Sports

Blood & Thunder

KEVIN SENT: The Thunder, led by Kevin Durant, present a stern test to LeBron James and the Heat, back in the NBA Finals after flopping against the Mavericks last year. (Reuters)

I thought those damn Celtics would never go away

At last we get to see what the vast majority of unaffiliated fans longed to see once this season was unlocked: The NBA’s most infamous association against its most fetching.

After being repelled at high tide last June by the Mavericks at the Battle of Blackwater, LeBron James is re-positioned to channel the Heat’s guaranteed Title Wave.

The Thunder have taken all the requisite steps to earn the right to sit at the adult table: two seasons ago, playoffs; last season, Western Conference finals; this season, dismembering two outclassed opponents — the defending champion Mavericks and Kobe Bryant’s Lakers — before steamrolling the Spurs in four straight after losing the series’ first two.

The Oklahomans have been ebulliently efficient. They average the most (102.33) points, feature the game’s best economical superstar in Kevin Durant (27.6 on just 18.6 shots), boast any number of supporting snipers when the league’s leading scorer is swarmed, take care of the ball, can’t be intentionally hacked (84 percent from the check cashing line), boast enough depth, quickness and length to disrupt opposing offense, and rarely lose at home.

Here’s my main concern about the Heat: As unconscious as LeBron was in the final two games against the Celtics (76 points, 27 rebounds), the prevailing sentiment remains — correct until proven otherwise — they keep their glands sweating until crunch time and man the choke collars.

In all fairness, that was also a season-long knock against the Thunder — until the barbershop quartet of wins against San Antonio.

The Heat, through every fault of their own, had to play an extra game against a vastly-inferior Knicks team, then found themselves having to play catch-up to close out both Indiana and Boston.

Certainly a lot of the Heat’s roller-coaster resume came with Chris Bosh sidelined. But that remains an awful big margin of mood swings for a championship crusader. And that was against the noticeably weaker Eastern Bloc.

Now, they’re up against younger, healthier, fresher (six nights rest going into tonight’s opener) Spaghetti Western sheriffs, who routinely run roughshod over the score sheet.

Does this mean LeBron has to go for 40 a night, trying to seize control from the outset and screw that “let the game come to me” garbage? He had best not think that’s the case. Despite combining with Wade for 54 in Game 7, the Heat would have been beached had Bosh, Shane Battier, Mario Chalmers and Udonis Haslem not helped build the sand castle.

Other things you might want to seriously consider or summarily discount:

Nobody but LeBron can stay with Durant. But if he defends him, the Heat will pay on the offensive end. Battier will probably get the assignment.

I would put Durant, an underrated defender, on LeBron, just to see if he’ll post or get into a shooting match, you know, see if his ego gets the best of the situation. Durant is smart. If he stays home, lets his length work for him, he might disrupt LeBron to some degree. He’s not going to be stopped, so why use Serge Ibaka, who won’t get the benefit of any close calls? Better to keep Ibaka in position to rotate and protect the rim. You can always change up and switch him to LeBron down the stretch.

Is there an award for Most Valuable Thabo? Before ordering a double-team, Scott Brooks will want to if Thabo Sefolosha can make Wade beat him from outside and not reach when he funnels him into Oklahoma City’s shot blockers.

Who’s going to cover Russell Westbrook? Chalmers? Not when it counts, I submit. Wade? He did a great job on Rajon Rondo for a half in Game 6. Can his body withstand a 40-minute grind at both ends, trying to cover a player similar to what Wade once was?

Throw in James Harden and it’s clear the Heat guards must play over their heads defensively or forget about it. How many seconds, minutes, quarters, losses, games before Erik Spoelstra goes to a zone?

Harden, the Joker in the Thunder deck, is a total matchup nightmare on the run or in half-court sets. Only once in the playoffs, Game 1 against the Spurs, has he played nervous.

Most of us anticipate a track meet. But the Thunder are the NBA’s fastest sprinters and lead the league in catching second winds. When not running off turnovers, the Heat might want to show some restraint. Do they have the poise and savvy to pull that off?

Who’s going to have the stones to push with confidence at the risk of turning over the ball?

As good as Kevin Garnett was, he didn’t have the legs to help and then recover to bother Bosh’s shots. The 6-foot-10 Serge Ibaka moves as if he’s five inches shorter and flaunts timing reminiscent of Hakeem Olajuwon. Can Bosh take him off the dribble and get him into the air using head fakes?

Think someone might have told Kendrick Perkins it’s OK to waste one or two fouls early on James and Wade when they come contorting down the runway?

Shouldn’t Joel Anthony, or maybe even Juwan Howard, start instead of Haslem to loosen up Perkins?

In LeBron’s two previous failed Finals, he lost to a pair of elder tribesmen, Tim Duncan and Dirk Nowitzki. Theoretically, that made the defeats more digestible. In Durant, he’s faced with a pinup who turned pro four years after he did. How bad would LeBron look (and would we make him feel) should Durant shed tears on Larry O’Brien’s pillow trophy?