LeBron Called Out After Game 4
MIAMI (CBSMiami.com) – After Game 3, CBSSports.com's Gregg Doyel questioned LeBron James about whether he was shrinking away from the moment in the fourth quarter of the NBA Finals. Doyel was roundly criticized, but after Game 4, his analysis may have been dead-on.
LeBron managed just 8 points in the Heat's 86-83 loss to the Mavericks in Game 4. It was the first time in 90 career playoff games, and his last 434 overall games, that James didn't reach double digits in scoring. Not only that, but he converted just 3-11 from the field and missed all his 3-point shots.
"The fact that it happened in a loss is the anger part about it," James said. "That's all that matters to me. If I'd have had eight points and we won the game…I don't really care about that. The fact that I could have done more offensively to help our team, that's the anger part about it for myself. But I'll come back in Game 5 and do things that need to be done to help our team win."
And Miami desperately needs him to come back strong in Game 5. Miami is 0-3 this postseason when James scores less than 15 points. Overall, the Cavs and Heat are 0-7 when James scores less than 15 points in a playoff game.
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"He struggled," Heat forward Chris Bosh said. "Point blank, period. He struggled out there and we've all done that at times in our careers, and it happens. But he's a resilient guy. For this team, I think we're back in our comfort zone. We're desperate again. We're going to have to do a better job and the pressure's on again."
But for the Heat, James has to do more than score. He has to drive hard to the basket and not be afraid to take the hard contact that will likely come his way. He has to get on the same page as Wade and both of them have to drive and get to the free throw line, but they also have to convert those free throws.
"I've got to do a better job of being more assertive offensively, not staying out of rhythm the whole game," James said.
And if the Heat is going to capture their second NBA championship, the entire team has to stay in rhythm and away from taking contested jump shots from the outside. Dallas is not at the level of the Heat, but the Heat need to show Dallas that for a whole game.
Because right now, Dallas has all the momentum and is now playing loose and aren't under any pressure. The pressure is all on Miami, and specifically LeBron.
Legends in sports answer the bell when everything is on the line. For LeBron, that time is now. If he comes back strong and leads the Heat to a title, he will ascend to the legendary status in the game.
On the flip side, if he continues his poor play and the Heat lose the NBA Finals; LeBron will be a great player who can't get it done in crunch-time.
Everyone will know once the final buzzer in Game 5 sounds if it's really a bad idea to anger LeBron, or if the moment was too big for him.
