The Thunder's offensive execution finally reached its potential, straying away from the isolation offense that it's been relying on all season. Westbrook and Durant average a combined 51.9 ppg, but are both top 5 in the league in unassisted field goals. 53% of Durant's field goals are unassisted and a jaw-dropping 77.9% of Westbrook's field goals come without the aid of his teammates. James Harden also thrives on creating his own shots (50.2%). Yesterday, however, with Westbrook fizzling against the Heat's stellar perimeter defense (13 points on 25% FG shooting), Durant took on the role of both scorer and distributor, in true MVP-fashion. Durant's distributive explosion made every player on the Thunder a threat, deeply contrasting the style of play that has worked surprisingly well for the Thunder all season. He played a Lebron-style game, and most importantly gave the Thunder's bigs the ability to score. Serge Ibaka (averaging 9.0 ppg) scored 19 points on 8 field goals, 6 of them assisted. An even larger surprise was the offensive play of Kendrick Perkins (averaging 4.8 ppg), who put up 16 points on 8 field goals, every single one of which was assisted. The Thunder eclipsed their team apg average by 7.4. It was almost magical how the Thunder were able to seamlessly shift their offensive strategy in the face of the most formidable perimeter defense in the NBA, bringing back nightmares of the Mavericks' team offense that devastated the Miami Heat in the 2011 Finals.
In terms of the MVP discussion, the last few weeks (inclusive of this game) have vaulted Durant into the clear #1 spot. Yes, while Lebron does have a PER of 31.02 (a "runaway MVP candidate" according to John Hollinger's Player Efficiency Rating reference guide), his play has been on a decline as Wade has assumed some of the heavy-lifting for Miami in recent games. Meanwhile, Kevin Durant is having the best season of his career and has his team on track for 50 wins in this 66 game season. The legitimate improvements he's made in the non-scoring aspects of his game warrant the MVP as a reward, as his distribution and rebounding (especially) have been absolutely instrumental in the completeness of the Thunder as a team this season. Even though Westbrook is putting up an insane average of 24.0 ppg, Durant is the undisputed leader, undisputed clutch scorer, and undisputed most valuable player of the Thunder. Meanwhile, Lebron is shying away from the limelight as Dwyane Wade, who is averaging 24, 6, and 5 in the month of March and is the Heat's man in the clutch, regains his old form.
Although I believe that Durant deserves the MVP over James this season, I don't believe that the Thunder can defeat the Heat in a 7-game series. If these teams are to meet in the 2012 NBA Finals, I don't expect the Thunder to sustain a distributive offense as the Heat makes its defensive adjustments. It'll only be a matter of time before the Thunder reverts back to its isolation offense, which historically does not do so hot in the playoffs (last section: "Playoff problems?"). Russell Westbrook, hassled by a pesky Wade, will once again idly dribble at the perimeter, and subsequently make either an unproductive pass or a careless turnover resulting from an ill-advised drive towards the basket. And Durant has a career average of 2.7 apg. He cannot and will not get 8 assists in every game of a series against the Heat like he did tonight. When the Thunder return to what feels natural to them (isolation plays and guarded jump shots) the Heat defense will carve them up. Maybe a Heat-Thunder finals will extend to 6 games, but don't expect the Thunder to perform like they did tonight 4 times against a highly experienced Heat team led by the vindictive duo of James and Wade.
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