Your impression of the Thunder so far?

[krikor]

Very good jumpshooting team.They dont need to attack the rim, they just hit outside shots big time.specifically durant.

they live & die with the jumper

[krikor]

I am also checking there scoring, they rely on harden durant & westrbook.
if we stop one or two, we limit them alot

[LordkeiiN]

they are playing pretty much better in their home court IMO.. that said, we just need to finish them in Game 5

[krikor]

ONE GAME AT A TIME ALWAYS.WE NEED TO FOCUS ON WINNING GAME 2 NOW.

EACH GAME STARTS AT 0 - 0

[EscapoTHB]

My impression of the Thunder is that they are not as tough of a matchup as 2010-2011 Dallas Mavericks.

This. Their lack of experience hurts them. A lot. And they're not nearly as disciplined defensively.

Conversely because they are so young, they are mad athletic and change ends fast.

The funny thing is, this could be the best version of this team that we play. I think they're going to lose Ibaka or Harden which completely changes their team. Especially if they don't get much back.

I feel pretty confident against them. We should have won game 1. I think a lot of their comebacks are happening because of our tired legs. Which may be less of an issue at home.

I still expect a long series, and wouldn't be surprised if we lost game 3. I feel like this series will go 7.

But I trust Lebron to put us over the finish line. Every time we've been on the brink, he's put us on his back and done what needed to be done. I think he can do that in this series too. But he's obviously trying to pick his spots on it, and hope his teammates will help and he won't have to do to the whole godmode thing. But it's the one thing we've got in the back pocket that no other team, even the thunder have.

Also as for the Thunder, I think Westbrook gets way too much blame. He's a bigger part of their team than KD IMO. He gets nearly as many points, but he also gets assists, rebounds, and plays tough D. He's the one who really runs **** over there. Durant is just an amazing once in a lifetime level scorer, who just goes to his spots and waits.

Without Westbrook, Durant would have to create and initiate offense one on one, and I don't think he can do it.

[Tim_Hardawayy]

Honestly, the comebacks were nice, but to me, this team is more of a frontrunning team than Miami ever was, and imo that's why they're so dominant at home. They are extremely emotional (look at guys like Westbrook trying to act like a hardass after every drive in game 1). But they're very prone to lulls and cold streaks, and the only guy on their team who actually consistently brings it is Durant.

This is why I think we have a decent chance to close this series out without going back to OKC. I think without their crowd behind them, we can exploit their weaknesses more easily. They're not going to get as many calls on the road, and they won't be able to out-energy us with our home crowd to back us up.

That's not to say they can't go on a huge run and blow us out of the building, they're talented enough and athletic enough (more athletic than us imo) that I could actually see them doing that in 1 of these games. But I can also very easily see them wilting if we get a decent lead at home, or falling apart late in games if its a close one.

I hope this series ends in Miami though, because I think if it goes back to Oklahoma, they're going to be extremely difficult to silence.

[Heat3]

i think they are very good. I think we are better. We are better defensively and as good offensively. They may have a slight edge here but it's because we spend more energy on defense than they do. No one is giving the Heat credit for making them play bad when they do. It's always the Thunder not playing their game.

Big leads are never safe with them...but honestly they aren't safe with us either. We've seen those same type of comebacks vs the Celtics.

Very similar teams over all but our experience and honestly, our hunger, will be the deciding factor. Not saying they're not hungry..but it's different from what a vet that's been at it for years and not tasted it has. You see how Battier is stepping up. A lot of the old guys stepped up in 2006 for the same reason.

A team like the Thunder, because of their youth, has in the back of their minds that they will be back no matter what. Marino said it about his Super Bowl appearance. He always assumed he'd be back but it never happened. I think that it's a slight edge in our favor.

Ironically, this is also what doomed the 2007 Heat, that hunger was satisfied and they all expected Wade to bail them out. Need to watch out for that...next year

[DefenseWins]

I don't think LBJ would be satisfied with just one, same with Bosh.

Man 2007 was bad...

I think if we win this year and get blown out at home receiving our rings, it's a bit of a bad omen it seems.

[RhapidKid]

I don't think LBJ would be satisfied with just one, same with Bosh.

Man 2007 was bad...

I think if we win this year and get blown out at home receiving our rings, it's a bit of a bad omen it seems.

No way we're getting blown out lol. They'll play even more pumped up. We may lose but no way we're getting blown out.

[EscapoTHB]

If we play true to our identity(spoism) we should win all 3 at home. Unfortunately, we're pretty good this playoffs at only playing great when we have to. I could see us dropping game 3, and then winning games 4, 5, and 6.

[Josephpaul]

They have slow starts and can't guard Lebron in the post. BUT they finsh strong . If they come out slow it's over . No home court advtange I see brooks making some adjustments I think...

[kyphi]

very talented, athletic, and young - Durant is amazing, Westbrook chucks too much but if reigns it is good, hard workers - crowd is typical mid-westerners -

[SweetTouch]

one of the best teams ever assembled

[GreenHat]

Durant is a lot better on defense than I thought he was. Harden flops a lot more than I thought.

[zonic]

Listen they are a great team. The only issue is their slow starts. The game starts in the 1st guarter not in the fourth. If they were not down by 15 points in the first quarter they beat the heat by ten or more. The heat are a veteran battle tested team there not going to let come back by twenty and win. They remember lasts years game two of the finals

[twix2500]

No, I have always thought they were very even matched up teams. I thought the X-Factors will be Bosh for Miami and Westbrook for Oklahoma. And the first two games have very well been that early, besides surprisingly Battier being very big.

[kyphi]

Listen they are a great team. The only issue is their slow starts. The game starts in the 1st guarter not in the fourth. If they were not down by 15 points in the first quarter they beat the heat by ten or more. The heat are a veteran battle tested team there not going to let come back by twenty and win. They remember lasts years game two of the finals

which is why the Heat try to start off like gang busters and get a big of a lead as possible, then they use the veteran leadership/knowledge and simply try to trade buckets for the rest of the game.