Two powerhouses collide as Miami Heat host the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday – NBA Preview
Within the time span of 11 days, two of National Basketball Association’s best teams, Oklahoma City Thunder and Miami Heat, will go head to head with each other again on Wednesday night in the American Airlines Arena, Miami, FL.
Having beaten the Heat in their previous meeting, the Thunder will be looking to bounce back from a rare home loss to the Memphis Grizzlies in their last outing as they visit Florida. On the other hand Miami will go into the game
having already bounced back from back to back defeats by beating the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday.
After last night`s win over Philadelphia, Miami have now won 16 straight at home and anybody who is looking to beat them at home needs to bring their A game to the table.
LeBron James will be going in to the game coming off from a season high performance of 41 points. Dwyane Wade`s participation in the contest is still uncertain. Whether he would be able to shake off a sore knee, he suffered after
banging his knee during the loss to Boston Celtics on Sunday, remains to be seen.
Wade has had an average of 27.8 points against the Oklahoma City Thunder in his last 8 encounters, and it surely would be major loss for Miami if he would not be able to feature in the game.
While Oklahoma City, who had pretty horrendous performance against Memphis, will be looking to bounce back and they would catch a lucky break if Dwyane Wade has to sit out his second consecutive game due to injury.
Oklahoma would be looking towards their star forward, Kevin Durant, who has averaged 31.5 points in the previous six games between the two teams. Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook, who has averaged 24 points in Miami`s home
in the previous three trips, will also be one of the key players to watch in this matchup. However, the point guard was off colour in the game against the Grizzlies and if the Heat managed to hound him, OKC might struggle to find their groove.
As these two juggernauts collide, Oklahoma holds an upper hand as they have won the previous two meetings between the two. Last time around, OKC gave Miami a thumping loss of 103-87 on March 25th. Kevin Durant had 28
points, 8 assists and 9 rebounds on the night, while Miami were forced into 21 turnovers.
"They beat us in all facets of the game - from the beginning to the end," said Heat star LeBron James, who scored 17 points and had seven assists last time around and has been averaging 19.7 points in the previous three matchups
against the Thunder.
With all the pride on the line, both these teams will go into game looking to out manoeuvre their counterparts to get a psychological advantage, come the playoff time. One thing is for sure, fans from all over the globe will be
entertained with the best basketball the NBA has to offer.
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