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| It's time for Kevin Durant to give us a performance to remember. |
It was a cold, cold atmosphere within the Thunder locker room on Tuesday night. How could it not be? They wasted away an impressive 17-point lead in the first quarter in a matter of seconds. Russell Westbrook carried the entire population of Oklahoma City on his back, putting forth an electrifying, "How is he doing that?" performance. But it too was wasted. They watched Mario Chalmers score nine clutch points in the fourth quarter, Mario Chalmers. That has to be more demoralizing than watching an 90-year-old back right into to your car; you want to go Bobby Knight on them, but you can't, so you sit and watch and probably vomit. Simply put, Tuesday night was gut-wrenching for the Thunder and it puts them into a back-to-the-wall situation that no NBA team has ever come back from, not even in 30 tries.
The one shining light for Oklahoma City is the Western Conference Finals. Their 2-0 deficit to the Spurs was thought to be insurmountable, and rightfully so, the Spurs had yet to lose so far in the playoffs. But the Thunder shed the weight of that "insurmountable" deficit as fast as Westbrook attacks the basket. This Oklahoma City team is so young and so talented that I don't believe they even think about the odds or the pressure or anything of that mental stuff. What is different from the Spurs and the Heat? Absolutely nothing. The Heat haven't slaughtered OKC in any facet of the game. Each game has finished close, except for OKC's Game 1 victory, and each game could have gone either way. So with one Durant three going in instead of rimming out or one Lebron James turnover, we could be talking about a 2-2 or a 3-1 series in favor of the Thunder. That bodes well for Oklahoma City who all of the sudden has gone from clear-cut favorite to clear-cut underdog, but I'll put that sentiment on the dramatic game-to-game swings that America undergoes with every result.
A big question for Game 5 is who is the pressure on? The obvious pick is Oklahoma City, they're down 3-1 on the road with a three game losing streak. They've got to have a big performance, right? Well you could also make the case that the pressure is on Lebron James, who we all can finally agree on is the main cog in the Miami engine. Lebron has never been on the right side of a close-out game in the Finals. The pressure will obviously be immense for him to win, but how will he handle it? Will he just eat it up like he has in a majority of this year's playoff games? Or will he force it, with the thought that he himself has to win this game. Actually, he doesn't have to win this game. Wade could go out there and score 45 and put his stamp on the series and Lebron would STILL win Finals MVP. It just a matter of Lebron exercising his demons, and that is far easier said than done. That's especially true in Lebron's case, since we all know how hard this guy makes it on himself.
Hopefully for the Thunder, and everyone who wants this series to go seven, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden can come together and put forth an effort we'll all remember. More specifically I think it's time for Durant to put together that 40+ point efficient performance we've all be clamoring for. I was the first person to say we were seeing Durant mature before our eyes, yet he has taken a step in the wrong direction in this series, looking overwhelmed and over matched at times. If OKC wants to pull off this miracle it starts and ends with Kevin Durant, not Russell Westbrook's electrifying play or Harden's energy off the bench.
I have my doubts about the Heat actually "going for the jugular," but I think this team, and most notably Lebron, are ready to take the next step. But Don't count the Thunder out completely just yet.
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