2012 NBA Finals: Why James Harden Will Tip the Balance for OKC

Much like the shaggy mane on his chin that every man in the world has to be jealous of helps him tip the scales at 220 pounds, so too will James Harden help tip the balance of the 2012 NBA Finals in favor of the Oklahoma City Thunder. 

The sweet-shooting lefty 2-guard for the representatives of the Western Conference has been a difference maker throughout the playoffs to the tune of 17.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game with a PER of 23.7. If he continues to produce at such a high level, the Miami Heat will be going home empty handed yet again.

After all, you know what you're going to get from quite a few members of the Thunder.

Kevin Durant will score in bulk. He always does and he always will, even if LeBron James is attempting to shut him down. 

Russell Westbrook will make a ton of athletic plays and greatly help the Thunder succeed but set the team back occasionally with an ill-advised pull-up jumper early in the shot clock. 

Serge Ibaka will leave basketball imprints on the faces of quite a few members of the Heat and hit the occasional pick-and-pop jumper to spread out the Heat defense. 

Thabo Sefolosha is going to play great defense against Dwyane Wade and have a few offensive-rebound-put-back-dunks to add to the highlight reels. 

Derek Fisher is going to look like a corpse during portions of the game and then hit a few timely three-pointers from the corners when the Thunder most need his offensive contributions.

Nick Collison is going to take a few charges and rebound the ball well, but that will be about it. Just like with so many other players on the team, namely the ones listed above, you know what you're going to get.

Harden is the one who can make all the difference because of his innate ability to light up the scoreboard, regardless of the defense that the Heat throw at him. As elite a defender as Wade may be, even he won't be able to stop the bearded one if Harden is in the zone.

The offense of the player in the league who most resembles a Norse god gives him the capability of exploding and almost single-handedly stealing a game for his team. When Harden is truly feeling it, he's driving past defenders at will and either finishing at the rim or drawing contact and completing the play from the free-throw line. 

With his Eurosteps and nifty double-team splits, the Heat are going to feel like they're playing a young Manu Ginobili throughout the series. And of course, just when they think he's going to blow by a defender and draw a foul once again, that's when he drains a dagger of a three-pointer.

I'm not sure that people have recognized just how insanely good Harden's regular season was, even though he easily won the Sixth Man of the Year award.

Thanks to his efforts from the charity stripe and his ability to hit from downtown, Harden finished second in the league in both true shooting percentage and effective field goal percentage. Tyson Chandler, who finished No. 1 in both categories, was limited to the paint, scoring the majority of his points on easy dunks and alley-oops, so he clearly doesn't possess the same scoring ability as Harden.

Westbrook, as well as the match-up between Durant and LeBron may draw the vast majority of the headlines, but it will be Harden who has the ability to put the team on his back.

I just hope his beard doesn't scratch up the Larry O'Brien trophy too much.