2+3=5

It looks like the Miami Heat are well on their way to winning the 2012 NBA Finals; It would be the championship they and all their fans' have been clamoring for ever since the " Big 3 " (LeBron/Wade/Bosh) came out on stage with the self proclamation of being the "Heatles",the NBA's version of the Beatles.Who by the way were considered America's best rock group of all time. After watching the first three games of these Finals, is this Heat team really the equivalent of said famous rock band? I think not. By all accounts the Heat have played well enough to win 2 of the 3 games played so far, but I can't help wondering what it would be like if the officiating was less intrusive. The no-call on Durant at the end of game 2 seemed to taint an outstanding performance by LJ and Wade. LeBron in particular. It would have been much easier to stomach had the ref's made the call sending Durant to the line,putting the pressure on KD to hit 2 free throws.Then no one could have argued whether or not the ref's did their job, or made such a bad no-call. As for game 3, you cannot lay blame at the feet of the ref's for OKC blowing a 10-point lead late in the third quarter;but you can blame the ref's for sending Durant to the bench with his 4th foul at the 5:41 mark. Which begs the question, if Durant is a league superstar,how does he have 4 fouls with more than a quarter to go,and LeBron has only 1 when the two were guarding each other? Did OKC miss free-throws? Yes. Did they start playing one-on-one instead of moving the ball from side to side? Yes to that too. But when a team goes to the free-throw line 35 times in one game compared to 24 or 26 (not sure which), I understand home-cookin' is in effect,but that is absurd! Now I understand what Ravens' linebacker Ray Lewis was upset about after losing to the Steelers' a couple of years' ago when he talked about letting the players decide the game. If players' are held accountable for their performances good or bad,so to should the officials. Unlike the Emperor in the movie " Gladiator ", the Heat need no extra help.

As for OKC,Scott Brooks must now realize that in order for his team to have a chance at winning despite the officiating, he can't remain loyal to Kendrick Perkins at the expense of victories for his team.Brooks must go small and stay small.As was the case in the Spurs' series, Perkins' is an unfortunate liability. Brooks does not need to send double teams; the Heat shot well below 40% outside the paint. Not only that, you can see the confidence of OKC starting to fade listening to the post-game comments of Durant.After games 1&2 of this series,Durant was very politically correct in his reponses to the media. Not so after game 3. Saying sarcastically," I went to the line twice(in the 4th) making 1 of 2." How Durant was not in the game at crucial moments baffles me. In the end, games 2 & 3 could arguably have decide this series.That why it pains me to say this series could be over in 5. Due to the fact that the officiating for this Finals is like a box of chocolates....... You just don't know what the !$#^ you're going to get.