- Kevin Durant's decisiveness is phenomenal, especially given the stage.
- ESPN's Michael Wallace on some adjustments Heat coach Erik Spoelstra might make for Game 2: "Spoelstra hinted at three vital adjustments the Heat might make for Game 2 as they attempt to steal one of the first two before the series shifts to Miami for the next three. It starts with Bosh, who could regain his starting assignment after struggling to find his rhythm off the bench Tuesday against the Thunder. Bosh had big moments in Game 7 of the Boston series as a reserve, but it might be time to get him going from the opening tip against the Thunder. Bosh was never a factor Tuesday. His long jumpers didn't fall consistently, he didn't attack well enough to get to the free throw line and he grabbed only five rebounds despite playing 34 minutes in his fourth game back from an abdominal injury."
- Also on Heat Index, Tom Haberstroh expects LeBron James to spend more time checking Durant as the series goes on, which might help the Heat score more points: "Such is the vicious cycle for the Heat. As the saying goes, a good offense starts with good defense. Youth basketball coaches everywhere should use film from Game 1 as an instructional video on how defense and offense go hand-in-hand. What's the hardest way to get out in transition? By taking the ball out of the opponent's basket. The Heat needed to create triggers for their offense, but they couldn't stop the Thunder from getting what they wanted. According to NBA.com's John Schuhmann, the Thunder scored on 21 of their final 29 possessions. Eight stops in 29 possessions won't cut it."
- Related: Does the Heat's insistence on keeping James off of Durant mean everyone else has to pay too much attention to the Thunder's scoring machine?
- John Hollinger (Insider) speculates that fatigue was a factor in the following statistics from Game 1: "The Heat allowed a whopping 56 points in the paint to the Thunder, nearly 20 more than their regular-season opponent average of 36.6. The contrast here is so stark because the Heat were the league's No. 2 defense against points in the paint in the regular season, according to NBA.com's stats database, while the Thunder were just 22nd and actually were outscored on points in the paint in the regular season. Even after Tuesday night's plus-20, Oklahoma City barely breaks even on PIP for the playoffs. Miami has to win this category. Looking at shot attempts in the paint, the numbers, er, paint an even uglier picture. The Heat tried 31 2-point shots in the paint and 28 long 2s. For the Thunder, the mix was 41 and 19. Obviously the latter figure is preferably, and again the visual was hard to ignore: Miami's stars were settling for midrange J's, especially Dwyane Wade, even though they aren't particularly good at these shots. Only eight of Miami's 28 long 2s found the net."
- Kevin Durant's free throw dance.
- In this J.A. Adande story, Kobe Bryant calls Durant "A 6-11 me."
- Erik Spoelstra is known for experimenting in order to make his team better down the road. Is that part of what happened in Game 1?
- David Stern says other owners do not support the Kings' desire to leave Sacramento.
- Piston Powered's Dan Feldman might be the only Pistons fan in the world who doesn't think Isiah Thomas deserved to be on the 1992 Dream Team: "Isiah Thomas was great when the Pistons weren’t winning championships. Then Thomas was extremely good when the Pistons were winning championships. But he wasn’t great while winning a championship. Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan meet that scrutiny, and given that they were all still good in 1992, they were the easiest picks for the Dream Team. After them, it was a matter of filling in the squad with the top Americans of the time."
- Does Anthony Davis have more than one truly elite skill? Will the answer define whether he becomes an all-time great, as many predict he could?
- Scott Brooks is one understated dude, right down to the car he drives.
- He's Boston's most important player in the immediate future, and he has stated that he doesn't want to play for anyone else. So how much money should the Celtics offer Kevin Garnett to stick around?
- David Thorpe (Insider) sees players in this draft with the potential to really help Boston next year.
- OKC's offense doesn't really rely on a system, but the Thunder players still operate with a real sense of purpose. That makes them flexible and incredibly dangerous.
- Interesting point on Miami's stagnant second half offense from Charlie of Lane Violation: "Wade’s struggles, and Erik Spoelstra’s curious decision to turn Chris Bosh into the world’s tallest shooting guard, left LBJ as Miami’s only real offensive option. Problem is, James is also Miami’s best choice to initiate the offense. And he can’t pass the ball to himself – that’s a travel, even in today’s NBA. Sound familiar? It should, to Knicks fans. We saw a similar problem early in the 2011-12 season before Jeremy Lin took over at the point and late in the year when Lin was hurt. Without a dependable backup at the point, Carmelo Anthony was forced into the primary ball-handler and primary scorer roles, and Iso-Melo was born."
- Something every pick-up basketball player can do on defense that bothers even Kevin Durant.
- Wonder if Damian Lillard knows that people aren't doubting him these days ... quite the opposite. He comes in at No. 6 in Chad Ford's latest Mock Draft (Insider).
Beckley Mason is an NBA contributor for ESPN.com.
TRUEHOOP CONTRIBUTORS
 Henry AbbottTrueHoop | ESPN @TrueHoop |
J.A. AdandeTrueHoop | ESPN @jadande |
Kevin ArnovitzTrueHoop | ESPN @kevinarnovitz |
Chris BroussardTrueHoop | ESPN @Chris_Broussard |
Amin ElhassanTrueHoop | ESPN @AminESPN |
Chad FordTrueHoop | ESPN @chadfordinsider |
Israel GutierrezTrueHoop | ESPN @IzzyESPN |
Tom HaberstrohTrueHoop | ESPN @tomhaberstroh |
Marc SteinTrueHoop | ESPN @ESPNSteinLine |
David ThorpeTrueHoop | ESPN @coachthorpe |
Jade HoyeTrueHoop TV @truehooptv |
HoopIdeaTrueHoop @HoopIdea |
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