NBA Finals 2012: Heat Must Win Game 2 to Stay Alive in Series

Coming off four-straight victories and opening the NBA Finals at home, the Oklahoma City Thunder should have won Game 1.

But if they win Game 2, the Miami Heat will not survive this series. It may seem dramatic, but it's already do-or-die time for the Heat.

Think about what we saw in Game 1. The Thunder were better on the boards, way better in transition (outscoring the Heat 24-4 in that regard), looked more fluid in the half-court game and had superstars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook step up while the Heat saw LeBron James and Dwyane Wade fail to step up.

For what it's worth, I'm not going to blame LeBron for that loss in any way. He did his job. But neither he, Wade nor Chris Bosh did enough down the stretch for the Heat to win.

What Game 1 taught us was that the Thunder, theoretically for now, are a horrible matchup for the Heat. They can match them in athleticism across the board, they can outscore them in an open game, they play tough, underrated defense, they're deeper with more consistent role-players and they have better late-game closers on the big state.

Now, some of the above can be rectified if the Heat make adjustments. This team still has the best basketball player in the world in James, one of the best basketball players in the world in Wade and a very, very good basketball player in Bosh.

Those three alone can win games in this series. Plus, the Heat can do better in transition and can ratchet up its own defensive pressure. This series should be a long one.

If the Heat don't make adjustments heading into Game 2 and steal a game in Oklahoma City, though, it won't be. The Thunder are hot right now and have enormous momentum. Failing to steal some of that could be devastating for Miami moving forward in this series.

Game 2 is as important as they come for Miami. A two-game deficit is more than this team will be able to overcome against the Thunder.

Hit me up on Twitter—my tweets really wanted to have another.