Tony had his mind on other things..
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Tony had his mind on other things..
OKC's roleplayers stepped up, and they stepped up in pretty much every facet of the game. Ours didn't.
Same thing that just happened in the Finals. Guys like Miller, Chalmers and Norris Cole stepping up, hitting 3's, taking charges and playing defense.
I thought this was already covered by timvp.
OKC was shooting a statistical anomaly vs Spurs.
The Thunder stopped playing team ball and went back to individual ball.
Criminal officiating, rotten luck and stupid play at times. Mainly the first two reasons, though.
They shot 80% and we gave the ball away every other possession.
when you step back now it really was a giant combination of things falling together at once.
1 thing that helped OKC big time is their resolve against SA. Big time.
Their shooting, plus the Spurs poor interior defense, plus the Spurs turning the ball over
plus their role players hitting ridiculous shots equaled them being better.
Against Miami, Harden made Danny Green look like Stephen Jackson.
Perkins looked like Bonner, and Ibaka came back to earth. That being said, when Rose went down, when healthy, no one was beating Miami. Throwing three clear cut super stars out there at once who realized how to play together, plus great role players in Battier, Haslem, Chalmers. It was a giant buzzsaw.
The Spurs were once again let down by what got them there. Depth. the Greens and Splitters regressed and the Battiers and Millers stepped up.
It can really be summed up quite easily into that.
Some guys just disappeared
Every game one OKC player had a career night. Add the refs and there you go...
Main reason would have to be defense. The Heats' main unit of 2 guards, 2 small fowards and 1 big stifled the Thunder. Ibaka and Perkins not having the same impact as they did against the Spurs. Has me wondering if pop should of gone more with the TP, Manu, Kawai, Jackson and Duncan combo. I remember the Spurs finishing with this combo often but other periods of the game not so much.
Secondly , Spurs don't have the player with the ability of a Lebron James. Superhuman efforts in scoring , rebounding and defense. So amazingly versatile in defending guards to being their defacto power forward. He made scoring king Durant work hard on offense, yet brought it on the other end - every game. WOW
Third, Heat's role players stepped up bigtime on both ends. They had a number of players hitting threes over and over again. There was a benchy called Cole, another in Miller or James Jones if you wish. Then count in Battier and Chalmers for starters. For the Spurs it really was only Kawai and Sjax. On defense they were scrambling everywhere, rotations prompt and help was always there. You had Haslem a bringing tougness on the interior, making team plays and playing hard. Both he and Battier gave the heat toughness, often putting the body on the line. How many spurs fit that description or atleast value defense as much? It be lopsided in favour of the heat.
Honourable mentions has to go out to Fisher and Harden who were no-shows. These two were hitting shots out of their asses against the Spurs but with the Heat, reality set in. On defense those crucial calls that went against the Spurs didn't eventuate against the heat. Flopping was really a non-factor and no calls won out. Same has to be said about Ibaka. Why didn't he continue to goaltend the ball? Refs have to get their due here. This how all play-offs should be called.
Miaimi surpised me and im sure whole lot of other people. Best team in the NBA hands down.
At least Lebron won before his hair disappears
9 lounge...
Miami plays better defense. Pretty simple.
the spurs had a magical evening, until the carriage turned back into a pumpkin.
:lol people blaming the refs
The refs didn't force the Spurs into turning the ball over and being undisciplined on defense. Joey Crawford didn't guide the ball into the basket when Ibaka went 11/11. And Stern didn't make Tim Duncan 36 years old.
The Thunder got some bogus calls throughout the series, calls they didn't get against the Heat. But a few missed calls aren't what caused the Spurs to lose their edge. They didn't want it bad enough. The Spurs aren't as talented as the Thunder, and when it mattered most, they lacked the intangibles necessary to overcome that talent. The Celtics are a great example of a team that overachieves on sheer will and grit. The Celtics, Thunder, and ultimately the Heat, wanted it much more than the Spurs.
the refs cought on to james harden's floping. If you noticed they dident call the flops in the Miami series like they did in the Spurs series
The Spurs are old and ran out of gas.