NBA Finals 2012: 5 Reasons Miami Heat Will Be Unstoppable at Home

The Miami Heat were tied for the league's best home record at 28-5 during the regular season. Through the first three rounds of the postseason, they have lost only two games at home, compiling an 8-2 record.

The Heat have now won a game in Oklahoma City, and unfortunately for the Thunder, that home loss puts them in a very difficult spot to win this series.

Here are five reasons why the Heat will not lose a game at home during the 2012 NBA Finals.

The Thunder

The Thunder are 4-3 on the road this postseason. They had a record of 21-12 on the road during the regular season.

They are a young team that has a lot of talent, but they do get shaken on the road. They thrive on the home crowd when they are playing at Ford Center, which is common for young teams.

Once they get on the road, however, they simply aren't the same team.

Dwyane Wade

Dwyane Wade is averaging 2.3 more points per game at home than on the road this postseason. During the regular season, it was the complete opposite—he scored more points on the road per game.

Wade is a veteran player that understands how you win in the playoffs—by winning home games. He steps his game up while in Miami, knowing that as long as they win at home, they are going to have a shot at the series.

Defense

The Miami Heat are only allowing 89.4 points per game this postseason. During the regular season, they allowed 92.5 points per game.

The biggest defensive adjustment for the Heat this postseason has come on guarding the three-pointer, where they have lowered opponents' shooting percentage from .359 during the regular season to .301 during the postseason.

The Thunder are shooting .354 from downtown in the postseason and have consistently used the three-pointer to help open the lane for drives, but with the great perimeter defense of the Heat, that hasn't been an option in the finals.

LeBron James

LeBron James has yet to truly be LeBron James at home this postseason. He understands the importance of keeping other players involved, and in the eight home wins the Heat have this postseason, the average margin of victory has been just over 18 points.

There has been no real reason for James to be James, yet.

James has the talent to simply take over games, and if the Heat find themselves in another close home game in this series, he won't hesitate to do so.

The LeBron that has been playing on the road averaging 31.9 points and 8.8 rebounds will show up at home this series.

Depth

The talk of this series has been all about the big name players: James, Wade, Chris Bosh, Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden.

While it is certainly true that those six players are going to have the biggest impact on the game, the truth is that the depth of these two teams is going to be a big factor, as well.

When the Thunder have been on the road this postseason, they are averaging 102 points per game. Durant, Harden and Westbrook are averaging 71.4 of those road points, but they are getting very little help from their bench, with five other players combining to average just 30.6 points per game on the road.

That type of "team" play simply won't work down in Miami. The Thunder will need to have more evenly balanced scoring to be able to keep the Heat from locking down on the big guns.

Unfortunately for the Thunder, they don't have the depth to have more balanced scoring and that lack of depth is going to haunt them in this series.