Ric Bucher's post on Basketball | Latest updates on Sulia

Russ Westbrook wants nothing more than to beat the Miami Heat. He might just want it too much. A league source who

knows Russ well believes that for the Thunder to avenge their loss to the Heat in last year's Finals, Westbrook can't go to his reflex, which is to take matters into his own hands when the game gets wobbly. It is a reflex that makes him both a great player and a highly criticized point guard. That's how he went at it in last year's finals and again on Christmas Day. "Russell has to trust his teammates more," the source said. "He does in most other games, but he just wants to win so bad against Miami, he doesn't as much." The Thunder are convinced they are, or can be, better than the team that went to the Finals last season and come out on top should they meet the Heat there again. For me, it rides on Serge Ibaka being the best big man on the floor, essentially outplaying Chris Bosh in a redux -- that is how they overcome the absence of James Harden. The two theories fit: Ibaka can only do that if Westbrook lets him.