Have the NBA Finals been too close to think that Miami will definitely, obviously, surely win tonight? Sure, the past three Finals games, all won by the Heat, were separated by four, six and six points. But I believe this thing is over tonight — so you better DVR “2 Broke Girls” (I’m looking at you, Steve in Arvada) and tune in to see the championship coronation of Norris Cole.
Here’s why I think Miami will win Game 5 and thus the series. We’ve all heard the stat: teams trailing 3-1 in an NBA Finals have lost the Finals all 30 times. So history says the Finals belong to the Heat. But why will Miami win it tonight? It comes down simply to a mindset of LeBron James — I’m so close. Tonight, destiny is in my shooting hand. I’ve come this far, I’m not going to mentally lose focus and possibly lose the game and lose my chance to win this thing at home.
Sure, his Game 4 cramps might play a factor in his efficiency, but this guy is absolutely fueled — fueled by last June’s debacle, fueled by his place in history, fueled by silly Serge Ibaka, fueled by not wanting to fly to Oklahoma City. Everything is finally falling into place for LeBron James. I just can’t see him blowing this (past history, notwithstanding).
ESPN’s Chris Broussard : if there was a game in this series for Miami to relax a little, it would have been Game 4. Instead, the Heat furiously came back from that early deficit and won the thing with LeBron on the bench. Miami got over that hurdle. The reward was a close-out game at home.
Entering this series, so many folks gushed about how Oklahoma City’s role players had the advantage over Miami’s. I’ve been flabbergasted by the turn-of-events. It’s been, of course, Miami’s role players who have made a bigger impact on the series, from Shane Battier’s shooting to Cole’s resilience to Mario Chalmers’ 25 gritty Game 4 points.
James Harden has been a joke. The bonehead foul on LeBron late in Game 3 sums up his series. Not only was he supposed to be the top reserve in this series, but the dude won the award for top reserve in the whole league. He averaged 16.8 points per game in the regular season, but in three of the four Finals games he scored five, nine and eight. Harden shot 2-for-10 in each of the past two games. Now comes word that he and will play with pain in Game 5.
So tonight’s the night. But even if (gasp) I’m wrong, and OKC wins tonight, the Heat will ultimately win this series. This leads to the question I raised in my Sunday column last week: ?
