Thabo Sefolosha lives exceeds expectations in game 1 victory over the Miami Heat – NBA Feature
A great deal has been said about the magnificence of Kevin Durant and the explosiveness of Russell Westbrook in the game 1 victory over the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals. Durant finished with 36 points out of which 17 came in the
fourth quarter alone. Westbrook had 18 points in the second half as the Thunder, trailing the Heat at halftime, outplayed them in the third and fourth periods to come out with a 105-94 victory. But there is one key element that we are missing here, and that
is the defence of the Thunder which was spearheaded by the man who is quickly gaining a notorious reputation for himself when it comes to defending super stars.
That man is Thabo Sefolosha.
Sefolosha was the main person behind the defensive mechanism of the Thunder last night. He guarded Dwyane Wade for the first three quarters, and then switched to LeBron James when Wade went to the bench early in the fourth period.
And what a job he did.
Defending not one but two supreme athletes and amazing scorers is a near impossible task. Sefolosha did it with a tireless grind and the motivation that makes championship teams.
The effort helped Thunder dismiss the notion that they are not a good defensive team and outplayed Miami at their own game. They defended better than the Heat even though the Heat are widely regarded as a better defensive team
than the Thunder. Miami managed to score only 40 points in the second half after making 54 in the first. Their field goal percentage went down as Sefolosha forced James and Wade to settle for the jump shot.
“Our players demand (defense) out of each other and out timeouts are always about defense,” said Thunder Coach Scott Brooks.
Sefolosha was given the assignment of guarding Tony Parker in the Conference Finals against the San Antonio Spurs. Parker was coming off the best season of his career and had led the Spurs to an 18 game winning streak earning MVP
nominations in the process. He had his way with the Thunder is the first 2 games of the series which the Spurs won.
Coach Scott Brooks then turned to Sefolosha in game 3 to defend and contain Parker and Sefolosha made him irrelevant to the game. From game 3 onwards, Parker was unable to make the same kind of impact he made in the first two games
and the Thunder won 4 straight games to secure a berth in the NBA Finals.
Now Sefolosha is charged with the duty of guarding James and Wade, two of the toughest players to guard in the NBA today. But judging by his performance in game 1, he is up for the challenge. Wade shot 4 of 14 in the first three
quarters and had 12 points. He added 7 more in the final period. James had his way for three quarters but missed four of his six attempts in the final period and managed only 7 points, while Durant exploded on the other end finishing with 17 points in the
fourth quarter alone.
“We knew he and Dwyane would try to take over. We were thinking of ways to slow them down. I was pretty fired up to make a statement. It was a challenge and I like that kind of challenge. I take it as an opportunity to show the
world what I can do,” said Sefolosha after the game.
His job is going to get tougher as the series prolongs, as both James and Wade will be motivated to put in better performances after their game 1 outing. It will be an interesting matchup to say the least.
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