NBA Finals: Comparing Heat to Thunder

We’re three games into the Mavericks-Heat series, enough to do some comparisons with the five-game Thunder-Mavericks series. Most interesting is how the Thunder defended Dallas, compared to how Miami is defending Dallas.

Let’s take it player by player.

J.J. Barea:The primary reason Dallas trails two games to one, instead of leading two games to one or even 3-0, is that Miami has won the battle of the backup point guards. Mario Chalmers has outscored Barea by an astounding 33-13. Barea torched the Thunder, making 22 of 46 shots, with 15 assists and just three turnovers. Barea averaged 11.4 points a game against OKC. He’s averaging 4.3 points a game against Miami, making just five of 23 shots, with five assists and four turnovers.

Jason Kidd: Both the Thunder and Heat did a decent job of not letting Kidd get off on open shots. Against the Thunder, Kidd made 15 of 39 shots, 38.5 percent. Against the Heat, Kidd has made eight of 23 shots, 34.8 percent. But Miami has put much more defensive pressure on Kidd. In three games, Kidd has 21 assists and 12 turnovers. In five games against OKC, Kidd had 43 assists and 10 turnovers. Per-game, that’s twice as many turnovers against Miami as against the Thunder, with more assists per game (8.6-7.0). Both Dallas point guards were much more effective against the Thunder than they’ve been against Miami. Clearly, OKC’s defense must improve — on keeping point guards out of the lane and on putting more pressure on the ball.

Tyson Chandler: Chandler’s forte’ is rebounding; offensive rebounding, to be exact. In three games against Miami, Chandler has 11 offensive rebounds and 11 defensive rebounds. In five games against OKC, Chandler had 19 offensive rebounds and 34 defensive rebounds. So considering the higher scoring and higher-paced games against the Thunder, no discernible difference. Rebounding was OKC’s strength against Dallas. The Mavs have 29 offensive rebounds in three games Miami; they had 50 in five games against the Thunder, but with many more shots.

Shawn Marion:The similarities are amazing. Marion is shooting 50 percent (19 of 38) against Miami, averaging 15.3 points a game. Against the Thunder, Marion shot 50 percent (29 of 58) and averaged 14.2 points a game. Matched up against LeBron James some of the time and Kevin Durant a lot of the time. Remarkable.

Dirk Nowitzki: Nick Collison did yeoman’s work on Nowitzki. But the numbers are stark. The Heat is doing a much better job against Dirk. He’s made 28 of 61 shots against Miami (45.9 percent) and all 24 of his foul shots. Nowitzki is averaging  28.3 points a game. Dirk shot 55.7 percent from the field against OKC (49 of 88), made 59 of 61 foul shots and averaged 32.2 points a game. The Thunder fouled Dirk much more often and allowed him to shoot much more effectively. OKC did keep Nowitzki off the boards; he has averaged 10 rebounds a game against Miami, just 5.8 against the Thunder.