NBA Teams With a 3-1 Lead in the Finals: 30-0. So the Thunder Can’t Lose Game 4
Scary stat for Thunder fans – NBA teams that grab a 3-1 lead in the Finals are 30-0. The Heat put on a foul-shooting clinic Sunday night in Miami, and turnover-prone Oklahoma City wasted a 10-point third quarter lead and lost, 91-85. Miami leads the series 2-1.
After an impressive Game 1 finish by the Thunder at home, they’ve dropped two in a row. In Game 2, LeBron was clutch in the final 90 seconds, and the Heat benefited from a no-call against LeBron (I thought it was a foul) when Kevin Durant could have tied the game in the final 15 seconds.
Game 3 saw the Thunder pull away in the 3rd quarter and take a 7-point lead. Then two things happened that flipped the game:
1) Kevin Durant picked up his 4th foul. It was a bad anticipation whistle by the ref. If you watch the video, it’s pretty clear there was no foul here. But when Durant bit on the Wade pump fake, it looked like there would be contact. Here’s video of his first four fouls. The first one is petty, 15 feet away from the hoop. The 2nd one is stupid – on a LeBron and-1 with :50 left in the half. The third one was a legit foul, hugging LeBron. The 4th one is criminal.
2) Just 1:40 after Durant left, OKC coach Scott Brooks did something curious – he pulled Russell Westbrook. Perhaps he feared Westbrook would try to go into hero mode with Durant on the bench. For a minute, it didn’t matter – Derek Fisher converted a 4-point play and OKC led, 64-54. But with James Harden struggling (he shot 2-for-10), the Thunder had zero offense and the Heat peeled off a 15-3 run to end the quarter. Eight of those points came on free throws (OKC fouled Jones and Battier on 3-pointers; they made all six), and LeBron’s 3-pointer capped the run. In case you’re curious: Wade 44 minutes, LeBron 43 minutes, Westbrook … 38 minutes. (Sidenote: Anyone know why Serge Ibaka didn’t play at all in the 4th? He only played 22 minutes; Derek Fisher was on the court for 28 minutes.)
OKC didn’t get back in the game until the final two minutes, when Thabo Sefolosha picked D Wade’s pocket in perhaps the greatest thievery of the NBA postseason:
But the Heat made their free throws (31-of-35) and the Thunder didn’t (15-of-24), which is why Miami can get away with shooting 37 percent and turn the ball over nine times in the 4th quarter and still win.
So Game 4 will be the series. I hate how the referees are becoming a story, but Kevin Durant’s foul trouble was pivotal in Games 2 and 3.

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31 Responses to “NBA Teams With a 3-1 Lead in the Finals: 30-0. So the Thunder Can’t Lose Game 4”
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June 18th, 2012 at 11:04 AM
Fisher was awful in that stretch in the third quarter. Missed threes and fouled Jones on the 3 pointer. I thought the whole reason he was on the team was that he wouldn’t make those kind of mistakes.
June 18th, 2012 at 11:04 AM
TBL, thought the same thing about Ibaka? Shouldnt he be killing the Heat this series? Brooks with some head scratching decisions for sure…
June 18th, 2012 at 11:05 AM
Totally agree with you here, Jason. Make your foul shots, OKC. Don’t think there’s a losing team in the history of the playoffs that’s been satisfied with the officiating so that complaint falls on deaf ears for me.
Derek Fisher should probably limit the amount of three point shots he’s attempting too. Kendrick Perkins, this is for you.
June 18th, 2012 at 11:06 AM
the refs are ALWAYS part of an NBA series. the bigger the name, the more attempts at the stripe. nothing new.
June 18th, 2012 at 11:06 AM
OT, but: Fuck yeah Jeff Luhnow!
June 18th, 2012 at 11:06 AM
I knew they were losing after this sequence. Criminally stupid.
June 18th, 2012 at 11:07 AM
He gets way too much playing time for a washed up vet. Brooks still thinks he’s in his prime.
June 18th, 2012 at 11:12 AM
Turning point of the game. MIA couldnt buy a bucket in the 3rd up to that point.
June 18th, 2012 at 11:15 AM
Refs are going to make mistakes….Which is why you can’t put yourself in that position by committing dumbass fouls early on.
June 18th, 2012 at 11:21 AM
Mike Miller. Special player.
June 18th, 2012 at 11:24 AM
I feel like someone in OKC should call up Kobe and offer him like $2 million just to sit behind the Thunder bench and glare at Fisher every time he takes a bad shot.
June 18th, 2012 at 11:25 AM
I’m sad that I won’t be getting my noon soccer fix anymore.
June 18th, 2012 at 11:26 AM
The players may or may not pan out, but the Astros did a tremendous job with this draft. Hope they dump Wandy and plummet to Cub-like levels and get another top choice next year.
June 18th, 2012 at 11:29 AM
The players may or may not pan out, but the Astros did a tremendous job with this draft. Hope they dump Wandy and plummet to Cub-like levels and get another top choice next year.
They’ve already signed over half of their picks. This is such a refreshing change from the McLane years. I was fixated on McCullers though. He could turn out to be an absolute steal of a pick.
June 18th, 2012 at 11:30 AM
LeBron’s playing very smart. He’s eliminated the jump shot from the equation, something Cleveland fans hoped for years he would do. He’s going inside, and the Thunder have no idea what a hard foul is.
June 18th, 2012 at 11:31 AM
Wade has got to stop shooting any outside shots at all. 0-5 last night from outside of 15′ (0-9 on shots outside of 3′). At least he actually attacked the hoop a little (8-13 at the rim).
June 18th, 2012 at 11:34 AM
Fisher had a 4 point play in that stretch that put OKC up by 10 with Durant and Westbrook on the bench. He also hit another 3 that Breen mistook for a 2. He was ok out there. I don’t know what Brooks was thinking taking Westbrook out of the game with Durant already out. That was galactically stupid.
June 18th, 2012 at 11:34 AM
This is how I feel about Derek Fisher. Big game on Tuesday.
June 18th, 2012 at 11:34 AM
He’s also done an incredible job defensively….So good at funneling his man to the help.
June 18th, 2012 at 11:36 AM
He’s been good in hectic situations, but Durant has gotten by him at will when he feels like driving. Unfortunately he played with foul trouble and didn’t want to risk the charges
June 18th, 2012 at 11:37 AM
His only defense is if he thought, with a big lead, try to get him a break at the end of the 3rd, knowing that he’d have to go the entire 4th. I guess he could have got him a break to start the 4th, but if Durant committed a foul early on, he’s on the bench and Brooks is in the same situation.
June 18th, 2012 at 11:40 AM
I’m not seeing much of that. LeBron is usually positioned so Durant has to drive right at the help. In those situations, of course it seems like Durant is blowing by him, but no harm if it is right into help. I’m sure they’d rather have Durant drive into help than have LeBron give a step and cede the pull-up or possibility to drive where there isn’t help.
June 18th, 2012 at 11:43 AM
He’s going inside, and the Thunder have no idea what a hard foul is.
i have never understood why people dont just knock the shit out of lebron. He is going to get the foul anyways, so make him feel it.
The celtics knocked him around a few times, and he goes into a shell after.
June 18th, 2012 at 11:48 AM
If Brooks does wind up in that situation, it would have occured after Westbrook had the opportunity to extend the lead in the last 5 minutes of the 3rd quarter. Plus at 23, I don’t think about Westbrook being tired at that point.
June 18th, 2012 at 12:02 PM
didn’t Indiana and Boston attempt this approach?
June 18th, 2012 at 12:03 PM
Agree on the Westbrook decision, but don’t agree on Ibaka. Ibaka has been pretty useless this entire series. He blocked some shots in Game 2, but has defended poorly in general, and has also been out-hustled on the glass.
June 18th, 2012 at 12:28 PM
what a great series this has been….Lebron is a beast
June 18th, 2012 at 12:35 PM
Sometimes have to let a guy get his instead of being aggressive every time and getting in foul trouble. Got to pick your spots, someone should tell Durant that.
Great series, teams pretty even but Thunder are 1 great quarter from being down 3-0.
June 18th, 2012 at 12:58 PM
He’s 6’9″ and 275 pounds. Hard to “just knock the shit out of lebron” when he’s one of the biggest, strongest dudes in the game.
I would like to see some proof that Lebron went into a shell after the Celtics gave him hard fouls.
June 18th, 2012 at 12:59 PM
Also a foul call from having game 2 go into OT at home. Goes both ways.
June 18th, 2012 at 1:23 PM
Agreed. He should be getting destroyed on certain occasions. Who cares what it creates, you’re playing for a god damn ring.