Anyone who knows me knows that I am an avid LeBron James supporter. I defended his decision to go to Miami, his ‘Decision’ TV Special (every penny made from that went to charity; although it might have been unnecessary there were good intentions behind it), and his not so great playoff runs in his final year with Cleveland as well as last year with Miami. And while this is only the Heat’s 11th game of the season, the last two games have been more of the same from LeBron, moreso tonight’s game in LA facing off against the Clippers, which was the best game I’ve seen thus far this year…
For a stretch of 16:12, spanning from the end of the third quarter to the middle of overtime, neither team led by more than two points… back and forth in its most literal sense. LeBron got fouled by DeAndre Jordan with 16 seconds left in regulation with a chance to tie the game… he made one of two free throws. 11 seconds later, James gets another opportunity at the stripe, this time for an opportunity to give them the lead… he makes one of two. The second free throw would have changed the game, as OT would not have happened if he made the shot. Before this sequence even occurred, James fouled Chauncey Billups on a 3-pointer, and Billups, not surprisingly, hit all three free throws to turn an 84-83 lead into an 86-84 deficit. And in overtime? 0-3 with a turnover… not exactly what you would expect from the team’s top player.
Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh didn’t come through either, and normally I’d bring that up to defend LeBron, but it doesn’t matter tonight. LeBron had multiple opportunities to win the game for Miami. Not one, not two, not three… you get where I’m going with this. He didn’t deliver. He had 23 points, 13 rebounds and 7 assists. Great statistical game, but he had opportunities to win the game and he failed. Like I said, it’s only the 11th game of the season. I still love LeBron and he’s got a lot of time to get over his late-game jitters before June, which I’m hopeful that he will do.. But as much as I’ve defended LeBron over the past six years, I can’t… not tonight.
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