Heat Burn Thunder Late For Win

The game today meant a lot. It was a battle of the "Big 3's." On one side, you had a humble small market team built through good draft picks. On the other side, you had a team built through free agency collaboration. One superstar anounced his new contract on Twitter. The other anounced his decision, or betrayal in some eyes, in a nationally televised show. In essence, this game was a battle of good versus evil.

The beginning of this game served as a reminder of how I fell in love with basketball. Ball movement, back-door cuts, transition buckets. Everything was dropping as the superstars showcased their talents. Overall, both teams played great basketball.

As the game progressed, the pace of both teams slowed. With Thabo Sefalosha still out, James Harden started his second game in a row. All 3 stars played for the Heat which I was happy about for 2 reasons. The first is that nobody could make excuses (No, not even you Lebron). The second is that when the regular season comes to a close and the playoffs begin, I want the Thunder to have experienced the highest level of competition available. I know every team has injuries but beating up scrubs won't prepare you for the big boys.

Now back to the game. I understand the "Respect the game" initiative that the referees are abiding by this season. However, there are certain times when it feels as if they toss out technicals like beads at Mardi Gras. Russell Westbrook made a gesture after being called for the foul that earned him a technical. Upon replay it was clear, at least to me, that the gesture was not directed to the referee. Unfortunately, the ref took it as an outburst towards the call and gave him the tech.

Kevin Durant and Chris Bosh also put their emotions on display after Bosh fouled James Harden on a breakaway. When Durant yelled something to Harden, Bosh felt the need to make a comment. That sparked Durant to get in Bosh's face and later surfaced in Durant's post game comments about the altercation.

"I was talking to my teammate and he decided he wanted to put his 2 cents into it. I'm a quiet guy, a laid-back guy, but I'm not going to let nobody talk trash to me. He's on a good team now, so he thinks he can talk a little bit," Durant said.

"There's a lot of fake tough guys in this league and he's one of them," Durant added.

I like seeing our superstar stand up for himself. Hopefully he can back up those words and hand the Heat a loss at their place.

Late in the game, I honestly felt that the Thunder could pull it out. When the Thunder got a stop with under 30 seconds left to play and up by 1, I thought we had a win in the bag. Unfortunately, a problem that has plagued OKC this year reared it's ugly head up at a pivotal point in a big game and it was defensive rebounding. Limiting teams to one shot per possession can go a long way especially when that team is not a defensive stalwart to begin with.

Tonight, one more rebound could have sealed the win on national t.v. against one of the best teams in the league. Instead, Mike Miller grabbed the offensive rebound, kicked it LBJ who then hand-fed Eddie House a wide open 3. What makes it even worse was the way Eddie House reacted. In the end, not a bad loss but a loss none the less.

Here is the box score.

Next up: New Orleans Hornets, February 2nd at 7:00 pm.