Dwyane Wade (right) attacks Kendrick Perkins in the second half of Game 2 of the NBA Finals in Oklahoma City. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

The Miami Heat avoided a 0-2 hole after holding off the hard-charging Oklahoma City Thunder, 100-96, Thursday night in Game 2 of the 2012 NBA Finals. The series now heads to South Beach for games 3, 4, and 5.

Here are a few observations from Game 2:

HEAT USES THE FORCE

Erik Spoelstra talked about playing with more force after his Heat got hammered in Game 1. It was straight out of the Pat Riley book of coaching and the Heat responded by imposing their will on the Thunder. By inserting Chris Bosh — who hasn’t started since Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals — in the starting lineup the Heat played a more conventional lineup and were able to turn the tables on the Thunder in the rebounding department. After getting outrebounded 43-34 in Game 1, the Heat outrebounded the Thunder 40-36 thanks to Bosh’s 15 rebounds — seven on the offensive end — in 40 minutes. “We needed every bit of his big tonight,” Spoelstra said of Bosh.

SLOW STARTS NOT OK IN OKC

The Thunder have outscored the Heat in six of the eight quarters played, but the first quarters have been their Achilles’ heel. Oklahoma City got down 29-22 in Game 1 and it happened again in Game 2 as the Heat surged to a 27-15 lead in the first quarter and led wire-to-wire. “Two games in a row the first quarter let us down,” said Thunder coach Scott Brooks. “It’s tough to come back when you’re down 17. I told the guys we’re a much better team to be down 17.” The Heat are too good of a team to be given a cushion every game, and Brooks better figure out how to get his team going early.

BATTIER ON A ROLL

Shane Battier is probably not on the Thunder scouting report because he has been wide open all series. In two games, the Heat forward has 34 points on 9-for-13 from 3-point range, including a key bank-shot trey in Game 2. This is the same guy who struggled to find the rim in the first two rounds of the playoffs, now he can’t seem to miss. Oklahoma City may have to start staying home on Battier because he is locked in and has provided a much-needed scoring punch from the outside, allowing LeBron James and Dwyane Wade more room to operate in the painted area.

DID LEBRON FOUL DURANT?

The conspiracy theorists are running rampant after some questionable calls Thursday night. The biggest one was the noncall on LeBron James when he appeared to foul Kevin Durant on his baseline jumper with seven seconds left in the game and the Thunder down by only two. Replays showed that Durant was thrown offbalance after James gave him a nudge on his shot attempt. When Durant was asked about it during his postgame press conference, he shrugged it off, didn’t use it as an excuse, and said: “I missed the shot, man.”

LEBRON CLUTCHES UP

We all quickly pounce on LeBron when he shrinks in the fourth quarter, but we should also highlight his brilliance when it deserves it. James made some clutch baskets late in the game, including an offbalance bank shot with the clock winding down that put the Heat up four and two free throws with seven seconds left to ice the game. LeBron had another monster game overall, scoring 32 points and grabbing eight rebounds in 42 minutes. He was also a perfect 12-for-12 from the free throw line. James also dug deep defensively, matching up with Durant for most of the game.

FLASHBACK

Dwyane Wade’s demise has been greatly exaggerated. “One day it’ll happen. Father Time will knock on the door and tap me on the shoulder. But not right now,” Wade said. The 2006 Finals MVP looked like the D-Wade of old, scoring 24 points on 10-of-20 shooting, and had seven in the first quarter. When Wade is in attack mode, like he was Thursday night, the Heat are a different team. He didn’t settle for jumpers and did most of his damage in the paint. In the fourth, he scored a tough floater and set up Bosh for a big-time dunk with under a minute left.

The NBA Finals logo is painted on the floor at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

During the NBA lockout there were several — and you know who you are — basketball writers and so-called experts who said the NBA was headed for a dark spring because no one is going to watch a bunch of spoiled athletes paid by a bunch of greedy owners.

Well, guess who’s watching?

The hype surrounding the 2012 NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder resonate with not only the hardcore basketball fans but casual watchers as well. The star power of the league’s marquee event resulted in a record-breaking night for ABC Sports.

According to the Nielsen ratings, Game 1 generated an 11.8 overall rating and peaked at 14.1. The 11.8 rating is up 10 percent compared to last year’s Finals Game 1 between Miami and Dallas, which earned a 10.7. The previous record for Game 1 was 11.6 in 2004 (Detroit vs. Lakers).

In Oklahoma City, the game generated a 44.3 rating, the highest for an NBA game ever in the market. In Miami, the game generated a 30.5 rating.

The game is tailor-made for a ratings bonanza. It is a matchup between a small-market team (Oklahoma City) and a big-market team (Miami) and features two of the best players in the world in Kevin Durant and LeBron James. And as an appetizer you have Russell Westbrook and Dwyane Wade playing in the series. That’s arguably four of the top 10 players in the league competing in basketball’s biggest stage.

The last time the NBA had the reigning scoring champ (Durant) go head-to-head with the reigning MVP (James) was 1997 when Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls faced Karl Malone’s Utah Jazz. But this year’s matchup is much, much sexier than the Jordan-Malone showdown. We have to go back to 1991 when Jordan faced Magic Johnson’s L.A. Lakers to find a comparable dream game.

So all those gloom-and-doom NBA writers who predicted nothing but misery during this lockout-shortened season, here is a big American pie in your face with a little bit of Jason Biggs frosting.

Russell Westbrook shoots over Chris Bosh during the second half of Game 1 of the NBA Finals. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

The Oklahoma City Thunder drew first blood in the 2012 NBA Finals after defeating the Miami Heat, 105-94, in Game 1 Tuesday night.

Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 36 points in his first Finals game, and he got plenty of help from Russell Westbrook, who nearly had a triple-double. The Thunder point guard had 27 points, eight rebounds, and 11 assists. The Heat got 30 points from LeBron James, but was just 2-for-7 in the fourth quarter, and didn’t get much help from Dwyane Wade (19 points) and Chris Bosh (10).

Here are some observations from Game 1 of the Finals:

DURANT FIRES FIRST SHOT
The marquee matchup between the Durant and James lived up to the hype, and went according to the script. James came out swinging with an impressive first half to give the Heat a seven-point halftime lead. Durant then countered with a superb second half, including 17 points in the fourth quarter in which OKC outscored the Miami 31-21. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra gambled a bit by having James guard center Kendrick Perkins and it allowed KD to get into a groove against Shane Battier.

SEFOLOSHA’S SUFFOCATING DEFENSE
Thabo seems to have Wade’s number, dating back to his days when he was a member of the Chicago Bulls. Sefolosha’s length and activity bothered Wade a lot in Game 1, and Wade wasn’t able to get going offensively. The Heat guard was just 7-for-19 from the field and missed several makeable shots. With Wade under control, OKC coach Scott Brooks switched Sefolosha on LeBron in the fourth quarter and Thabo locked surprisingly was able to lock up LeBron, forcing him to 2-for-6 shooting. Sefolosha was so effective Brooks stayed him for much of the fourth quarter (28 minutes) and kept Harden (22 minutes) on the bench, a shrewd move by a young coach.

WESTBROOK TAKES CHARGE
For all those Westbrook critics out there, here is stat for you to digest: the Thunder are 25-5 when Westbrook takes more shots than Durant. Brooks has repeated the last two years that Westbrook makes the Thunder special. If you have a championship thoroughbred like Westbrook you don’t fence him in — you unleash him. And that’s exactly what the OKC point guard did in Game 1 as his energy and effort enabled the Thunder to erase a double-digit deficit and surge ahead of the Heat in the second half. The game changed when Westbrook started penetrating and collapsing the Heat’s interior defense, opening up the floor for Durant and others. Spoelstra must figure out a way to corral Westbrook or else this could end up being a short series.

BROOKS PRESSES THE RIGHT BUTTONS
Once the Thunder got the nerves out of the way they rolled in the second half thanks to a couple of bold adjustments by their fourth-year coach. Aside from keeping Sefolosha in the game longer than usual, Brooks also called on Nick Collison’s number instead of sticking with Kendrick Perkins and Serge Ibaka. Collison rewarded his coach by scoring eight points and grabbing 10 rebounds off the bench. Collison’s hustle and energy gave OKC extra possessions with tip-ins and offensive rebounds, and his ability to score on screen-and-rolls and baseline drives took advantage of a small Heat lineup.

WHERE IS WADE?
LeBron absorbs a ton of Heat for his fourth-quarter failures, but Wade shouldn’t be absolved for Miami’s downfall. Wade just doesn’t look like the D-Wade of old. He struggled against Sefolosha, but more alarmingly he couldn’t punish James Harden, Westbrook or Derek Fisher when he was matched up against them especially in the low block. Wade had his knee drained last month and he has been battling all sorts of injures (ankle, knee, finger) all season. You have to wonder if they are all taking its toll on him.

CATCHING UP TO THE THUNDER
LeBron and Wade normally are the fastest guys on the court, but they met their match in Westbrook and Durant. OKC had a 24-4 advantage in fastbreak points, an alarming stat considering speed and uptempo is Miami’s best weapon. Spoelstra said the Thunder were quicker to seemingly every 50-50 ball and turned turnovers into points in a matter of seconds. In any other series, Miami would embrace a track meet. But against OKC, the Heat may have to dial it down and slow the pace.

Kevin Durant will be matched up against LeBron James in the 2012 NBA Finals. (GETTY IMAGES)

This is the dream matchup for the NBA. You have arguably the best team from the West playing against arguably the best team in the East. And each side boasts arguably the two best players in the game.

The NBA Finals has not had this kind of salacious showdown since Magic Johnson’s Lakers faced Michael Jordan’s Bulls in 1991. Twenty-one years ago, a hard-charging Jordan outdueled Magic, who was a few months away from retirement, to capture his first NBA title. The 2012 matchup between Kevin Durant’s Thunder and LeBron James’ Heat involves two superstars in the prime of their careers hungry to win their first championship rings.

No disrespect to Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden, but this year’s NBA Finals series is all about LeBron, the three-time league MVP, and Durant, the three-time scoring champion.

“Yeah, that’s a sexier matchup I guess,” Durant said. “But I don’t read newspapers. I don’t get on Twitter anymore. I just focus on what I need to do.”

The last time Durant posted something on his Twitter account was May 1. LeBron’s Twitter account hasn’t been touched since April 27. Both young men have been razor sharp in the postseason, with James averaging more than 30 points per game while Durant has already produced three game-winning baskets.

James averaged 25 points and eight assists against OKC during the regular season, while Durant averaged 29 points and six rebounds. The Heat are coming off a hard-fought seven-game series against the Celtics, while the Thunder dispatched the San Antonio Spurs in six games.

Thunder coach Scott Brooks says Durant will definitely guard LeBron in the series, but the Thunder will need all hands on deck to slow down the 6-foot-8, 265-pound locomotive who wears No. 6 on the Heat.

“Kevin is a gym rat. He’s always looking for a challenge,” Brooks said. “It’s definitely a matchup that is enjoyable to see and how it turns out. If Kevin has a bad shooting night it’s probably because they played great team defense on him.

“They’re both great players. They’re both driven and hungry basketball players.”

After what transpired in last year’s Finals, there is a ton of pressure on James to win now. He has already failed once as a member of the Cavaliers and last year as a Heat. He is hoping the third time is a charm.

“I didn’t play well. I think I’ve said that 100 times this year,” James said of his 2011 NBA Finals meltdown against Dallas.

“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 continued. “‘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.”

For Durant, he is four games away from winning his first title before his 24th birthday but he has to go through his good friend LeBron to accomplish his ultimate goal.

“He can score at will. He’s strong, can shoot it. I have to play my hardest every possession. I can’t take any possessions off,” Durant said of James, who worked out with the Thunder superstar during the summer and served as his mentor.

”Our relationship is really good,” James said. “Our relationship is going to continue to grow and I’m happy to be in this position where I can compete against him.”

Great players rise to the challenge, and the series will likely come down to Durant and James. The championship will come down to which superstar shines the brightest.