Kevin Durant, once again, is on the losing side of the Miami Heat’s championship culture.
It’s the last play of the game, Dion Waiters is looking to inbound the ball. He’s looking, first, at Kevin Durant, who has scored the last four points–and 25 total points–for the Oklahoma City Thunder. But Miami Heat rookie Justise Winslow is not only denying him the ball, but also position on the floor. Waiters is forced to pass to Russell Westbrook, who is being closely guarded by both Dwyane Wade and Gerald Green and forces up a lame shot.
Game over, Heat win.
Before that, Dwyane Wade was at the free throw line as a result of his physical play at the rim. Wade, as we’re used to seeing him but not unappreciative of, drove the the basket, got fouled and hit the ground hard. He scored six-straight points for the Heat prior to the free throws, and sank both to give Miami the two-point lead.
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It’s the hard-nosed, winning play that he’s made time and time again, and he has three NBA championship rings to show for it.
A lot of things have changed since these two teams met in the 2012 NBA Finals. Two stars–James Harden and LeBron James–are no longer involved. The Thunder have a new coach. The Heat have a new vision. Hassan Whiteside is a thing, Goran Dragic joined the Eastern Conference, Dion Waiters replaces Harden, though the Thunder are deeper this season than ever.
This win doesn’t mean the Heat are ready to win the East, but it does mean they are ready to make it difficult for the Cavaliers to run away with it.
Both are on the cusp of real title contention, and both teams needed this win–in a game that featured 38 lead changes and a playoff atmosphere–to provide some validation for their respective directions. This win doesn’t mean the Heat are ready to win the East, but it does mean they are ready to make it difficult for the Cavaliers to run away with it.
We didn’t really learn anything about Wade Thursday night. We know he’s clutch and that he can cook when the kitchen is hot. We know that. We’ve seen it just about a bazillion times.
We didn’t learn that Winslow–who has defended Harden, James, Paul George and Carmelo Anthony at high levels since entering the NBA–is among the best perimeter defenders in the league already. But we did learn that he can hang in their with Wade in that hot kitchen.
We saw Goran Dragic, who finished with 14 points and seven assists, blossom and get comfortable within the offense.
We saw Josh McRoberts willingly score when he had to.
We saw this team defend an offense featuring Durant and Westbrook at a high level without Whiteside and with Gerald Green on the floor.
We saw this team come together, shut down the Thunder for three of the final five minutes of the game and win the game.
We saw this team develop chutzpah.
This is that thing everyone is talking about when they say “championship mentality.” That’s it, folks. That’s chutzpah. Guys like Green, Winslow and Tyler Johnson who haven’t been part of playoff runs get folded into that mentality and aren’t just along for the ride, but are taking turns at the wheel.
And Kevin Durant had a first person view of it. He saw the chutzpah. He saw Pat Riley in the stands. He sees the Heat have what it takes and that his Thunder, once again, came out on the losing end of it. So you better believe that Riley and Durant will remember this game, and that it might just come up in conversation some time next summer.