The NBA Finals series is not tied as the Miami Heat were able to even things up with the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 2. How are the odds makers lining things up for Game 3, and what are our initial thoughts for our NBA picks?
The
Oklahoma City Thunder lost their first home game of the playoffs last night, as
they played almost as bad as it gets in route to the Heat’s 100-96 victory. At
one point the Thunder were down 18-2 in the 1st quarter, and they were
getting almost no production from their stars.
James
Harden did have a great game, and Kevin Durant had a good 2nd half,
but Durant and Russell Westbrook sat a lot in the 1st half due to
foul trouble and the Heat basically won the game in the 1st half.
Although
they got a lot of good production, it was not all roses for the Heat, as they
almost blew the game to the Thunder like they did in Game 1. Oklahoma City cut
a huge defecit down to only two points at one point late in the 4th
quarter, but a blatant no call at the end of the game sealed the deal for the
Heat.
Game 3
is Sunday, and already the Thunder are underdogs, but the number has
shrunk. +4 ½ was the opening line for
OKC, but some NBA odds boards have decreased the line to as much as +3 ½.
I’m sticking
with my guns on this series, and right now I’m leaning to take points with OKC.
There is no way they come out of the gate as bad as they have in Games 1 and 2,
and I think now that their backs are against the wall, they will hit Miami in
the mouth to start Game 3.
I don’t
think Miami has what it takes to get back up from a couple of hard shots, and
as we’ve seen in these first two games, they definitely choke and falter down
the stretch in the 4th quarter, where the Thunder shine. Keep a look
out for my official picks, but right now I’m leaning with the Thunder in Game
3.