History Will Blame LeBron For Finals Loss

James faces most blame for Finals loss

The Miami Heat lost the NBA Finals for a few reasons. The Dallas Mavericks made a ton of three-point shots in Games 5 and 6. No one could make a shot in the late fourth quarter of Game 2. Dwyane Wade missed a crucial free throw late in Game 4.

But LeBron James will bear a brunt of the blame for the Heat's loss to the Mavs. His hot streak in crunch time, which spanned the first three rounds of the playoffs, gave way to an epic slump when it counted the most. Those kill shots that hit the bottom of the net for James against Boston and Chicago did not go in against Dallas.

In the first three rounds of the playoffs, James shot 15 of 31 in the final five minutes of games with a five-point (or less) margin, including 5 of 10 from three-point range.

James was a 33% three-point shooter during the regular season. He was bound to get cold at some point.

And he did get cold, shooting 0 of 7 in similar situations in the Finals (including 0 of 5 from beyond the arc).

Meanwhile, the remainder of the Big Three did all they could to make up the difference. Dwyane Wade averaged 26.5 points and 5 assists a game during the Finals, while Chris Bosh averaged 18.5 points and 7.8 rebounds.

Both made their own mistakes in crucial moments of the Finals, but neither have been called the next Jordan, so history will not assign as much fault to them as it will James.

Is LeBron a choke artist? You could have said the same thing about Dirk Nowitzki after the 2006 NBA Finals and the Mavs' inglorious first-round exit in the 2007 playoffs, but clearly that didn't stop him in the long run.

Beyond LeBron, Erik Spoelstra could see his share of blame for some of his personnel moves. Why did Mike Bibby get so much playing time even when he was showing he was too slow to cover JJ Barea? Why did Chris Bosh guard Dirk Nowitzki in crunch time in Game 2? Spoelstra may be facing a long summer of sportswriters wondering whether he is on the hot seat, thanks to Miami's flameout in the Finals.

But the unfortunate fact underlying Miami's Finals loss is that the one player Heat fans had hoped to count on in crunch time, LeBron James, could not make the shots necessary to win in too many key situations.

David Hill is a Miami native and the former owner of a youth replica Rony Seikaly jersey.

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