Thunder vs. Heat Game 3: Scott Brooks Must Change Rotations for OKC to Win

Despite all the motivating that Scott Brooks may be able to do during pregame speeches, timeouts in the middle of action and locker room appeals, the Oklahoma City Thunder head coach must overcome his dislike for making changes. 

If he doesn't, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and the rest of the Miami Heat might as well start giving the league their finger sizes right now because a ring will be all but guaranteed. 

Throughout the playoffs, Brooks has stuck with the exact same rotations, despite the fact that it's becoming increasingly clear those are starting to cause problems. Every game, it's the same five men whose names are called out during introductions: Russell Westbrook at point guard, Thabo Sefolosha at shooting guard, Kevin Durant at small forward, Serge Ibaka at power forward and Kendrick Perkins at center.

Now there are two main problems with that starting lineup.

The first is that James Harden's name doesn't appear in it. Sure, Harden struggled throughout Game 3, but that's a ridiculously small sample size. The Thunder offense has appeared reinvigorated time and time again when the bearded shooting guard first steps onto the court.

In fact, "reinvigorated" may be the wrong word in this situation. Without Harden present at tip-off, Oklahoma City has gotten off to so many starts that the lefty's presence may invigorate them for the first time in the game.

Harden has entered the game this series once the Thunder have faced deficits of eight, 14 and six points in Games 1, 2 and 3, respectively.

He's been able to help pull the Thunder back into the game each and every time, but at some point don't you have to see what he can do in the starting lineup? Brooks seems to be starting to treat Harden's role as the Sixth Man of the Year a bit like some managers use closers.

Because of the unfortunately valuable (in the eyes of the contract negotiators) save, the best relievers aren't used in high leverage situations but are saved for sometimes easy, sometimes tough innings to close out wins.  

Fly against convention, Mr. Brooks. Put Harden in the starting lineup and let the league's premier sixth man do damage at the beginning of the game to avoid a constant uphill battle. 

The second problem with Brooks' starting lineup is his insistence on going big, despite the overall ineffectiveness of Kendrick Perkins in this series. Big men, especially defensive ones like Perkins, are supposed to shut off the paint, not allow all but two of the Thunder's first bajillion points to come in the restricted area. 

Let Ibaka play center and go small-ball style. Put Sefolosha against James and shift the lineup accordingly. Then, there will be no ugly offensive possessions by Perkins and no missed close-outs by Ibaka while guarding Shane Battier. 

Finally, Brooks must be willing to buck convention and not sit his stars for inordinate periods of time down the stretch, even if they are in foul trouble. 

When Durant was pump-faked into his fifth foul by Wade with 5:41 remaining in the third quarter, the Thunder were up 60-53. Sure, it was fine to rest Durant for a little while, but not to leave him on the pine until the fourth quarter began and Miami had gone on a 16-7 run to take the lead. 

The Thunder clearly have the talent to win this series. All three games have been close into the second half, even if the Heat have pulled ahead in the past two contests. 

For Brooks, it's just a matter of getting that talent onto the court at the right time and letting his best players prove why they're so highly though of. If he can't do that, the Thunder have no chance.