// 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 — With Shane Battier draining nine 3-pointers through two games, it seems like an odd time to bring it up. But it is worth discussing: Zone defense. As the NBA Finals shift to Miami, I can’t help but remember last season: The Dallas Mavericks utilized all their parts and all of their schemes in an attempt to slow down the fast and powerful offense of the Miami Heat. If even for a string of possessions at a time, the Mavs made
While four teams are still left to battle for a championship, the rest of the league looks to shore up for next season with coaches, executives and free agents. Here’s what’s going on around the league today. A couple of things stood out in the Thunder’s victory over the Spurs in Game 3: a change in defensive scheme with Thabo Sefolosha handling Tony Parker, and a bigger emphasis on sharing the ball. An excerpt from J.A. Adande of ESPN: They found an
The Oklahoma City Thunder were facing a postseason ultimatum: Figure out a way to slow down the red-hot San Antonio Spurs, or meekly bow out of the Western Conference finals for the second straight year, well short of the stated, realistic goal of winning a championship. Through the first two games in San Antonio, Oklahoma City had very few answers, surrendering more than 110 points per game while losing twice. A 3-0 deficit to a team that had not lost in
Two years ago, the Oklahoma City Thunder were the upstarts who gave the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers a serious run for their money in a first-round series that lasted six tough games. The Lakers emerged primarily on the strength of their veteran core and extensive postseason experience, while the Thunder went through growing pains that all young teams have. This time, the Thunder – two years wiser and perhaps still not at their ceiling – are the favorites, while
The trade deadline had passed at 3PM EST on Thursday afternoon. Everything seemed settled and players could finally take a deep breath and play basketball again. Not so fast. Moments after the official deadline had passed, word arrived out of Denver that they had traded away long-tenured Nene Hilario in a three-team deal, receiving JaVale McGee, Ronny Turiaf and a future second-round pick in the process. The loss of Nene turned out to be too much for George Karl and the Denver Nuggets
Update: ESPN released an apology. Last night, ESPN.com’s mobile web site posted an offensive headline referencing Jeremy Lin at 2:30 am ET. The headline was removed at 3:05 am ET. We are conducting a complete review of our cross-platform editorial procedures and are determining appropriate disciplinary action to ensure this does not happen again. We regret and apologize for this mistake. The Big Lead Oklahoma City Thunder guard Thabo Sefolosha is expected to be sidelined for at least another month with a foot
