Heat vs Thunder: Russell Westbrook Will Be the Key for Thunder in Game 1
Kevin Durant is the hero—the Oklahoma City Thunder's knight in shining armor who can do no wrong.
However, it's his unpredictable sidekick, Russell Westbrook, who will decide if the Thunder win Game 1, and ultimately, the NBA title.
Westbrook is an uncontrollable force of basketball fury, unleashing violent assaults on the rim with no regard for human life. He tries to dunk on everything in sight, and although his forays into the paint often resemble a four-car pileup, he's usually quite effective.
He averaged 23.6 points, 5.5 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game this season, while finishing tenth in the league with a 23.11 player efficiency rating. He improved his field goal percentage for the fourth straight year, and he was a menace with that pull-up mid-range jumper, knocking down 43 percent of his shots from 16-23 feet out.
He was also a critical piece in the Thunder's rampage through the Western Conference playoffs. He single-handedly buried the Lakers in the semifinals and stuffed every column on the stat sheet against San Antonio.
His decision making has improved by leaps and bounds, and although his field goal percentage was hideous in the Western Conference Finals, he flexed his basketball IQ throughout the series.
He will have to do more of the same against the Miami Heat, who are the only team in the league that can match the Thunder's youth, energy and absurd athleticism.
With LeBron James keying in on Durant, Westbrook will have to be a monster for OKC to win in Game 1. He's got to find the perfect balance between dominating and deferring, between not passing for consecutive trips and not touching it on others.
He sometimes seems reluctant to play second fiddle, but I'm confident in Westbrook's ability to juggle this unusual role. He and Durant are legitimately good friends, and they complement each other in an oddly perfect way.
Although they share the same hipster attire off the court, Westbrook and Durant are polar opposites between the baselines.
Durant is cool and calculated; Westbrook fiery and spontaneous. Durant flows like a calm river, while Westbrook explodes like a pipe bomb. They share almost nothing on the court, except, of course, for their brilliance.
Durant is the second-best player in the league—the future of professional basketball as we know it. But without Westbrook, the NBA's darling superstar would be watching the Finals from his mother's couch.
Now, Durant will be relying on Westbrook to help him earn the first championship of his young career.
As complicated as he can be, Westbrook's value in this series is pretty simple. If he proves he can harness his own emotions and athleticism in Game 1, the Thunder will prevail.
If he doesn't, they will go down in flames, plummeting into a devastating 0-1 hole to start the 2012 NBA Finals.
