“I played like —-.”
LeBron James was as blunt as ever as he spoke to the media Wednesday follow the Miami Heat’s 113 – 77 loss to the San Antonio Spurs in Game 3 of the NBA Finals. He did not shy away from blame, on the contrary, he took it all on the chin.
I take full responsibility for our team’s performance last night. Me as a leader, I can’t afford to perform like I did last night and expect us to win on the road, it’s that simple. So I’m putting all the pressure on my chest, on my shoulders to come through for our team. That’s the way it is.”
And, to a degree he is right. While he can’t take blame for everything—such as the terrible job his teammates did covering San Antonio three-point shooters Danny Green and Gary Neal or Mario Chalmers’ complete melt down—he was clearly not himself, especially on offense.
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Shot chart courtesy of NBA.com
James’ performance was atrocious. He shot an abysmal 7-of-21 from the field. Five of his seven makes came in the paint, where he shot 71-percent, but was 2-of-14 outside the painted area (just 14-percent).
That is a significant drop-off from the 42-percent that he shot on shots ranging from 10-feet to the three-point line during the regular season. He was 1-of-4 from beyond the arc in Game 3, a dismal 25-percent compared to the career mark of 40-percent that he set this year.
During the Heat’s post-practice media session, LeBron made it clear that he intends to play better in Game 4. The NBA posted his vow on the league Twitter account for all to see—so there won’t be any leniency should he fail to live up to his own words.
[blackbirdpieurl=”https://twitter.com/NBA/status/344903962450882560″]
While the Heat were practicing Wednesday morning, James could be seen posting from the right elbow—working on spin moves to the basket. So, one could easily surmise that he intends to make more of a concerted effort to have a presence in the post in Game 4.
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There was a problem connecting to Twitter. There was a problem with the blakbirdpie shortcodeTeammate Dwyane Wade seems confident that James will do what is necessary to have more of an impact in the next game.
There was a problem connecting to Twitter.Heat fans can only hope that he’ll follow through on his words and make the adjustments necessary to have a much more competitive Game 4 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio. If the Heat, and particularly LeBron James, fail to play more efficiently on offense (and continue to give up open threes on defense), there will not be a repeat champion in 2013.
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Reactions of NBA players and others from Game 3 of the NBA Finals
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Michael Brumagin is the “Tweet of the Day” columnist for Sheridan Hoops.