SOUTH BEACH — “Harden at the end of game three – a bad foul,” said Jeff Van Gundy, former Knicks head coach and current ABC analyst. “Two bad fouls in the third quarter of Game 3. The game is turning based on these small things that turn out to be huge in their amount of consequence going into winning and losing. “These last three games have been so close.” You can say that again, Jeff. To give you an idea of just how
// MIAMI — Did the basketball gods just play a cruel joke on us? Tuesday night’s Game 4 of the NBA Finals has come and gone, and although the game was competitive and entertaining, I feel cheated. I wanted LeBron James and Russell Westbrook to go at each other over the final two minutes of the game, continuing their epic showdown. Instead, neither walked proudly off the court as the game ended. In the game’s final minute, the Miami Heat should have needed James—the
// MIAMI — You realize the Thunder had us spoiled, right? All playoffs long, they’ve been a comeback team. In Game 1 and Game 2, they were a comeback team. For nearly 2 months, they’ve looked wise beyond their years. After the Oklahoma City Thunder lost Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night, I wrote that squandering an opportunity to take a 2-1 lead after holding the Heat to 37.8 percent shooting and forcing nine fourth-quarter turnovers was a sign
// MIAMI — The old cliché says that you’ve gotta have your heart broken before you can become a champion, and after their 91-85 loss to the Miami Heat in Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Sunday, the Oklahoma City Thunder may have just proven that they’re no exception to the rule. LeBron James’ Heat are attempting to do what Kobe Bryant’s Lakers did back in 2009—win the NBA Finals the very next year after losing them. Kevin Durant’s Thunder just
When we decided to flush out the five best NBA Finals games of the David Stern Era, we didn’t think we would have so much trouble with Game 3. Since Stern became commissioner in 1984, no Finals game number has had more duds than Game 3. While other games had seven and eight candidates for our top five list, we had issues coming up with five truly great Game 3 showdowns. Three of the games making our list took place in the
MIAMI — The NBA Finals remain in their infancy, relatively speaking, but here are five things we know for sure, right now, at this moment, after the participants practiced and spoke to the media Saturday on the eve of Game 3 of the best-of-seven series.
James Harden and his never-say-die mentality is a primary reason the Thunder are so relentless.
// OKLAHOMA CITY — “No question that’s a foul.” Those were ABC broadcaster Jeff Van Gundy’s final words on Thursday night’s broadcast, and the foul/non-foul will be shown over and over and over again until this series resumes Sunday night in Miami. The play in question was a seven-foot baseline jumper that Durant attempted after his arms got locked with James’ arms, a good half-second before Durant faded away and got off a clean release that bounced harmlessly off the rim. It
