NBA Finals 2012: Oklahoma City Thunder's Resiliency Will Lead Them to NBA Title

Even though the Oklahoma City Thunder lost Game 2 to the Miami Heat, we learned something about the young Zombies tonight.

We learned that no matter what the score is after one quarter, two quarters or three quarters, this team is going to fight with everything they have until the final buzzer.

The Thunder pulled within two points with just over 30 seconds remaining in the final period after trailing all game long. They weren't just trailing; they were left in the dust by the Heat from the opening tip.

LeBron James and company jumped out to a 25-8 lead, a deficit that would have buried most teams before the second quarter began, but no, not the Thunder.

Miami led by 12 at halftime, but the Okies at the Chesapeake Energy Arena didn't give up on their lovable team. They continued to jar and prod the Heat at the free-throw line, during timeouts and whenever they had the opportunity to.

Why should they? The 18,000 fans in that building knew better than anyone else that the Thunder weren't going to go down quietly. This wasn't going to be some roll over and die, we'll get 'em in Game 3 kind of night.

Young, reckless teams are supposed to fold when the going gets tough. The Thunder aren't supposed to have the wherewithal to keep their heads firmly fixated on their shoulders once they get smacked in the mouth like they did in Game 2.

They do, though. We saw their collective coming of age when they went down two games to none against the San Antonio Spurs. Tim Duncan and his fellow battle-hardened veterans were supposed to be able to close out the series, and many pegged the Thunder for dead.

Even after the first quarter of Game 6, when Tony Parker ran wild and the Sours led by 14 at the end of the opening period, there were people proclaiming that the series was heading back to the AT&T Center and the Thunder would fall there.

Kevin Durant would have none of that. The Durantula finished what he started and dragged his teammates—kicking and screaming—back from the 14-point deficit to complete the comeback in the sixth game of the Western Conference Finals.

That's the Thunder in a nut shell. Just like they came back from a two-game deficit, they came back and won Game 6 to give themselves a shot at the Larry O'Brien Trophy.

Sure, they fell short tonight, but it wasn't because of their lack of effort. The Heat played with desperation and were firing on all cylinders for the better part of 48 minutes.

You just have to love what you see from them.

Russell Westbrook soaring to the rim, looking like a young...Dwyane Wade, if I may—except far and away more explosive.

Durant playing his you know what off after picking up his fifth foul early in the fourth.

James Harden slicing and dicing, making the Udonis Haslem and Chris Bosh look foolish. Serge Ibaka being Serge I-Blocka.

Thabo Sefolosha locking down the opposition's best player in a resounding display of defensive prowess.

Even Derek Fisher throwing himself on the floor here and there.

If there is such thing as a moral victory on the biggest stage in basketball, the Zombies got one tonight. The Heat didn't choke down the stretch like we've seen them do; the Thunder just slowly but surely climbed out of the early hole they let themselves fall into.

It takes a special team to do what Oklahoma City has done this postseason. They're going to win this series because they are too good and too resilient not to, and they don't care if you think otherwise.

The Thunder didn't get what they wanted last season, but this series will serve as their redemption song.