NBA Finals 2012: Heat vs Thunder, tv channel schedule, Game 2 start time, LeBron James takes control?

Miami Heat vs Oklahoma City will take into a higher ground as the NBA Finals Game 2 will be played. LeBron James and the entire Miami Heat will avert a 0-2 deficit as they face the Thunder Thursday Night. Suffice to say that Heat will have difficulties in winning the series without winning this game.

What transpired in Game One as the total dominance of Kevin Durant in the fourth quarter who took over the game while the Heat were tentative to display their aggressiveness when they tried to answer it in individual plays. Durant pulled off a magnificen performance but most of his points came in in the second half especially in the fourth quarter that derailed the defense of the Heat. The impact of Durant in Game 2 will highly be anticipated while the Heat defense will have to devise a gameplan to dismantle him in the fourth. Because of his scoring ability, Miami might be forced to put LeBron James on him and not Shane Battier. Thus, it will provide the audience the matchup that they want to see as Lebron will be defending him.

Russel Westbrook will be the other player that will be exploding in this game. He can take the ball into the basket and he can also take jump shots. Westbrook third quarter insertion of effort paved the way for the Thunder to capture the lead in the first game. What he does in the court continually bothers the defense of the Heat.In short, nobody can guard Westbrook when he has the ball because of his quickness and talent to either shoot or pass. If Durant is the main man, Westbrook is other hinge that will surely manifest for the victory of the Thunder.

Of course the two players have big game but in looking at what happened, the Thunder have the supporting casts who helped the team rally from a 13-point deficit. Serge Ibaka played magnificently in taking jump shots to nullify the advantage of Heat. What he did was to spread the defense of Heat enabling Westbrook to operate. Furthermore, the surprise player fo the Thunder is Nick Collison who had eight points and a whooping 10 rebounds outplaying Chris Bosh. Derek Fisher will be again playing with such determination for his team to win this NBA Finals. Fisher is known to have five championship rings for the Lakers and he is experienced enough to play in the championship games.

Another player that the Thunder will be relying on will be Thabo Sefolosha who can contribute at the point because of his athleticism. Sefolosha also guarded James in the fourth quarter that at times he rattled James. He can also take the jump shots and glide into the baskets. With his leaping ability, he can outplay Mario Chalmers at all areas of the game.

Oklahoma City Thunder Game 2 surprise package will probably be James Harden who hasn’t played well as he scored only five points, far from his average of 17. What the Thunder’s desire is to have a 2-0 edge over the Heat before traveling to Miami. With the 1-2 punch of Durant and Westbrook, the Thunder will aim at a deeper level of aggression offensively. Thus, the impact of the Harden also will be felt in the NBA Finals 2012 Game 2.

What are the problems of Miami Heat? Game One is forgettable as the Heat was totally out of focus in the fourth quarter. Dwayne Wade is not the player that he used to be with a 7-of-19 fieldgoal. In order for the Heat to win this game, Wade must be able to take control of the last quarter like the way he did in the 2006 Finals against the Mavs. Wade was outplayed because he lacks the aggressiveness taking too many jumpshots. What Wade has to do is to drive into the basket and take some fouls so that he can take free throws.

LeBron James played his best NBA Finals game so far with 30 points but still he has to make those easy shots in the fourth quarter. He tried to take the game into his own but he forgot that he has his teammates waiting for him to pass. James must have a 40 point game so that the Heat will win. Yes, James will have to take command of the game like the way he did it against the Boston Celtics.

For coach Erik Spoelstra, he has a lot of things to do to secure Game 2. He will try to start Bosh so that he will have the feel of this game and that he will be sharp in the rest of the game. Bosh didn’t play enough courage that he couldn’t score with consistency. If given the chance to start, Bosh will be a dominant force in the middle. Also, Spoelstra will have to design more plays for Bosh so that the defense of the Thunder will not be only on Wade and James.

NBA Finals 2012 of Heat vs Thunder star time is at 9:00 PM ET. NBA Finals 2012 Thunder vs Heat tv channel schedule is on ABC while the radio station coverage is on ESPN radio. NBA Finals 2012 Heat vs Thunder score and Results will be available here.

Final Score Update:

Heat 100
Thunder 96