It’s been an especially long year for Miami Heat – LeBron James in particular.
Starting with the circus surrounding his signing with the Heat last summer and spanning into Game 5 of the NBA Finals Thursday, James has been going non-stop since he dropped the bomb on the NBA last July.
It seems, looking at his performances versus the Dallas Mavericks, that LeBron may be running out of gas. He’s far less active on the offensive end compared to the previous series and mustered just 11 shots (hitting only three of them) in Game 4’s loss in Dallas Tuesday.
James is 26 for 56 from the floor in the finals, averaging just 14 shots over those four contests. Looking at the previous two series, it seems he’s sucking wind as the finals get into - to take a page from boxing - the championship rounds.
He was 42 for 94 in the five games versus the Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference finals, averaging just under 19 shots a game. And, against the Boston Celtics in the second round, James went 51 for 108 during the five-game series, hoisting an average of 21.6 shots per outing.
Credit must be given to the Mavericks and their defense, which is the main reason they’ve been able to get over the hump in the Western Conference and complete so many miraculous comebacks this postseason. But scorers like LeBron don’t dip this low just because of guys like Shawn Marion and Deshawn Stevenson.
An elite scorer should score as many points from the field as they have attempts. When you factor in the ability to get to the foul line and knock down free throws, James production is dismal. He only went to the line four times in Game 4, hitting just two of those freebies.
James and the Heat have denied that their star player is tired or injured, with head coach Erik Spoelstra stating, “No, he’s physically fine. I just have to do a better job of making sure he’s in positions where he can be aggressive.”
But you can only buy the “slumping” excuse for so long, and as the series draws out, a long, long season, which unofficially started July 9, will continue to wear on the game’s greatest player.
The big question for James and Miami is what will happen first: Four wins or an empty tank?