OKLAHOMA CITY, OK (Sporting Alert) — Scoring champion Kevin Durant will lead out his Oklahoma City Thunder team against MVP LeBron James and the Miami Heat in Game 1 of the NBA finals, here at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City.
Live Streaming and Coverage on ABC, ESPN3.com and WatchESPN.com: NBA Finals at 8:30 p.m. ET
Of course everyone wants to see Durant and James going head-to-head, the Thunder star believes it will be a team battle.
“Everybody is going to make the most out of the matchup of me versus LeBron, but it’s the Thunder versus the Heat,” Durant said.
“One guy versus another guy, it’s not going to be a 1-on-1 matchup to win the series, it’s going to be all about the team.”
Meanwhile, Miami guard Dwyane Wade believes there’s a chance it could be a James v Durant show, at some point in the series.
“I think it’s going to be a great matchup,” Wade said.
“I think it’s going to be two players that’s going to be tough to guard each other, that’s going to have to guard each other.”
As expected both teams will begin the matchup buzzing with confidence about win the championship title, which will make the contest even more exciting.
The Oklahoma City Thunder won four straight games to beat the San Antonio Spurs 4-2 and book their place into the finals, while the Miami Heat won the las two games to take their series 4-3 against the Boston Celtics on Saturday.
The Heat were beaten in the finals by the Dallas Mavericks last year and James is ready to make amends.
“I didn’t play well. I didn’t make enough game-changing plays that I know I’m capable of making and I felt like I let my teammates down,” he said.
“I’m happy and I’m humbled that I can actually be back in this position less than 12 months later to do a better job of making more plays, more game-changing plays out on the floor on a bigger stage.
“So we’ll see what happens.”
Stats Heading Into The Game
Point Leaders Kevin Durant – (OKC) – 28.0 Lebron James – (MIA) – 27.1 Russell Westbrook – (OKC) – 23.6 Dwyane Wade – (MIA) – 22.1
Assist Leaders Lebron James – (MIA) – 6.2Russell Westbrook – (OKC) – 5.5Dwyane Wade – (MIA) – 4.6James Harden – (OKC) – 3.7
Rebound Leaders Kevin Durant – (OKC) – 8.0Lebron James – (MIA) – 7.9Chris Bosh – (MIA) – 7.9Serge Ibaka – (OKC) – 7.5
