Oklahoma City faces elimination, down 3-1 - New York News | NYC Breaking News

Sports Commentary

What is the best word to describe last night's performance by the Oklahoma City Thunder? Unbelievable. Unbelievable because Russell Westbrook scored 43 points while his team did nothing to help. Kevin Durant, on paper, had a good game, but on the court it was a different story. James Harden is not the same player we saw in the Western Conference Finals and it was apparent when he hesitated on an open shot in the final minutes of the game. To put the icing on the cake, LeBron James was playing hurt in the final minutes and the Thunder could not play defense on him and could not capitalize. What happened to the Thunder? They did not perform as a team. Because of this, The Miami Heat are one game away from being the 2012 NBA Finals champions.

It looked like Oklahoma City learned from its mistakes in Game 3 early in the first quarter of Game 4. At the closing of the first quarter, OKC led by 14 points. 2nd quarter arrived and with it came the same Oklahoma City team that lost Game 3. Mistakes and poor defense let Miami get right back in the game. Give credit where credit is due because Norris Cole and Mario Chalmers were the key players in Miami's win. Yes, people will be talking about LeBron fighting through a cramp and hitting a key 3 pointer late in the game, however these young players were fabulous. Norris Cole came off the bench and sparked the early 13-0 run Miami had in the second quarter. Mario Chalmers arguably had the best game of his young career. Feeding off Cole's performance, Chalmers lit up the court making 9 of his 15 field goal attempts and finishing with 25 points. Forget "The Cramp Game" because Magic Johnson said it best. Game 4 was the Mario Chalmers Game. These two youngsters step up when the call for help was made and were influential to Miami's victory. Why did Miami win this game? Because they played like a team. When they were down, they fought back as a unit. It wasn't a LeBron game or a Big Three performance, it was a Miami Heat team performance and when you play like a team, good things happen. The Heat played as a team and are now one game away from an NBA Finals championship.

Oklahoma City. Where do we even begin? Please excuse me if I pontificate, but it is upsetting when one player is carrying his team on his back because everyone else does not seem to have confidence in their abilities or fight for a win. In Game 4 of the NBA Finals, Russell Westbrook made 20 field goals. The rest of the Oklahoma City Thunder team made 20 field goals.

What? Are you serious?

This statistic is very bothersome and quite frankly startling. Russell Westbrook did not hog the ball. Russell Westbrook kept Oklahoma City in the game and allowed his team to fight till the last second. Without Russell Westbrook, the Heat would have mopped the floor of the American Airlines Arena with the Thunder. If you want to degrade Russell Westbrook for being the kind of point guard he is, then do the same thing to Derrick Rose because Rose plays the same way. This team last night looked lethargic compared to previous performances and Westbrook saw it and did all he could to try and rally the troops. He was driving in hard, taking hits from Miami players, keeping his composure all the way through. He was a class act last night and displayed how much of a leader he can be. Sadly, the rest of the Thunder just did not follow suit.

If you look at the stats, you would say Kevin Durant had a great game. No. He did not crash the boards and fight for rebounds and did not perform in the fourth quarter as he usually does. Kevin Durant only had 6 points in the fourth quarter and to be quite honest, it didn't seem like he wanted the ball at all. You are the face of Oklahoma City right now and you don't show up for the fourth quarter? The scoring champion, the man who has the potential to better than LeBron James and before this series started, was looked at as the x-factor for Oklahoma City to win the NBA Finals. Where was that man? Durant salvages himself slightly because he did score 28 points, but his team needed him in the fourth quarter when it mattered most.

James Harden. Another man that could not be found in the fourth quarter, matter fact the entire game. Harden played for 37 minutes and only scored 8 points. Norris Cole played for 8 minutes and scored 8 points. Unbelievable. Harden looked very unsure in his ability and his performance captured his team's emotion fittingly. The play that sticks out the most is with about two minutes to go, Harden gets the ball and has no idea whether to shot or pass and stands there looking very nervous. He shoots atrociously and it didn't matter what the Thunder could do after that. Oklahoma City's fate was sealed with that play. Harden captured how the Thunder played the entire game. Hesitant and complacent.

Serge Ibaka should have been more focused on play than taking shots at LeBron because he did nothing to help the Thunder. A premier defender showed nothing to back up that claim. He only scored 4 points. Sefolosha, who had a breakout performance in the Western Conference Finals, cannot be found either. LeBron James is hurt and instead of making him attempt a drive, Sefolosha waits for him to shoot the ball.

It is remarkable how Russell Westbrook has the game of his life and his teammates could not feed off of his sensational play. Westbrook did commit a mistake that did cost the game, but come on, who else knew that the shot clock resets to five seconds on a jump ball? In that jump ball, it did not seem the Thunder wanted the ball either. The Thunder, remarkably, look like the Miami Heat team of last year in the NBA Finals. A championship for the Miami Heat is within the distance, just one more win and LeBron finally has a ring. What more motivation do the Thunder need to do what no other team has done and come back from a 3-1 deficit? History. Spoiling LeBron's run. Solidifying yourselves as the team everyone has hyped you up to be. Quiet all the Miami bandwagons and marks. What more motivation do you need?

Remarkable. Unbelievable. Mind-boggling. What word do you think is an appropriate word for Oklahoma City's performance in Game 4? Oklahoma City better bring everything including the kitchen sink on Thursday because if they don't, Miami will devour them very quickly and take the championship in Game 5.