Thunder Take Game 1, Send Pat Riley Into His Own Personal Hell

Bless you, Pat Riley. For all your maniacal tendencies and consistently omnipresent persona, you're just willing to put yourself out there in the Chesapeake Energy Arena crowd and subject yourself to a first-hand view of the Thunder's gripping comeback in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Kevin Durant chipped in 17 4th-quarter points and Russell Westbrook posted a fearsome statline with 27 points, 11 assists, eight rebounds, and a most un-Westbrook two turnovers.

LeBron James had 30 points and nine rebounds for the Heat, but there were no missed final-minute shots that would've changed the outcome in any major way, not for him or any member of the Heat. (Won't someone think of The Narrative!) As excellent as the Thunder's second-half comeback was, it didn't feel as if the Heat blew the game in any way. It felt more like the Thunder just played better in the second half than the Heat did in the first, and that really was it. How refreshing to have a result where two evenly matched teams play their best and one just ekes ahead in the final minutes. If we get six more games of this, it doesn't matter who the eventual champion will be. We'll all win.