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.

Thunder forward Serge Ibaka (left) battles Tim Duncan (middle) and Danny Green of the Spurs for a rebound. (GETTY IMAGES)

The San Antonio game plan for Game 4 of the Western Conference finals was simple. Crowd Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden and put the onus on the offensively challenged Oklahoma City big men.

In theory it’s an excellent well-conceived idea by Gregg Popovich and the Spurs coaching staff. But what Popovich didn’t anticipate was 22 out of 25 baskets from Serge Ibaka, Kendrick Perkins, and Nick Collison. Ibaka was the biggest headache for the Spurs, as he made all 11 field goals he attempted and finished the night with 26 points.

When Popovich was asked how effective Ibaka was Saturday night he said, “Eleven for eleven, that’s pretty big effect.”

Ibaka was spectacular but Perkins wasn’t too shabby either, hitting seven of nine shots for 15 points. He had scored just 12 in the first three games. Add Collison’s eight points on 4-of-5 shooting and you have the recipe for victory and a 2-2 series.

So what’s the game plan for Popovich for the pivotal Game 5? “Maybe they’ll do it again, but I don’t think so,” the Spurs coach said. “We’re going to play the same defense, and if they don’t shoot as well it won’t be because of our defense it’ll be because they didn’t shoot as well. ”

San Antonio’s prove-it-to-me-again game plan will either send the Spurs into the NBA Finals or it will lead to a disappointing finish to a postseason that saw them run off 10 straight victories.  Popovich is not about to scrap his defensive plan just because Ibaka couldn’t miss.

Ibaka’s perfect night was the first 11-for-11 playoff game since 1985 when Celtics forward Scott Wedman tossed a perfect game against the Lakers in the NBA Finals.

“Obviously you try to put your attention on the big three [Durant, Westbrook, Harden] and you try to do a great job on them first, naturally. Their bigs came through and were outstanding. I think they were 22 of 25 or some crazy thing. If you do a shooting drill with nobody guarding you I don’t think you can do that.”

Former Toronto Raptors coach Sam Mitchell said the Spurs have bigger issues than scheming against Oklahoma City’s frontcourt players.

“Where are San Antonio’s shooters? They gotta find their rhythm again,” Mitchell said on NBA TV’s “Game Time.”

“Oklahoma City has taken them out of their comfort zone. They’re not getting those open shots because Tony Parker doesn’t have any driving lane,” Mitchell said. “[Parker] is not making that first pass that makes Oklahoma City rotate. Right now Oklahoma City is staying at home guarding their guy. Unless San Antonio can put them in rotation and get them out of position it’s gonna be tough for them to score.”

Mitchell added: “They were hedging toward Tony Parker and he kicked it out. Oklahoma City feels they’re athletic enough to get to San Antonio’s shooters. Ginobili is the only one who can pump fake and drive all the way to the basket. [Oklahoma City] is saying ‘if we can get Tony Parker out of the paint we can get to their shooters.’ And some of San Antonio shooters are gonna have to sacrifice their threes, show and go, that means take one dribble, get in the paint, and them make Oklahoma City rotate.”

Game 5 is going to be a war, and whoever wins Monday night will most likely win the series.

Tony Parker and Russell Westbrook will go head-to-head in the Western Conference finals. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

ESPN basketball guru Stephen A. Smith — also known as Screaming A. or Stephen Naismith, whichever you prefer — says the San Antonio Spurs are unbeatable and doesn’t think any of the teams left in the NBA playoffs, including the Oklahoma City Thunder, can knock them off.

“They don’t have a weakness,” Screaming A. says of the Spurs, who have won 18 consecutive games and have yet to drop a game in the 2012 NBA playoffs. “How can you beat them? You have to hope they beat themselves.”

In the history of basketball, no team is unbeatable — not even the great San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs won’t beat themselves, so that approach is out the window. But there are several matchups the Thunder can exploit to give the Spurs a run for their money.

Here are five things to watch in the Spurs-Thunder conference finals:

1-TIM DUNCAN VS. PERKINS, IBAKA, COLLISON, MOHAMMED

No matter how old he gets or how his role has changed on offense, Duncan remains the foundation of the Spurs program. He is the anchor on defense and his presence on offense allows Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green room to operate. Kendrick Perkins will likely get the assignment to guard the future Hall-of-Famer, but he won’t be alone. Expect OKC head coach Scott Brooks to throw different bodies at Duncan, including Ibaka, Collison and Duncan’s former teammate Nazr Mohammed. The Thunder big men won’t get much help from their teammates because they must stay attached to the Spurs’ 3-point shooters. This means the OKC bigs must deal with Duncan one-on-one, and their ability to make Duncan work and expend energy will be an important part of the game plan.

2-TONY PARKER VS. RUSSELL WESTBROOK

Parker pretty much had his way against the Thunder during the regular season, including a 42-point game, so it is up to Westbrook to make Parker work a little harder on defense. Westbrook is coming off a great series against the L.A. Lakers, but none of the Laker guards really challenged him. Parker is a totally different beast. Parker will test Westbrook on every possession with an array of screen-and-rolls, and Westbrook must be able to fight through the picks and not allow Parker to easily turn the corner. On offense, Westbrook has to punish Parker by posting him up from time to time and maybe get a couple of cheap fouls on him. This is one of the marquee matchups for the playoffs and should be fun to watch two of the fastest guys in the league go head-to-head.

3-MANU GINOBILI VS. JAMES HARDEN

Harden was recently named the best sixth man in the NBA, but he’s now matched up against the former Sixth Man of the Year. Ginobili and Harden are eerily similar in the way they play. Both are lefties to begin with, but they’ve also mastered the art of the Euro step. Ginobili brought the Euro step to the NBA in 2003, and Harden is one of just a handful of American-born players who have incorporated the move into their offensive repertoire. The Spurs won two out of three games against the Thunder during the regular season, but Ginobili didn’t play in any of them. It will be interesting to note how Harden and Co. will game plan for Ginobili, who is the fire that ignites Gregg Popovich’s methodical offense.

4-GOING DEEP ON THE BENCH

The strength of the Spurs this season has been their depth. Popovich can go 10 deep in his rotation, and the addition of Stephen Jackson and Boris Diaw halfway through the season only bolstered their roster. Parker, Green, Leonard, Diaw and Duncan start the game, but the Spurs don’t lose much on both ends when they bring in Gary Neal, Ginobili, Jackson, Matt Bonner and Tiago Splitter off the bench. The Thunder won’t be able to compete with the Spurs’ depth, but they can get contribution from some key bench guys. Obviously the offense will run through Harden when the starts sit, but Derek Fisher and Daequan Cook must be able to knock down some 3-pointers to keep up with the high-scoring Spurs, and Collison and Mohammed need to win the rebounding battle.

5-DURANT MUST CLOSE THE DEAL

The Spurs have may the most complete team in this series, but the Thunder easily has the best player in Kevin Durant. The three-time scoring champion was absolutely clutch in the Lakers series and for OKC to advance it’ll need another super effort from its MVP. Just like the previous round, there will be moments in this series when the Thunder will ask Durant to make game-winning plays and he must be able to deliver on cue. Durant said he learned a lot from last year’s elimination against Dallas in the conference finals. The Thunder are back in the West finals, and we’ll see if they learned from their mistakes. For the Thunder to eliminate the Spurs Durant must be extra special. He is the one player the Spurs won’t be able to match up against. Can Durant rise up to the challenge and lead the Thunder into the NBA Finals? Can’t wait to find out.