Heat vs. Thunder: Oklahoma City's Outside Shooting Will Cool Miami in NBA Finals

The Oklahoma City Thunder will cool the Miami Heat in the 2012 NBA Finals this June with their dead-eye accuracy from beyond the arc.

The Thunder are shooting better than 37 percent as a team from downtown in 15 playoff games, while the Heat are just 32.5 percent from long-range as a unit. The advantage from the three-point line is a clear one, and one that belongs to Oklahoma City in this matchup.

The Thunder's Big Three of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden average close to five made three-pointers per game in this 2012 postseason, compared to just two combined three-pointers made per game for the Heat's Big Three of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

Though Bosh hit three three-pointers in Miami's Game 7 win over the Boston Celtics, and is shooting better than 62 percent from distance this postseason, he is still just a career 30 percent three-point shooter.

The percentages don't favor a sharpshooting Bosh in this championship series, but rather a sixth man in Harden, who has hit 25-of-56 three-pointers through the Thunder's first three playoff series.

Harden is Oklahoma City's best long-range shooter by percentage, and can make contested shots with as much consistency as fellow deep threats Durant and Westbrook. 

Durant is by far OKC's most lethal three-point shooter given his size and length. No shot is too difficult for Durant, as we witnessed in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals against the San Antonio Spurs, in which Durant hit four threes. 

In addition to the Thunder's accurate stars, LeBron's new offensive style of play is also a key to the outside shooting matchup between the two conference champions. James has made it his mission this season to avoid settling for long jump shots, and to instead attack the basket.

Although Oklahoma City will be weary of slowing LeBron when he steps inside the arc, they can take comfort in knowing that they will pose the greatest outside shooting threat in this series, regardless of where the game is being played—home or away.

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