Miami Heat vs. Oklahoma City Thunder: What We Learned
In what many consider to be a preview of the NBA Finals, the Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder met in what can only be described as a fast-paced, high-energy battle. While the game proved to be a competitive battle, the final score is just as telling as it seems:
Oklahoma City 103, Miami 87
While this game is far from definitive of what would happen in a potential NBA Finals showdown, much can be taken from the Thunder's victory. Some of which might actually surprise NBA fans.
Despite the fact that the Thunder's "Big Four" is an average 22.5 years of age, it became quite obvious that Oklahoma City was the more mature team. Between committing 16 turnovers to the Heat's 21 and dishing out 26 assists to the Heat's 17, it was clear that the Thunder are a team while the Heat are a group. If that remains, the Heat may be the team with the uphill battle.
Furthermore, any idea of Russell Westbrook attempting to steal the spotlight from Kevin Durant can be put on hold. In fact, when the Thunder went off for 13 points in the final 3:35, Westbrook was on the bench. Rather than displaying his once expected frustration, Westbrook was the first man to throw his arms into the air, pump up the crowd and run out onto the floor at a timeout to compliment his teammates.
Furthermore, the Thunder showed that they're just as good as the Heat in the game that Miami loves to play: transition basketball.
While the Thunder are certainly dominant in the half court, James Harden and Kevin Durant made beautiful full-court passes on multiple occasions to create easy buckets in transition for their teammates.
They also didn't play too poorly themselves, shooting a combined 17-of-27 for 47 points.
While there is plenty of time remaining in the season, enough that both teams could fail to reach the NBA Finals altogether, this game told the NBA community something quite important...
The Thunder and the Heat aren't as far apart in championship dreams as some may believe. The question is, who is in the lead?
