Time to beat the Heat

The Oklahoma City Thunder (39-13) are battling the Miami Heat (35-14) tonight at the Peake'. It's the second and last game of the series, in which the Thunder are trailing 0-1.

Thunder's Previous Game: The Thunder are coming off a disappointing 109-94 loss the Utah Jazz last Tuesday night. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook played their first fourth quarter in almost 5 games, but the lack of scoring and energy coming off the bench, and the no-show of Kendrick Perkins and Serge Ibaka in the interior, cost Oklahoma City the game.

KD and the Honey-Badger combined for 55 points on 19/30 shooting but the Thunder's bench wasn't able to produce. Kevin Martin who was coming back from missing one game to the flu, had just 6 points on 3/8 shooting, and missed a couple of wide-open threes late in the game. Oklahoma City's bench was out scored 40-14 through three quarters, something that doesn't happen very often, but without K-Mart making his shots - OKC really has no one else that can go off for 15-20 coming off the bench.

Kendrick Perkins and Serge Ibaka were absolutely ineffective on the glass. They both combined for 4 rebounds the entire game, and no matter who you're playing - when your front court totals 4 rebounds, you're not going to win. The Thunder gave up 18 second chance points and 16 offensive rebounds to the Jazz, and Al Jefferson was just abusing Perk in the paint, finishing the game with 23 and 7.
Expect the Thunder bigs to come out strong as hell on the glass tonight.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

Last Meeting with the Heat: The Christmas Day match up was a fluke, why? because of the hideous uniforms the Thunder were wearing. That's just my superstition, though. The Thunder managed to lose this one to the heat in the fourth quarter. It wasn't a terrible loss, considering we had the best record in the league at that time, and we only lost 103-97, but losing to the heat is never fun - especially if you're Kevin Durant.

KD dropped 33 in Miami - a game high in points, but the Heat's balanced offensive attack put the Thunder on their heels and they were never able to over come the Heatles and their obnoxious crowd. Three of Miami's starters posted 20 points or more, 29 coming from LBJ, who had a near triple double - racking up 8 boards to go along with 9 assists.

The Thunder were never able to find their inside game, being held to just 28 points in the paint, as they only shot 14/35 there. Miami was much more efficient and effective in the paint, dropping 42 points on 21/30 shooting - Oklahoma City's big line up had no answer for Miami's small ball.


The Heat are coming off a double-digit, 104-117 victory against the Portland Trail Blazers. Rookie of the year front runner Damian Lillard dropped 33 on 10-18 shooting to go with the All-Star power forward LaMarcus Aldridge's 29 and 5. Chris Bosh had a huge night, posting a double-double with 32 points and 11 rebounds, 8 of which were offensive - and it helped the Heat scorch Portland with 21 second-chance points.

Bosh has shown success in the interior against the Thunder before, and I hope to see Scott Brooks adjust his rotation this time around. He's played big in the past and it hasn't worked well for the Thunder, and with Chris Bosh coming off of a 32 and 11 game, I expect him to try some small ball this time around.


Thunder Essentials:


Limit the role players - No one can stop LBJ, it's just a matter of containing his team mates around him. If Lebron gets another near triple-double tonight you can expect another loss, but if OKC can play good perimeter defense, and not get totally sucked in to LBJ's drive, it's workable.


Interior defense - OKC can't give up another 16 offensive rebounds like the did against the Jazz, and they can't allow the Heat to score in the paint at will like they did in the last meeting. Playing small ball and forcing Lebron to drive to the weak side will be key to prevent the Thunder from getting beat in the post again.


Thunder's Bench - Scoring just 14 points against the Jazz before garbage time, The Thunder's bench was just terrible. No one could make a shot, and they weren't getting the easy tip ins and offensive rebounds they usually get. K-Mart has to have a big game tonight, and I expect him too, as so does RJ and Nick Collison.