2012 NBA Finals Thunder vs Heat Game 4 Predictions

The way that wins and loses are magnified in the postseason, especially in the NBA Finals, most people have about buried the Oklahoma City Thunder and given the Miami Heat the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

If you’re a Heat fan, that idea sits very well, considering your team appears to be sitting comfortable on the driver’s seat. However, if you’re a Thunder fan, you know this squad didn’t get here by quitting when things got rough. When you take that, with the fact that both OKC loses have come by unforced errors, you certainly have something to look for.

In game 2, the Thunder’s downfall was coming out short for a second consecutive night, and expecting to turn it up at the end. For those that saw the game in its entirety and objectively, they almost did pull it off.

In fact, we were three uncalled fouls on LeBron James – two on Kevin Durant’s jump-shot and another one on Russell Westbrook’s rebound attempt — from having overtime that night. But still, it wasn’t the most demoralizing of defeats.

In the closing moments in game 4, we witnessed something we hadn’t seen before this postseason. With the game on the line, we saw a different Thunder team — a young club, who uncharacteristically fell apart in crunch time and simply let the pressure of the moment get the best of them… but even with all that, they had a chance to steal the game at the end on the road.

So, while numbers say that Miami has a commanding lead in this series, the reality of it all is a much different one. Those loses have to be very encouraging for this young team, who has been on the brink of winning all three games in this series, despite the fact that Miami has been absolutely lights out and they’ve played mediocre at best.

So, with that said, what’s going to happen in game 4? For starters, it’s worth noting that 2012 NBA Finals oddsmakers have Miami listed as a -4 favorite to take a 3-1 lead in this best-of-seven series against the Thunder [+4]. It’s also worth noting that this game’s opening tipoff is slated for 9 PM ET (on ABC Sports) and the OVER/UNDER is set at a combined total of 192½ points.

My 2012 NBA Finals prediction for game 4 is very simple: Thunder will even this series. Believe it or not, losing the last two games is the best thing that could have happened to OKC… I’ll explain. This team is so good, and is coming off such an impressive series against the unbeatable Spurs that they’ve sort of had a letdown.

Those two loses are exactly what they needed to get going again… I can guarantee you that, if they didn’t have it before, the Heat certainly have the Thunder’s attention now! One of the biggest factors for OKC turning this series around is going to be the play of Westbrook.

When you look at the way these teams are matched up, you can clearly see that the only person that can guard the Thunder’s speedy point guard is Dwyane Wade — considering Miami is not going to put LBJ on him. And for as much as the Heat needs Wade to be assertive offensively, if Westbrook can make him work on the defensive end of the floor, there’s no way he can have a huge impact scoring the ball, and as we’ve seen they cannot win without No.3’s scoring.

In conclusion, I REALLY like Oklahoma City with a 4-point cushion in game 4 and so should you! Disagree with me completely?

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