Oklahoma City Thunder Take Game 1 In The Coronation of Lebron James, Finals ... - Guardian Express

              The NBA Finals Will Crown Lebron James King But Miami Will Still Lose 

      By Tadashi

I’m man enough to admit to have made two small miscalculations when I predicted Boston would win the ultimate game seven of the NBA Eastern Conference Championship in Miami Saturday night. I admit that I had forgotten that Shane Battier was trained to have “ice water” in his veins by none other than coach K of Duke.  Early in the first quarter Battier set the tone for the game by drilling two successive shots from beyond the three point arc.  Swish.  You could see in the eyes of the Boston players, as if to say, “Our game plan is working perfectly:  We’ve contained LeBron and Dwayne (more or less); we accounted for Bosh…then we get two successive three-point daggers from Battier.  This could be a long night.”   But the biggest miscalculation (with a little tongue-in-cheek) was the hug that Dwayne Wade got from his tiny mom just before the start of the game.  Then Wade went out and played a spectacular game especially after Shane Battier showed the way, by example.

So, I now go “out-on-the-limb” and for the first game of the NBA finals in Oklahoma City Tuesday, I predict that Prince Kevin Durant and his merry men will win game 1 by three points.  Here are the top 10 reasons Oklahoma will prevail:

#10.  The Miami Heat will have two cities rooting against them: both Oklahoma City and, yes, Seattle… even though it broke Seattle’s heart when the Seattle SuperSonics moved to Oklahoma City.

#9.  King James can’t have three games in a row in which he scores 30+ points and virtually plays the entire game.  (Or can he?)

# 8.  Someone check the stats. Chris Bosh, I don’t believe, has ever hit so many three point baskets from both the left and right side with baseline jumpers from beyond the arc.   (Bosh is usually effective out to 17 feet or so, but not beyond.)

# 7.  Shane Battier is steady and well coached but he’ll feel like he’s playing back in college against Rick Pitino in Louisville and should hit no more than two three-pointers in Oklahoma City.

# 6. Kevin Durant’s mom can give a pregame hug to her son as good as any other NBA mom… so Kevin will play inspired.

# 5.  James Harden, with his Abe Lincoln beard and powerful upper body, will be difficult for Battier to defend

# 4 Russell Westbrook has broken in a new pair of Air Jordan’s so he won’t catch an edge when he drives to his right as he did, spectacularly, against the Spurs in the Thunder’s close-out win in their Game Six.

# 3.  Kevin Durant will have his usual spectacular all-around game.  He may win the game with an effortless three-pointer, if necessary, or win with an off balance layup if only two points are needed.

#2.  Oklahoma has a long state tradition of “getting off the line early” (that’s where the name “Sooners” comes from) and I predict the Thunder will live up to that tradition on Tuesday.

But the number one reason the Oklahoma Thunder will beat the Miami Heat in the first game of the 2012 NBA finals is…

# 1.  Oklahoma City is the only state in the Union which has an oil well on the grounds of its state capital. Where there is oil there is Wall Street and I’ll put my money on Wall Street winning every time!