Nice job by the NBA of turning these around so quickly…
Tag: 2011 NBA Playoffs (Page 3 of 16)
It was funny listening to the pregame show. With the way Mike Wilbon and Jon Barry were talking, you’d think that the Mavs were blown out of Game 2 and were facing elimination. Now, a few hours later, the series is tied and the Mavs will have a chance to take a 3-2 lead at home on Thursday. That would put the Heat the position of having to win both Game 6 and Game 7, which is no easy feat, even at home.
The Mavs have showed resilience throughout the Playoffs, and on a night when their shots weren’t falling, they really turned up the defense in the fourth quarter. Miami scored just five points in the final seven minutes. Dirk Nowitzki, who was battling a fever, struggled to 21 points on 6-of-19 shooting, but Jason Terry, Shawn Marion and Tyson Chandler picked up the slack, combining for 46 points in the win.
Get ready for LeBron “shrinkage” overload, as the Heat forward went just 3-for-11 from the field for eight points. He also had eight rebounds and seven assists, but that will largely go unnoticed given the criticism he has taken for his lack of assertiveness in the clutch. The Heat are letting Dwyane Wade handle the ball down the stretch and despite his 32 points on the night, he wasn’t effective in the final seven minutes. For his part, Chris Bosh was very solid with 24 points and six rebounds.
The X-factor tonight was Chandler. He nine offensive rebounds (16 total), including three in the final 3:16 to give the Mavs extra possessions, which allowed Dallas to drain the clock further when they finally got the lead.
After Game 3, Gregg Doyel of CBSSports.com raised a few eyebrows with his assertion that LeBron was shrinking from the moment in the Finals.
LeBron (and the rest of the Heat) finished Game 2 poorly, and by deferring to Dwyane Wade at the end of Game 3, people have started to question his assertiveness in the clutch. This seems odd to me with the way that LeBron has closed games in these Playoffs, at times single-handedly finishing off the Bulls and Celtics in earlier rounds.
So I fired up the NBA Stats Cube to find LeBron’s clutch stats to see how he compares to the other superstars in these Playoffs. I only included stars that made the Conference Finals so that we had a big enough sample size for each player. The “clutch” is defined as five minutes or less remaining in the game with the score within five points. The stats are “Per 36 Minutes” so that a fair comparison can be made between two players with vastly different clutch minutes.
What does this table tell us? Well, even with his game-tying miss at the end of Game 3, Dirk Nowitzki (52.2 points, 57% shooting) is playing out of his mind in the clutch. But back to LeBron — his numbers look like they’re the second-best in the postseason. He’s averaging more points and is shooting at a higher rate than the so-called “closer” on his team, Dwyane Wade. Derrick Rose scored a few more points, but shot at a lower percentage and wasn’t doing it on the defensive end like LeBron has. (LeBron’s 4.2 blocks plus steals are the most of any player on this list. No one else is over 2.8 combined.)
I don’t have a problem with LeBron playing the role of facilitator in the clutch. He’s not the greatest one-on-one player; his pull-up jumper isn’t money and his three-point accuracy comes and goes, and he’s not getting to the line like he’s used to. While he didn’t score many points down the stretch in Game 3, he made the pass to the wide-open Chris Bosh on the baseline for what turned out to be the game-winning jumper. On the other end of the court, he has completely shut down the Mavs’ second-best scorer, Jason Terry.
We all know that LeBron didn’t come to Miami so that he could win a title by himself. He tried to do that in Cleveland and failed miserably. Every superstar needs help and LeBron has a lot of it now. Why are we surprised when he’s deferring to a red-hot teammate when the game is on the line?
It’s no secret that the Heat are under a microscope after all that transpired last summer, and while I was no fan of “The Decision,” I had no problem with LeBron wanting to team up with Wade and Bosh to try to win a championship. We criticize these athletes because winning isn’t as important to them as fame or fortune, yet when a player like LeBron puts himself in the best position to win multiple titles (even at the expense of personal accolades), we skewer him. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.
What LeBron did to the city of Cleveland was inexcusable. But since then all he’s done is try to win a title — what’s wrong with that?
Gregg Doyel of CBS definitely thinks he is.
Me, I’m wondering about James’ disappearance in the fourth quarter. He played all 12 minutes but took just three shots, making one, a front-running dunk after he took the ball from Shawn Marion from behind. You want a metaphor? You got one.
After that play, James took two shots the rest of the quarter. He was blocked by Marion with 1:15 left and the game tied at 86, then missed a 3-pointer that would have clinched the victory with 4.9 seconds left. When someone makes a movie of the fourth quarter, they can cast Rick Moranis as LeBron James and call it Honey, I Shrunk the Superstar.
That’s what I’ll remember about James from Game 3. His shrinkage, and how it continued a series of shrinkages. After three games in these NBA Finals, James has scored nine points in the fourth quarter. That’s total. That’s three points a game in the fourth quarter, which means in crunch time LeBron James becomes Joel Anthony.
I asked him about that after Game 3. I asked him, pretty much word-for-word, how come he hasn’t been playing like a superstar in the fourth quarter? What’s going on with that? James played the defensive-stopper card. That’s why he’s out there, you know. For his defense. He’s not a latter-day Michael Jordan. He’s a latter-day Dudley Bradley.
“I think you’re concentrating on one side of the floor,” James told me. “I’m a two-way player. All you’re looking at is the stat sheet.”
Game 3 was about Dwyane Wade the Closer, not about LeBron not taking enough shots. If he does try to take over the game and fails, the media would be all over him. Why are they just as critical when he defers to a hot teammate who has been there before?
Doyel does bring up a good point about LeBron and the officials.
Ah, yes. The whole stats-are-for-losers argument. Point taken. But you know what else is for losers? Whining about the officiating, which James has gotten (too) good at doing. He has started to get a bitter-beer face every time he wants a foul called. By my count it happened Sunday night eight times, seeing how James missed eight shots from the field.
I noticed this as well. Everytime LeBron misses a shot from the field (and even on his makes) he has something to say or a look for the refs. Superstars complain, but LeBron has taken it to another level of late — Kobe’s level. The Lakers’ superstar is unmatched in this regard.
But back to LeBron’s “shrinkage” — I don’t see a problem with the way he played down the stretch in Game 3. That’s part of having a great teammate like Dwyane Wade. Sometimes the other guy is going to be the Closer.
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