LeBron James has been the subject of debate for much of the season due to his perceived inability to perform in the clutch, despite having a jaw dropping statistical season for one of the most dominant teams in the league.
He has been referred to by many as a choker and a second-tier closer.
On Saturday night at home against the Pacers, the opportunity to show late-game execution presented itself again as the world watched to see what James would do in the final moments of an intensely close contest.
After coming up with one key play after another down the stretch, James hit a vindicating 3-pointer to tie the game in regulation for the last of his 11 fourth-quarter points after struggling through much of the first three quarters.
He then defended and stripped Darren Collison of the ball on the final possession to send the game into overtime.
When it came down to the final possession in overtime, he stepped out of the way for Dwyane Wade.
From Joseph Goodman of Miami Herald: “It took every bit of the Heat’s star power to defeat the Pacers on Saturday at AmericanAirlines Arena. LeBron James provided the clutch shot in regulation. Dwyane Wade followed suit in overtime. The Heat tumbled clumsily through most of the game but still managed a 93-91 victory against the gritty Pacers, who had the look of a team with no intention of being blown away for the third time this season. The Heat defeated the Pacers by 35 and 15 points earlier this season but needed every second of four quarters and then some in the third meeting. Wade won the game with an off-balance 20-footer. The shot fell with 0.1 seconds left. “That’s as good as it gets,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. Wade paused to savor the shot then strutted to midcourt, pointing his outstretched hands to the court in a this-is-my-house gesture. “It had been awhile, so I didn’t know what to do,” Wade said. “I was kind of making it up as I go.”… Spoelstra said Wade took the final shot because of an eerily similar play in practice recently. “Who’s going to take the last shot? Whoever’s open,” Spoelstra said. But Wade, of course, was anything but open. He leaned into Paul George on the final shot in the hopes of drawing contract. No foul was called but the shot dropped.”
In the Western Conference, the race for the playoffs is getting even more intriguing as only five games separate the third seed and the 12th seed.
- Coming off an incredibly embarrassing loss to the Celtics, and with Nate McMillan on the hot seat to lose his coaching job, the Trail Blazers came out focused and defeated the Washington Wizards 110-99 to snap a four-game road skid. LaMarcus Aldridge was locked in for 30 points on 12-of-15 shooting and 10 rebounds while Raymond Felton controlled the game in the fourth quarter to score 10 of his 21 points. John Wall had 25 points and 8 assists in the losing effort.
- The Pistons continued the resurrection of their season for the fourth win in five games as they blew out the Raptors at home 105-86. Despite starting the season 4-20, they have since gone 11-6 to move within 3 1/2 games of the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. Rodney Stuckey and Brandon Knight had an efficient night as they combined for 39 points on 15-of-25 shooting and 15 assists. Just as Andrea Bargnani returned from a 20-game absence, the Raptors lost point guard Jose Calderon to a sprained ankle in the second quarter.
- News broke out Saturday that rookie sensation Ricky Rubio will miss the remainder of the season due to a torn ACL. His presence was missed as the Timberwolves dropped their second straight game at home to the Hornets 95-89. Chris Kaman led the charge with 20 points and Jarrett Jack added 17 for the Hornets who snapped their four-game losing streak. Kevin Love, who tweeted his prayers to Rubio, had 31 points and 16 rebounds while Nikola Pekovic added 21 points and 11 rebounds.
- The Rockets visited and defeated the Nets 112-106 in a surprisingly thrilling contest without starting point guards Kyle Lowry (high fever) and Deron Williams (right calf). Goran Dragic showed why he may be a starting point guard in the league as he led six players in double figures with 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting and eight assists. In three starts this season, Dragic has averaged 17.7 points on better than 55% shooting and nine assists. The Nets were led by Gerald Green who scored 26 points, including one incredible dunk that had the words “Gerald Green’s” trending on Twitter.
- James Harden is solidifying his status as the frontrunner for Sixth Man of the year as he scored 33 points to lead the Thunder over the lowly Bobcats 122-95. After suffering the second home loss of the season to the Cavaliers, the Thunder came out with great energy to shoot a season-high 63% from the field. Kevin Durant scored 26 points and Russell Westbrook added 23 points. The Bobcats continued being the Bobcats with an absolutely dismal record of 2-19 on the road, 5-34 overall.
- Chicago has won with or without various members of the starting lineup all season long, and Saturday night was no different as they cruised to a 111-97 victory over the Jazz despite playing without Joakim Noah (illness), Luol Deng (wrist), and Richard Hamilton (shoulder). Derrick Rose had 24 points and 13 assists, while Carlos Boozer led all scorers with 27 points. It was Kyle Korver, however, who provided the most surprising stat-line with a season-high 26 points, seven rebounds, and six assists. At 34-9, the Bulls have the best record in the NBA.
- Playing their seventh game in nine days without Jason Kidd (rest) and Brendan Haywood (ankle), a tired and old Dallas team lost to the Warriors 111-87. Monta Ellis had 20 points and eight assists, David Lee had 25 points and nine rebounds, and Nate Robinson provided 21 points off the bench. Stephen Curry tweaked his troublesome ankle once again but expects to play in the next game. The Mavericks have dropped eight of their last 10 games including seven straight on the road.
I don’t know that racking up stats against a Deron-less NJ proves much of anything about Dragic (actually, nearly losing to a Deron-less Lopez-less NJ is a negative, even without Lowry). Similarly, Harden loading up on stats against the Bobcats should have about as much effect on the Sixth Man of the Year Award as, well, this comment (not that Harden wouldn’t be a worthy winner, but it’s not because he dropped 32 on the worst team in the NBA).
It’s amazing how LeBron makes a 3 to send the game to overtime and still gets overrun by critics because he didn’t take the last shot in overtime too. Some people won’t be content until he scores all of Miami’s points himself. And then they’d criticize him for have a below-average number of assists. The focus on the last shot is getting tiresome at this point.
Dragic just performs at a high level any time he’s given a chance. The other two starts were against OKC earlier this season. He also averaged 13 points, eight rebounds and eight assists in five starts last season as well.
For Harden, it’s the second 30 point game in the past three games. Not easy to do coming off the bench.
Totally agree on James. Thanks for reading and happy Sunday 🙂