Thunder Vs. Heat, 2012 NBA Finals Game 1: Oklahoma City Battles Back For 105-94 Victory Over Miami

The Miami Heat were unable to close out Game 1 of the 2012 NBA Finals and allowed the Oklahoma City Thunder to pick up a 105-94 victory. The Heat led by as many as 13 points in the second quarter before squandering that permanently with 16 seconds left in the third quarter. The Thunder were unstoppable in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Heat 31-21 on the way to the 11-point victory.

Kevin Durant led the way for the Thunder with 36 points on 12-of-20 shooting. He nailed 4-of-8 three-pointers and contributed eight rebounds. Russell Westbrook nearly pulled off a triple-double, scoring 27 points, dishing the ball out for 11 assists and grabbing eight boards. Durant and Westbrook combined for 41 points after halftime, outscoring Miami's entire roster (40).

Thabo Sefolosha and Nick Collison had solid defensive games, especially in the fourth quarter, with the latter grabbing 10 rebounds.

LeBron James scored 30 points and had nine rebounds for the Heat, but the team shot just 46.2 percent from the field. The Thunder hit 51.9 percent of its shots. Dwyane Wade was second on the team with 19 points and Shane Battier, who was instrumental in the Heat's early lead, added 17 points.

Game 2 of the NBA Finals stays at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City and will be played at 9:00 p.m. ET on Thursday. Will Oklahoma City take a 2-0 series lead?

For more on the Heat, head over to Peninsula Is Mightier and SB Nation Tampa Bay. For Thunder news and notes, visit Welcome To Loud City. And for news, analysis and everything else revolving around the NBA Playoffs, be sure to visit SB Nation's NBA page.

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Pacquiao Vs. Bradley Results: Timothy Bradley Wins Shocking, Controversial Split Decision

Coming into tonight's HBO pay-per-view bout between Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley, I had predicted Bradley would take the upset decision. However, I didn't see it going down like it did.

Manny Pacquiao seemed to dominate the fight against Timothy Bradley from the opening round. While there were a few (3-4) rounds that seemed like the could be scored for Bradley, it seemed impossible by the time the final bell had sounded that Tim had done nearly enough to take a decision, but that's exactly what happened.

Pacquiao's key punch the entire fight was the hard straight left hand and his powerful blows were certainly more telling than Bradley's much lighter shots. Beyond the quality and power of the shots landed, Pacquiao dominated in terms of actual punches landed and accuracy.

While Bradley was more than willing to exchange and get into ill-advised firefights, the fight appeared to clearly not be going his way.

However, when the official scorecards were read, after the first 115-113, Michael Buffer said "Pacquiao", which meant we had a split decision. The next card was 115-113 for Bradley. Despite all certainty that the final card would see Manny's hand raised, Buffer once again said Bradley, giving Tim the split decision win.

It's a shocking result and one that makes very little sense given Manny's status as the "money fighter" in the bout. Normally the robberies go to the guy whose win brings in more money for the promoters, but that wasn't what happened tonight. Manny Pacquiao is a worldwide star, while Bradley is a lighter hitting, mostly unknown fighter who isn't really even a welterweight.

We'll have much more on the shocking result of this fight over the coming hours and days. So keep your browser locked in.

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Pat Riley And Alonzo Mourning Seem Thrilled

So, Pat Riley and Alonzo Mourning, what are your thoughts on Game 1 of the 2012 NBA Finals?

Figured that'd be your reaction, guys.

(via @bomani_jones).

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Pacquiao Vs. Bradley Results Live: Round 12

Timothy Bradley and Manny Pacquiao came out for the last round of their welterweight title clash having put on a very entertaining scrap, but one that seemed pretty one-sided in the favor of Pacquiao.

Bradley threw a combination right away but Pacquiao was still keeping his gloves up.

Bradley did achieve some sort of moral victory for getting through the fight without getting knocked out (or even down), but it was basically impossible for me to see any way that Bradley hadn't lost the fight.

But through the final round, he was still throwing punches with the intent to land and hurt, and deserves credit for that.

The bout came to an end right after both men swung a combination.

Both men raised their arms, but Bradley didn't look like he really believed it.

Round: 10-9 Bradley
Fight: 117-111

Manny Pacquiao wins the fight on the SBNation scorecard.

Official Scorecards: 115-113 Pacquiao, 115-113 Bradley, 115-113 Bradley

TIMOTHY BRADLEY WINS BY SPLIT DECISION!

This is a crazy result. I can't believe this. Much more coming on this.

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Netherlands Vs. Germany, Euro 2012: Oranje About To Get Juiced

The Netherlands can't afford to lose on Wednesday, and depending on what happens in the early game, they might need a win against Germany to reasonably stay alive in Euro 2012.

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The Netherlands and Germany were clear-cut favorites to advance from Group B before Euro 2012 began. Denmark and Portugal are quality teams, but they really weren't supposed to contend with the big two. Then, Germany needed a late header from a previously poor striker to steal a 1-0 win, while the Netherlands were outplayed in a 1-0 loss to Denmark.

Germany are still in good shape even though they didn't look anywhere near as good as expected, but the Netherlands are in need of a result on Wednesday to keep their quarterfinal hopes alive. A draw gives them a chance, but unless Portugal defeats Denmark outright earlier in the day, it wouldn't give them a lot. They're going to need to be aggressive against Germany.

This could mean that Bert van Marwijk abandons the strategy that got him to the Euros without incident, as well as to a World Cup final. His team needs goals, and they need a midfielder who can pass from deep positions. Nigel De Jong and Mark van Bommel could very well walk out of the tunnel on Wednesday evening, but don't be surprised of one of them -- that would be De Jong -- is left on the bench. Whether Rafael van der Vaart moves back or Kevin Strootman enters, it wouldn't be surprising to see the Dutch make some sort of attacking change.

If Germany was at their best, this might be a risky move. And considering both how good Mesut Özil has been and how well Holland's double pivot shut down Christian Eriksen, it's probably a risky move no matter what. But it's considerably less risky than it would be against the best version of Bastian Schweinsteiger. Germany's star midfielder hasn't looked like himself since he broke his collarbone in February, and it was fairly obvious in Germany's game against Portugal that they'd be better served with Lars Bender providing some energy, or Ilkay Gündogan helping them to keep the ball.

Joachim Löw is loyal to his starters, however, and he's almost certainly going to stick with the same 11-man team that defeated Portugal. Van Marwijk is considerably less likely to do the same.

Key matchup - Philipp Lahm vs. Arjen Robben

Lahm is one of the best fullbacks in the world, but he plays right back for Bayern Munich. He's spent plenty of time as a left and right back for both club and country, but looked a little bit out of place for Germany against Portugal. He'll need to be on his game against his club teammate and the Netherlands' most dangerous player. Robben gets (fairly) criticized for being too selfish with the ball, but even though that causes him to squander chances, he still has absurd pace and dribbling skills. With all due respect to Wesley Sneijder and Robin van Persie, he's Holland's biggest attacking threat.

Is Mats Hummels the best defender in the world?

On the evidence of his performance against Portugal, probably. Thiago Silva doesn't get the benefit of playing in competitive matches this summer, so we'll be nice and not allow Hummels to pass him in the awesome defender pecking order, but it's getting close. Van Persie was solid, but wasteful against Denmark, and is going to have a tough matchup with Hummels. The Dutchman might be a little physically overmatched, which leads to another question.

Is it time to unleash the Hunter?

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar made the entire Bundesliga look bad week after week with his performances for Schalke this season. He has 31 goals in 54 appearances for his country. It's tough to bench van Persie, and the Netherlands need a passer in midfield more than they need another forward, but Huntelaar might be worth introducing into the game. He doesn't have anywhere near the technical quality or tactical awareness of van Persie, but he's physically imposing and he finds the net when his team doesn't look like they're going to create anything.

Projected Netherlands Lineup (4-2-3-1): Maarten Stekelenberg; Jethro Willems, Ron Vlaar, John Heitinga, Gregory Van Der Wiel; Mark van Bommel, Nigel De Jong; Ibrahim Afellay, Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben; Robin van Persie

Projected Germany Lineup (4-2-3-1): Manuel Neuer; Philipp Lahm, Holger Badstuber, Mats Hummels, Jerome Boateng; Sami Khedira, Bastian Schweinsteiger; Lukas Podolski, Mesut Özil, Thomas Müller; Mario Gomez

Monty the Psychic Metal Disk says: De Jong and van Bommel: "Death to Özil!" Lukas Podolski: "lol I ain't even mad tho." 1-0 Germany.

Game Date/Time: Wednesday, June 13th, 2:45 p.m. ET, 9:45 p.m. local

Venue: Metalist Stadium, Kharkiv, Ukraine

TV: ESPN (U.S. - English), ESPN Deportes (U.S. - Spanish), ITV 1 (U.K.), TSN (Canada)

Online: ESPN3

For more on the entire world of football, follow @SBNationSoccer on twitter.

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Pacquiao Vs. Bradley Results And Post-Fight Analysis

I have watched a lot of boxing in my life and have seen more than my fair share of robberies. When Paul Williams was given a gift decision over Erislandy Lara, it felt wrong but predictable. When Tavoris Cloud got an undeserved win over Gabriel Campillo, it was the same. Even Brandon Rios over Richard Abril (to complete the hat trick of fairly recent robberies I can remember in my post-fight haze) made sense.

But Timothy Bradley getting the nod over Manny Pacquiao in a fight that Pacquiao appeared to very clearly win makes no sense in the typical line of boxing thinking.

Timothy Bradley's biggest fight prior to this was against Devon Alexander in what was supposed to be a massively important fight but instead turned out to be a complete box office flop. He is not a draw whereas Pacquiao is one of the world's biggest superstars. The close calls go the way of the superstar, that's just how the sport works. It's not because of people getting "paid off" or anything quite so nefarious. It's usually just that these things affect the judges. They know a guy, they pay more attention to him, it makes everything they do seem bigger and better ... etc.

The Tim Bradley's of the world don't get their hand raised in robberies. My mind is blown.

On to some quick hit thoughts on the night's action:

• Given that these two are going to have a rematch, Bradley's focus has to be on dealing with the straight left hand of Pacquiao. He made a few nice adjustments to get that punch to stop landing with the frequency it was, but it was still Manny's best shot through the entire first half of the bout. His lack of power against Manny's heavy hands will remain an issue the second time around, however.
• Yes, the calf stretching thing before the start of the main event was weird, but the timing of it all was close to in line with what is expected in major boxing PPV's. As I said all week, main event fights usually start right around midnight. Mayweather vs. Cotto got going right around 11:50, Pacquiao vs. Marquez at 11:47. When Jorge Arce vs. Jesus Rojas ended early, I tweeted for people to get ready for 45 minutes of time being killed. This was before the whole "where's Manny?" bit and then finding out that he was stretching out. Camps tend to have plans based around certain start times and that appears to have been the case here. It wasn't so much that he made everyone wait as it was that the fight before ended early, creating a weird time gap and Manny simply wasn't ready to go yet.
• One thing I hope doesn't happen here is that Bradley gets treated like the "bad guy." He didn't turn in the scorecards. If anything, he deserves a lot of credit for turning in a gutsy performance and not quitting despite seeming to be outgunned and having hurt his foot/ankle early in the fight. He never stopped battling and deserves a lot of credit for the way he fought.
• It's a real shame the Jorge Arce vs. Jesus Rojas fight was stopped on the odd fouls and injury in the second round. That was setting up to be a typical Arce-style barnburner.
• Mike Jones was failing in so many different ways before getting KO'ed by Randall Bailey. Jones was supposed to be in the "showcase" position, but fought a horrible, boring fight. He may have been winning, but no one was going to be interested in watching him fight again when it was all over with. Getting KO'ed on top of that performance could actually be the end of Jones getting chances on big stages.
• How cool is it that Randall Bailey won a title tonight? You could go into a whole discussion about what titles are legitimate and all that, but, watching Bailey break down in tears after winning, you need to understand that these titles have very real meaning to the men fighting for them.
• Guillermo Rigondeaux is really good and Teon Kennedy was nowhere near his level. With all of tonight's drama, that opening fight feels like it was days ago. Still, quite the showing for Rigondeaux.

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Euro 2012 Teams As Former US Presidents

Have you ever wondered which former US President best suits each team at Euro 2012? If so, you're weird. Fortunately(?), we are too.

Group A

The Czech Republic are Ulysses GRANT. Probably don't really deserve to be here, play like a bunch of incompetent drunks most of the time. In their rare moments of collective sobriety they're not so bad.

Greece are William Henry HARRISON. Very dead, very fast.

Poland are Jimmy CARTER. Well regarded, cool, intelligent, have never really done anything and presumably never will.

Russia are Andrew JACKSON. A life of hardship on the frontier has turned them into brutal, badass killing machines. Except for Aleksandr Kerzhakov, for some reason. They should have beaten him more as a child. Remember kids: In Soviet Russia, hickory olds you.

Group B

Denmark are James K. POLK. Unfancied at the beginning, it's obvious that Denmark are a much more competent outfit than people realised. Knew what they needed to do, did it, and now the Group of Death is going to give them cholera.

Germany are Thomas JEFFERSON. Nobody agrees quite how good they are, but everyone's pretty sure that they're really, really good. Like Jefferson, they should probably replace an injured Bastian Schweinsteiger.

The Netherlands are Harry TRUMAN. Everyone says they're great, but that's only because they're scared that the Dutch will retaliate with the nuclear option of having Nigel de Jong kick you in the face.

Portugal are Teddy ROOSEVELT. Pretty cool, fun, and reasonably effective. The only problem? They should be even better. Cristiano Ronaldo is a pretty big stick.

Group C

Croatia are John ADAMS. Pretty good, I suppose, but everyone wants to believe that they're great. Problem is, nobody can really remember anything awesome they've done except beat England ages ago. Fathered Luka Modric, who, hopefully, will someday become President.

Ireland are Millard FILLMORE. I forgot they were even here for ages. Sorry, Ireland!

Italy are Richard NIXON. [Redacted]

Spain are William Howard TAFT. They've got far, far too much going on in the middle.

Group D

England are James MONROE. Really would prefer it if the rest of the world went away and left them alone. Failing that, will pretend it's true anyway.

France are James MADISON. Generally very good, but perhaps remembered most for earlier glories. They regret not doing more in a low-key, inconclusive war against England.

Sweden are Herbert HOOVER. Good ideas, abysmal timing and execution. Zlatan Ibrahimovic is a big believer in the Efficiency Movement, which should totally be a two-piece band featuring him and Dimitar Berbatov.

Ukraine are John F. KENNEDY. Andriy Shevchenko is a beautiful, beautiful man. JFK was a beautiful, beautiful man. Science!

Other

Belgium are Alexander HAMILTON. Not really supposed to be on this list but too awesome not to mention.

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