Guess what, I picked Oklahoma City and Miami in the NBA Finals!!!! Yep, me and about 3 million other people, so I’m not what you call patting myself on the back. Going into the season my Terry Ford Kiss of Death prediction was Miami over OKC, much to the dismay of the Miami Heat. But on the day of The Finals, I’m not feeling real confident in my pick but I’ve got to stick with it. So, from The Recliner of Second Guessing, here are my thoughts on The Finals…
I think this series will be real good and will go seven. It’s true that the Heat haven’t played an offense as good as the Thunder but Oklahoma City hasn’t faced a defense as good as Miami. No one can guard the two superstars Kevin Durant and LeBron James. Heck, the only person who can stop James and Durant is…James and Durant. LeBron does you a favor when he starts chucking jumpers and Durant takes himself out of the game when he stops demanding the ball. We know James can also pass and now Durant is adding that to his game, making him more dangerous.
OKC point guard Russell Westbrook can get to the rim whenever he wants, so you beg for him to start hoisting jumpers. Then old Russ can be real erratic. The wild card for Oklahoma City is James Harden. He can shoot the three, beat you off the bounce, pass the ball, rebound and kill you from the free throw line. And you gotta love that beard! I wonder if Harden can churn butter and make his own furniture? For Miami, Dwayne Wade has to play better than he did in the Eastern Conference Finals and Chris Bosh needs to average in double figures. If either of these guys need Amber Alerts put out for them the Heat will be in trouble.
Obviously some of the role players will need to step up. You know that those guys will have to make plays in this series. It could be Kendrick Perkins, who couldn’t hit Chaz Bono with a beach ball from five feet, knocking down a big shot. Or maybe the Heat dust off Jo-el Anthony and he does something crazy like actually putting the ball in the basket. If that happens they may stop the game and have a ceremony to give Anthony the ball.
And let’s not forget the coaches. I give the edge to OKC. Scott Brooks has done a fantastic job guiding and nurturing a young team while Miami’s Eric Spolstra has done a fantastic job of uh…uh…making sure the Heat aren’t late to games and that they have five players on the court at all times.
At the end of the day I think the Heat’s defense and their experience from last year’s NBA Finals loss to Dallas will give them that little edge they’ll need to hoist that cool trophy with the big ball at the top. But if Miami wins and someone other than James gets the MVP LeBron will still get ripped. And if Miami losses and James plays great, people will still rip him because the Heat didn’t win it all. And if Miami wins and James plays out of his mind, people will say, “That’s great King James, only five more to go to catch MJ”!
