We expected a series that would border on instant classic and so far, with the Miami Heat leading the Oklahoma City Thunder 2-1, the NBA Finals are sort of living up to those expectations. Truth is that both teams are having their moments of brilliance, while both teams are also having their moments of the complete opposite of brilliance. We’ll call them Bobcats moments.

Tonight’s Game 4 – once again at 9 PM ET on ABC – is the classic must win for the Thunder, as a 3-1 deficit to the Heat would be practically insurmountable. Will the Thunder be able to rise to the occasion and even the series at 2-2? Will LeBron James continue his unstoppable march to his first championship and Finals MVP? Will I continue to argue that Shane Battier is currently the Finals MVP? Will Joey Crawford allow Erik Spoelstra to play defense again?

Find out tonight as we chat it up once more.

And don’t forget to earn your FEAR THE BEARD badge by participating in tonight’s discussion. All you have to do to unlock it during the game is share the post on Twitter the helpful button at the bottom of the post or click the “like” button to share the open discussion on Facebook. If you don’t unlock the badge, we’re creating a Metta World Peace one to “accidentally” elbow you in the head.

With a 105-94 win on Tuesday night, Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder struck first against the Miami Heat, who held a double digit lead for the majority of Game 1. Was it Lebron James’ fault? What about Dwyane Wade? Maybe it was Juwan Howard screwing everything up like he did with last Saturday’s locker room dance party? Blame whoever you want, but at least we got a fantastic game out of it.

We’ll be back for another Live Discussion during Game 2 tonight, as I’ll make snarky comments about commercials that annoy me in between yelling at Chris Duhon when he walks into my bar, and maybe even Vince will stop by to mock our love of sports again. And we might have a very special guest stopping by, but he’s a very hard man to keep in touch with, so I can’t reveal the surprise just yet. But if he does show up, you’re all going to lose your minds and I’m actually quite terrified to see the result.

Nice blue balls, eh?

Coverage begins on ABC at 9 PM ET, but I’ll be here all day, so join me, make funny comments, and win With Leather t-shirts.

How To Unlock Badge:
Log into UPROXX (or create an account), Like or Tweet to unlock the Groucho Wade Badge, and share your participation in tonight’s discussion — then this bad boy is all yours.

Kevin Pritchard may be the new general manager of the Indiana Pacers, but he’ll always be “that dipsh*t who drafted Greg Oden over Kevin Durant” to me. I bring this up because as I was watching Durant absolutely destroy the Miami Heat in the 4th quarter of last night’s NBA Finals Game 1, I could only wonder, “Seriously, how big of a dick does Pritchard feel like?”

It goes without saying that Durant is an absolute god in Oklahoma City, because he’s just f*cking incredible. So it makes sense that a band wrote a song about him. Too bad that song is a parody of “Call Me Maybe”. And it’s too bad that the song includes this lyric:

“I’m so glad we drafted Fish”

I may have actually praised this effort if this ridiculously inept and ignorant line had never been written, but it was so I won’t. Alas, it has been written, recorded, and YouTubed, so it’s a viral sensation now. All I can do is include this GIF to make me forget it…

Music video after the jump, as well as the highlights of Durant going what I believe the kids call HAM.

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When Orlando Magic and eventual Brooklyn Nets center Dwight Howard agreed to sign his one-year extension to “let the Magic try to keep him”, a lot of people were pissed off at Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade when he made fun of Howard on Twitter for his overzealous use of the word “loyalty”. But bless their silly hearts, Magic fans – *points to self, frowns* – believed that Howard really was giving his team a shot until they eventually learned that he only signed the deal to avoid a deadline trade to the Los Angeles Lakers. Loyalty indeed.

So imagine the response of the Internets yesterday when people revealed that Adidas and the NBA have been selling a Dwight Howard “Loyalty” t-shirt all along. Yikes, talk about ironic. Even hipsters have a hard time purchasing that t-shirt online, donating it to the Goodwill and then begrudgingly buying it after they “find it” a few days later. But this shirt got me thinking: “What other absurd shirts could the NBA be pumping out to bilk devoted fans out of their hard-earned cash?”

*scratches spot on chin where hair would grow if he could grow facial hair, fires up Photoshop*

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I’m a big sucker for fan art – well, appropriate fan art – and that’s why I’ve been pounding my desk all morning over the news that the world’s biggest patent troll is going after Etsy’s new $40 million investment. But while soulless thieves are going after the sources of the Internet’s showcases for art and inspiration, they’ll thankfully never be able to crush the actual artists. At least not yet. I’m sure they’ll find a way eventually.

My Internet Artist of the Day of the Week goes to the guys at Double Scribble, a Tumblr site devoted to NBA fan art.

Double Scribble is the lovechild of basketball and art; two of Nick Kastner and Mike McGrath’s favorite things in the world. From the coldest, murkiest depths of Cleveland, OH (and now to some extent, some obscure part of North Carolina) Nick and Mike have forged a blog out of blood, sweat and tears in their unwavering vision to provide you, the viewer, with a never ending source of basketball related art.

And it’s pretty awesome. I’ve been shuffling back and forth through its archives since a friend emailed the link last week and there is just a ton of great artwork on this site that has really inspired me to consider re-launching my web comic series, “The Erotic Adventures of a Sports Blogger.” Spoiler alert: it’s sad and gross.

After the jump, I’ve included many of my favorite efforts of Double Scribble’s authors, but I encourage you to check out the submissions that they’ve posted from other artists as well. It’s a highly recommended worm hole to limit your productivity today.

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So I know that Kate Upton is old and busted and that Paulina Gretzky is the new hotness, but until Paulina trades in the PicsPlz for Skullcandy’s HD video cameras and starts hanging out with Kevin Durant instead of local stoners in Captain America hoodies we’re gonna keep waving the Kate Upton flag. Especially when it involves her on a bouncy ball.

In today’s news:

Forget take your kid to work day — today is Take a Supermodel to Work Day. Watch what happens when Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover model and member of Skullcandy Supermodel Crew, Kate Upton, goes to work with NBA superstars, and members of the Skullcandy NBA Crew, Kevin Durant and James Harden of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

And at one point Kate swings her elbows around and “accidentally” crushes James Harden’s headphones. Check out the video below.

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