Sunday night the Miami Heat won game 3 of the NBA Finals 91-85, to take a 2 games to 1 lead. They need 2 more wins to become the champions, and the next 2 games are in Miami. Due to the 2-3-2 format the NBA uses for home games in the finals, games 3, 4 and 5 are all in Miami. This means that unless the Oklahoma City Thunder win one of the next 2 games, on the road, the next time they go back home, it will be as losers of the NBA Finals.
Game 4 is huge for the Thunder. If they win, they will assure at least one more home, and tie the series at 2 games apiece. However, if they lose game 4, they will be in a deep 3 games to 1 hole, with one more game in Miami. The Thunder put themselves in this predicament by losing game 2 at home last Thursday. They lost the home court advantage they earned from having a better regular season record.
Kevin Durant was in foul trouble again in game 3. While he sat on the bench, the game started slipping away. In game 2, he had 5 fouls for much of the 4th quarter, and stayed in the game. This time, he was on the bench, and Russell Westbrook was also on the bench with him for a while. That seems like a recipe for disaster, benching your 2 best players in the 4th quarter of a tight game, and it was. Even in foul trouble, you have to play him in the NBA Finals.
Now the pressure is really on the Thunder in game 4. The maturity of the young Thunder will be tested. Ask the New Jersey Devils how easy it is to come back from a 3-1 deficit, if they lose. Of course the Devils were even down 3 games to 0, before winning 2 games, and finally losing in game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals.
If the Thunder win game 4, it looks like this might be a 7 game series. If not, they will probably go down in 5 games.
