His Royal Heat-ness

This was an eagerly-anticipated match-up between the scond and third-best teams in the NBA. It was also a repeat of last season's NBA Finals. It was also a match-up between two of the hottest stars in the NBA right now: LeBron James and Kevin Durant.

However, it turned out to be a rather one-sided contest. In Oklahoma City Thunder's sold-out Chesapeake Energy Arena, the defending world champions produced a near-perfect performance to leave the aspiring Thunder in their wake. This wasn't even close. The Heat stormed ahead with a strong first quarter (32-17) and never looked back. The Thunder did their level-best to rally, particularly in the 4th quarter, but every time they deigned to pull the deficit back to a catchable single digit, the Heat always came up with something big - a dagger in the soul - to quench the home team's fires.

Perhaps, this game ultimately showed why the champions have reached the Promised Land and the chasers have not. Miami displayed the teamwork and heart of a champion, digging deep when it mattered and sharing the ball intelligently. The Thunder, on the other hand, went desperate when they fell significantly behind and resorted (embarrassingly) to indiviudual, one-on-one antics from their star players Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, leading to tons of wild shots and costly turnovers. It was like the two stars just could not take the fact that their team was down so much and took things into their own hands, forcing the issue and ultimately proving their team's downfall.

There would be no better time for the defending champions to re-assert their authority over would-be challengers - heading right into the All-Star break. The only minor negative for Erik Spoelstra's team was the fact that superstar LeBron James did not continue his amazing streak of six straight games scoring 30 and above while shooting 60% and better from the field. He did score above 30 alright (39) but came up a tad short on his FG% (58.3%), and that only because he hurled up a long, improbable three-pointer late in the 4th quarter when the game was already decided. But he could smile about this one. The rest of the league, however, had better worry. The reigning champions are getting better.