Heat vs. Thunder Game 4: Adjustments Thunder Must Make to Even Series

The Oklahoma City Thunder can't afford to lose Game 4. 

Falling down three games to one to the Miami Heat would be dangerously close to a death sentence for OKC's 2012 title hopes.

And if the Thunder are going to stay alive with a Game 4 win, they will have to make some adjustments. Let's take a look at what they need to do. 

Kevin Durant on Defense

During the regular season, Kevin Durant never fouled out and only hit five fouls in a game three times.

This series?

He's already hit that threshold twice in three games. 

Of course, even though he's been limited at certain times, Durant has produced at a level that most would kill for, as he's averaged 31 points on an unfair 57 percent shooting.

Additionally, even with the foul trouble, Durant is averaging 41.3 minutes per game this series. 

Nonetheless, his fouls have forced him to miss crucial parts of games, most notably the end of the third quarter of Game 3, when the Heat went on a big run to take the lead for good. 

In order to get Durant out of foul trouble, and in order for him to keep his rhythm, Scott Brooks should just put him on Shane Battier for most of the game. If the star small forward continues to guard the attack-minded LeBron James, he's just going to continue to pile up fouls.

So leave LeBron to defensive specialist Thabo Sefolosha, and let Durant run around with Battier and save his energy for offense. 

More Nick Collison

Collison had a horrendous 13 minutes in Game 3, while Kendrick Perkins had the game of his life, scoring 10 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.

Nonetheless, Perk won't produce like that again in this series, and the Thunder should still roll out Collison for Perkins a little more. 

Collison is much quicker and can defend both the mid-range game of Chris Bosh and Miami's pick-and-roll much better than Perkins.

Additionally, with Collison draped on Bosh, Serge Ibaka doesn't have to worry about him, so he can stay around the hoop and protect the rim when James and Wade inevitably drive their way in.

This move keeps Perkins away from a mismatch with Bosh, and you can't overlook how Collison does all the little things. He crashes the boards, takes charges, always knows where to be on the court and is simply a smart player.

He is incredibly underrated, and that's not something you can usually say about Perkins. 

Get in Transition

This is the one adjustment that is much easier said than done, but the Thunder need to find a way to utilize the fast break. 

In their Game 1 win, the Thunder accumulated 24 fast break points. In their two losses, they had a total of 23. 

The Heat are making a conscious effort to stop the break by crashing the offensive boards less and fouling Russell Westbrook when he gets a head of steam, so you have to give them credit for that, but there are ways around this. 

Most notably, step up the defense. It's not all about forcing turnovers (OKC actually forced fewer in Game 1 than it did in Games 2 and 3), but tighter defense on the perimeter will force the Heat into more unwanted three-pointers and mid-range jumpers.

Missed jumpers usually result in longer rebounds to Westbrook, Durant or James Harden, and that's the easiest way to get in transition. 

A good offense starts with a better defense, especially for the Thunder. 

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