The Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder meet in Game 1 of the NBA Finals tonight from Oklahoma City. LeBron James is back in position to claim his throne as the king, while Kevin Durant looks to cement his legacy as one of the greats in NBA history. The Heat will wear down the Thunder with their strength and guile tonight in a few different ways.
James can make Durant expend his energy on defense
The talk about who is a better player between James and Durant should stop until Durant wins a title and plays a two-way game. For now, Durant is an excellent offensive player, but doesn't do a whole lot on defense.
In this series, James should take Durant down to the low post, where the Thunder will have no choice but to send a double-team. James outweighs Durant by a solid 40-50 pounds and will not be able to guard him without help.
As the double-teams start arriving, James has the court vision to find open teammates on the perimeter and can hit the players cutting to the basket.
Dwyane Wade can use Russell Westbrook's emotions against him
There's no doubt that Westbrook holds a big advantage athletically over Wade. There's also no debating the fact that Westbrook uses his emotions to fuel him and can get overzealous and hurt his team.
It seems like Westbrook hurts his team at least once a game by making an emotional play, whether it's a blatant foul or complaining to the referees instead of getting back on defense.
Wade loves to use pump fakes and loves to play a physical game. If he can be physical and create contact on Westbrook, it's very likely that he'll get frustrated and will play right into Wade and the Heat's plans.
Miami should punish the Thunder in the lane
There's something to be said for clean but hard playoff fouls. The Heat need to use those fouls when the Thunder penetrate the lane. Guys like James, Wade and Bosh aren't going to be using their fouls that way, but the centers absolutely need to.
The constant banging in the paint wears on the players, and if the Thunder have a slight advantage in raw athleticism, the Heat have an advantage in strength.
Prediction: Miami Heat win Game 1 103-96
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