better 3-point shooter, and takes far fewer shots per game.

Harden actually had more win shares this season.

Care to revisit that?

[jamo]

Care to revisit that?  ;-)

Nope.

[Spyder]

How about LeBron miraculously recovering from that gun shot wound last night? Screaming in agony on the bench and nearly falling out of his chair.. oh... wait...he wasn't shot? That was only a cramp?

Midol should sponsor LeBron, not Nike. I'm not a bitter Cleveland fan either, though I am a Cleveland fan. I am also a fan of the underdog and humility and can't stand arrogance so I'm rooting for OKC.

I still have OKC taking this in Game 7.