The Oklahoma City Thunder might be down 3-1 in the NBA Finals, but I don't think I would count them completely out. I may seem like I'm going out on a limb here, but if there's one team that I think can overcome a 3-1 deficit, it's the Thunder.
Game 5 is in Miami on Thursday night (tonight), which obviously caters to the home team in the Heat, but they can be beaten at home, like most teams in the playoffs this year. The Heat will be pretty hyped up to wrap this NBA Finals in five games. The Thunder are going to do everything possible to keep Miami's "champaign on ice" and steal Game 5. They'd love nothing more than to head home to Oklahoma City down 3-2 with a chance to win two games to pull off the unthinkable task of winning a playoff series after being down three games to one.
I realize that teams leading a series 3-1 are 30-0 in Game 5 of those series all-time, but odds are meant to be defied!
There aren't a whole lot of people that actually want to see LeBron, D-Wade and company win at NBA Championship. The way that they came into being this "Big 3" that they're referred as, just makes sports fans cringe and want to throw up all over. No three professional athletes should put on a display like those fools did a couple years ago when it was announced in a prime time special on ESPN that Lebron James and Chris Bosh would be joining Dwyane Wade as members of the Miami Heat to start the 2010-11 NBA season.
Westbrook might have dropped 43 points on the Heat in an effort to try and help his Thunder in Game 4, but they came up short. Kevin Durant contributed 28, but their 71 combined needed to be that much more in order to make up for what their teammates didn't do. Serge Ibaka, Thabo Sefolosha, Kendrick Perkins, James Harden, Derek Fisher and Nick Collison all six only pitched in for 27 total points. It's no wonder that Miami outscored OKC in the final three quarters.
It's going to take Durant to lead the Thunder with his own 40-plus output. Westbrook needs to play just as smart, if not smarter than he did scoring 43 in Game 4. James Harden needs to start playing again like the Harden who is the 6th Man of the Year. Ibaka, Sefolosha and Perkins have to be more aggressive rebounding at both ends of the court. While they're at it, they might as well contribute an average of 8-10 points each. Nick Collison has to come off the bench like a mad man on a mission to ruin someone's day. He gets a little timid out there among Miami's big guys down low and doesn't play to his potential on the average night. Derek Fisher is as guilty as any coming off the OKC bench. He has 5 NBA Titles with the Los Angeles Lakers before signing with the Thunder in March. It's almost as if the youth of the Thunder isn't appreciating his veteran presence and his experience in the NBA Finals as much as they should.
The odds of Oklahoma City winning Game 5 at American Airlines Arena in Miami are pretty small. The city of Miami might actually be appreciative enough of their team if they were to win Game 5 for their fourth win in a row in the series and beat the Thunder in five. Or, we could see a surging Thunder team that puts together another three game winning streak in the playoffs. LeBron has had some time to rest his cramping quad muscles since his dramatic scenes from Game 4 and will probably hype of the Heat crowd right away in Game 5.
What I want to happen and what will happen might be two different things come midnight Thursday (tonight). The odds are obviously favoring the Heat to win Game 5 because they're on their home court. Stacking the odds against Durant, Westbook and the Thunder might be a bad idea. It may not matter to these two high octane scorers that they're not playing at home. They will be focused on winning one game at a time to get back home to Chesapeake Energy Arena and make history in front of their fans.
Wishful thinking, I know. Far-fetched yes, I'm well aware of that. Only time will tell, but that's why they play the games. Game 5 is tonight at 9ET on ABC. I'll be watching for sure and hope that OKC can defy all odds for the W.
GO THUNDER!!!!
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