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 coach Scott Brooks pressed all the right buttons in the series against the Spurs. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

What a difference a week makes. Last week the San Antonio Spurs were on a historic roll, winning 20 in a row and were a perfect 10-0 in the postseason.

Seven days later the unbeatable Spurs are going fishing after dropping four consecutive games to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Spurs’ season ended Wednesday night in Oklahoma City, as the young and hungry Thunder — led by three-time scoring champ Kevin Durant — overcame a 15-point halftime deficit in Game 6 and closed out the Western Conference finals series with a 107-99 victory.

The Thunder will get their first taste of the NBA Finals while the Spurs are left with a bitter taste in their mouths after dropping the ball on what seemed like a sure-fire championship. The Thunder showed remarkable composure for such a playoff novice, while the veteran-laden Spurs were the ones looking unsure and played out of character.

“As sad as disappointed as we are it’s almost like a Hollywood script for OKC in a sense,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “They went through Dallas, last year’s NBA champion. They went through the Lakers and they went through us. Those three teams represent 10 of the last 13 championships.”

It’s not often Popovich gets outcoached in a playoff series but Scott Brooks pressed the right buttons for OKC. It started with the hack-a-Splitter in Game 2, staying with Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins and deciding against small ball, and putting Thabo Sefolosha on Tony Parker in Game 3.

Brooks challenged his big men to switch every pick-and-roll and Ibaka and Perkins rewarded their coach with more energy and effort. There was a great moment in Game 3 in OKC when Perkins was caught in a switch with Parker and instead of backing up Perkins started clapping his hands as he moved forward on Parker, signaling to the Spurs point guard to “bring it!”

And instead of minimizing his role in the series Brooks increased Sefolosha’s minutes and although he didn’t completely shut down Parker he made it harder for the Spurs’ leading scorer to find open teammates because of his length.

Another adjustment Brooks made was the ball screens for Durant. He had Durant in high pick-and-rolls with Russell Westbrook and Perkins to create mismatches and forced Duncan and Parker in one-one-one situations against Durant and created better floor spacing for the OKC shooters.

After the Thunder tied the series at 2-2, Popovich gambled by starting Manu Ginobili in Game 5. It was an uncharacteristically desperate move by the four-time world champion coach. The move not only pushed Danny Green to the bench but it also junked up a rotation that had been so good all season.

In hindsight Popovich probably should have stayed the course and a former Spurs player was also critical of Pop’s decision to tinker with his lineup this late in the season.

Robert Horry, who won two titles with the Spurs, said on NBA TV’s “Game Time” what hurt the Spurs having Ginobili in the starting lineup is it zapped San Antonio’s scoring punch off the bench especially in the fourth quarter.

“It’s a tag team that him and Tony share,” Horry said. “First quarter Tony does his thing then Manu comes in the second quarter.

“They are both very ball dominant, and they get their plays off the pick-and-rolls,” Horry continued. “Now with the insertion of Manu it takes away that punch that you have and you need to keep that punch sometimes because it’s the rhythm you have and that’s what the team is used to and I just think it went helter-skelter kinda crazy with both those guys trying to handle the basketball.”

Joel Huerto is the editor and publisher of OneManFastBreak.net. Follow him on Twitter @onemanfastbreak.

After winning his third consecutive NBA Defensive Player of the Year award, Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard has clearly established himself as the best stopper in basketball.

Howard was second in the league rebounds (14.1) and fourth in blocked shots (2.3), and his presence in the middle allowed the Magic to be the fourth-best defensive team in the league in points allowed (93.7 points). He made NBA history last season when he led the league in rebounding (13.2) and blocked shots (2.8) in consecutive seasons (2009 and 2010). The 6-foot-11, 275-pound All-Star center was a near unanimous choice as the league’s top defender, garnering 114 of a possible 120 first-place votes.

Howard becomes the first player in NBA history to win the award three straight years. Other multiple winners of the award are Ben Wallace, Hakeem Olajuwon, Dikembe Mutombo, Alonzo Mourning, Dennis Rodman and Sidney Moncrief.

OneManFastBreak.net ranks the five best defenders in the NBA (regardless of position):

1) DWIGHT HOWARD, Orlando Magic, center
Howard stops and alters shots like a great goalie in hockey. Orlando’s entire philosophy on defense is to funnel all the scorers to Howard, and more often than not Howard ends up protecting the basket with his incredible jumping ability and intimidating raw power. No big man in the league defends the paint better than Superman II.

2) KEVIN GARNETT, Boston Celtics, forward
When KG joined the Boston Celtics in 2007, the Celtics instantly became the best defensive team in the league. Garnett is a unique talent who covers a lot of ground with his length, but he plays with tremendous passion and intensity that filters down to his teammates. Garnett plays the pick-and-roll better than anyone in the Association, and is also an incredible weakside or help defender. He rarely plays out of position on defense, and he never backs down from a challenge. When given the opportunity, he certainly can defend all five positions.

3) RON ARTEST, L.A. Lakers, forward
Age may have robbed Artest of his quickness but definitely not his power. Ron-Ron uses his hands very well, and he has extremely strong hands. At 250 pounds, he likes to put his body on opposing scorers to take away their air space and thrives on physical contact. But his biggest strength is probably his reputation, as most players are afraid to go at him.

4) TABO SEFOLOSHA, Oklahoma City Thunder, guard
If basketball fans can flashback to the 2006 NBA playoffs, that was the year we were introduced to Thabo and his defensive prowess. As a rookie with the Chicago Bulls, Sefolosha gave Dwyane Wade fits with his quickness and length. One team who was paying attention to Sefolosha’s defense was the Thunder, who picked him up in the 2008-09 season and he has become a regular starter with OKC. Because Sefolosha doesn’t “wow!” anyone with his stats, he tends to get overlook by the media. But you ask all the great scorers in the league, from Kobe Bryant to D-Wade, they’ll agree that Thabo is a first-team all-defender.

5) KIRK HINRICK, Chicago Bulls, guard
Suns coach Alvin Gentry says that Kirk Hinrich is the best on-ball defender in the league. That’s high praise for a guy who doesn’t get enough credit for his ability to make it extremely tough on perimeter players to score. Call it The Hinrich Maneuver. Just ask Wade, who always struggles against the former Bull and current Hawk. Atlanta became a much better defensive team when they acquired Hinrich.

6) GERALD WALLACE, Portland Trail Blazers, forward
Wallace finished 13th in the rebounds (10.0) in 2009-10, which is very impressive for a small forward. He also ranked 17th in steals (1.5) and 42nd in blocks (1.09) that season. He earned the nickname “Crash” for his penchant for crashing to the floor, the stands and the basket padding. Wallace is a solid one-on-one defender, but he is even better as a weak-side defender. His stats were down in 2010-11, but that was mainly because he moved to a new team and he is barely getting used to Nate McMillan’s system. Give him a full year and he should fill up the stat sheet.

7) KOBE BRYANT, L.A. Lakers, guard
Because of injuries and wear-and-tear on the body, Kobe has lost some of his aggressiveness on defense. But when Phil Jackson needs to apply the glove on an opposing team’s scorer, he often calls on No. 24. Bryant’s best attribute is his preparation and intelligence. He does his homework off the court and scouts his competition.

8) RUSSELL WESTBROOK, Oklahoma City Thunder, guard
During Team USA’s scrimmages in Las Vegas while they prepare for the FIBA World Championship, head coach Mike Krzyzewski teamed Westbrook and Rajon Rondo in the backcourt against a team comprised of college standouts. Westbrook and Rondo were so good defensively the collegians could barely get the ball past halfcourt. Westbrook is the point man of OKC’s defense. He sets the tone because of great ability to redirect an offensive player and his incredible skill to jump the passing lanes.

9) JOSH SMITH, Atlanta Hawks, forward
Smith has grown into a borderline All-Star player and his defense sets the tone for the Hawks. His former coach, Mike Woodson said, “You think back six years ago, Josh Smith has come a long way. I tip my hat to him because he’s worked over the years and has developed into a player.” Smith averages eight rebounds, nearly two steals a game and is one of the best shot-blockers in the NBA from the forward position.

10) JOAKIM NOAH, Chicago Bulls,
When Noah was sidelined with an injury, the Bulls struggled. When he returned, the Bulls became one of the beasts in the East. Noah plays with great energy and anchors the Bulls’ defense. He not only defends his position, but he also helps his teammates. He is among the league leaders in rebounds (10.4) and blocks (1.5) and loves to compete.