The NBA Finals 2012 will continue with Game 3 tonight, Sunday, June 17, as Miami and Oklahoma City battle it on to secure another win and place themselves closer to the championship.
The game will begin at 8:00 p.m. EST and is promising to be another 2 hour, 40 minute thriller like its antecedent.
Although the Heat will play at home and may perceivably have the momentum to propel them past the Thunder (since they won last game), don't expect these to make much of a difference.
The Heat are not quite close to finally figuring things out against Durant, Westbrook and the Thunder, and the shortcomings they've revealed throughout Games 1 and 2 actually require as much urgent attention as developing some system to ward off OKC's star players.
However, given the time left, it is a bit too late to fix and change things around for a Miami that has forged a playing identity that has difficultly brought them to this point. The Heat play aggressively, they hustle, they leave everything on the court and obtain double-digit advantages. But even after playing with such intensity, the Thunder still manages to grind its way back and tie the Heat. At least that is what they did in Games 1 and 2.
Miami showed two things in the first two games. The first is early aggressive runs and charges--proven to be effective--, and the second is an effective Battier--Heat player who knocked down key threes when Miami most needed them.
The Thunder, however have deciphered how to ward-off these early aggressive runs/charges and they thus leave Miami with one only option to make an ultimate difference in the following games should everything remain the same: Shane Battier.
If Miami leans on Shane Battier to snatch wins in the following games, they'll be betting on risky three-point shots to win. Miami averaged 42.9 percent from the 3pt range in Game 2 which is better than Oklahoma's 34.6 percent, but winning games on 3 point shots is not only more improbable, but harder since it depends more on luck.
Miami on the other hand, has the difficult task of leveling a Thunder play that has depth and maturity, something they haven't been able to do successfully so far. Also, they haven't been able to contain a key piece for the Thunder who scored 36 in Game 1 and 32 in Game 2: Kevin Durant. The Thunder's game has less 'holes' than Miami's and certainly depends lesser on luck.
All in all, the above analysis is based on the assumption that Game 3 will be played out the same way Game 1 and Game 2 were carried out.
And giving some weight on why the Latinos Post believes Game 3 will be played similarly, it presents a handful NBA experts who have shared their predictions on NBA.Com:
If anything changes in Game 3, an NBA.com writer says it'll be the "swimwear", since, how Fran Blinebury puts it, "You can go topless on South Beach."
In an article entitled "What do you expect to be different in Miami? Anything? Everything?" the NBA experts weigh in their opinions before a potentially series-changing Game 3.
Steve Aschburner believes that OKC will start the 1Q better than their slow performances in Game 1 and 2 while Miami's Miller and Haslem should be of better help as they step up their game, in Miami.
Fran Blinebury believes that very little should change despite the change in venue. He comments that it is possible for the Thunder to win two in Miami.
For Scott Howard-Cooper the change in location should change "nothing". Howard-Cooper predicts that the series will ultimately be determined in 7 games and that Game 3 "should be a continuation of the last two."
"There's no home-court advantage in this series," says Shaun Powell referring to that fact that both teams have shown enough strength to conquer great teams in road games. Powell believes that the game should go down to the last three to four possessions which is the same way John Schumman, another NBA expert sees it.
Schumman believes that Game 3 will resemble games 1 and 2 in that it'll be determined in the final minutes but predicts the series from here on to get more physical and "ugly".
These NBA experts still maintain their predictions that the Thunder will pull off the series in the end.
In an earlier blog post, these commentators predicted the Thunder to win in either 6 or 7 games against John Schumann who opposed with the Heat winning in 6.
Latinos Post Prediction: Thunder in 5.
2012 NBA Finals Series TV Schedule:
Game 1 - Miami vs. Oklahoma City - Tuesday, June 12, 9:00 PM ET, ABC
Game 2 - Miami vs. Oklahoma City - Thursday, June 14, 9:00 PM ET, ABC
Game 3 - Oklahoma City vs. Miami - Sunday, June 17, 8:00 PM ET, ABC
Game 4 - Oklahoma City vs. Miami - Tuesday, June 19, 9:00 PM ET, ABC
*Game 5 - Oklahoma City vs. Miami - Thursday, June 21, 9:00 PM ET, ABC
*Game 6 - Miami vs. Oklahoma City - Sunday, June 24, 8:00 PM ET, ABC
*Game 7 - Miami vs. Oklahoma City - Tuesday, June 26, 9:00 PM ET, ABC
*if necessary
All games on ABC and ESPNRadio.
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