NBA Finals 2012: Oklahoma City Thunder Battle Miami Heat
It’s been 46 days, and 79 games have been played, since the National Basketball Association 2011-12 playoff season began back on April 28, 2012. Now it comes down to a best of seven series between the Miami Heat and the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder have rolled through the playoffs with just three loses, while the Heat have faced a rocky road. Today we take at look at how both teams made it through the long playoff grind to get a shot at the Larry O’Brien Trophy as NBA Champions. It all gets going tonight in Oklahoma City!
Miami Heat: King James & His Court Rule The East
After the top seeded Chicago Bulls lost NBA MVP Derrick Rose in Game One of the quarterfinals, the Miami Heat seemed to have a golden road to the NBA Finals. There were however more than a few potholes along the way. The road got a little rocky after the Heat knocked out the New York Knicks with a 4-1 quarterfinal series win. The lone loss was a minor bump in the road compared to what they faced in the next two series.
It was then Miami’s turn to take an injury hit as power forward Chris Bosh went down with an abdominal injury in Game One of the semifinal series against Indiana. The pesky Pacers went up 2-1 after three games but the Heat stormed back with three straight victories for a 4-2 series win. Next up it was bitter rival the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Final that was won 4-3 by the Heat – after they trailed 3-2 in the series.
Oklahoma City Thunder: Rolled Through The Western Conference
For the first time since they moved from Seattle to Oklahoma City for the 2008-09 NBA season, the Thunder have made it to the NBA Finals. They’ve come a long way since they went 23-59 during that first year in OKC as they finished 47-19 this season. The playoffs have been the same winning ride as the Thunder rolled the defending NBA Champion Dallas Mavericks 4-0 and the Los Angeles Lakers 4-1 in the first two rounds.
Oklahoma City showed a ton of heart and tenacity as they went down 2-0 and were beaten up by the San Antonio Spurs in the first two games of the Western Conference Final. The Spurs were the No. 1 seed and looked the part until the start of Game Three. After that, it was four game sweet by the Thunder as they won by a combined 426-387 score to capture the Western Conference Championship with a 4-2 series win.
NBA Championship Call: Thunder in Seven Games – Kevin Durant Playoff MVP
