If LeBron James doesn’t get his ring this year, he may never get it. With a Game 4 win over the Thunder on Tuesday night, the Heat took a commanding 3-1 NBA Finals lead and are now one win away from the championship. Since winning Game 1 in impressive fashion, Oklahoma City has not been the same team. They came out firing in the first quarter Tuesday night but were completely outplayed the rest of the way. After the game, Kendrick Perkins implied that one of the main issues in Game 4 was coaching.
“I just don’t understand why we start out the first quarter the way we did, with the lineup that we had, and all of a sudden we change and adjust to what they had going on,” Perkins said according to Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports. “So, they won the last three quarters, and that’s what happened.”
Coaching was certainly an issue among many others. Miami came out flat and was able to adjust. The Thunder came out with Russell Westbrook absolutely scorching, and it remained that way for the rest of the game. Despite his 43 points, the Thunder could not manage a win.
You can blame coaching or blame Westbrook for his incredibly dumb foul toward the end of the game, but the bottom line is the Heat played much more balanced than the Thunder. Westbrook scored 43 and Kevin Durant scored 28. The rest of the team combined for 27 points. On the other side, Miami got 26 points from LeBron, 25 from Dwyane Wade, 25 from Mario Chalmers, and 13 from Chris Bosh. The Heat’s starting five was just plain better. Now, Oklahoma City fans are left hoping that LeBron guy that turtles in big games really does exist.
Photo credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE
