"The Heat are in trouble because of all the woulda, coulda and shouldas that defined Games 2 and 4. The Heat gave away -- or some would say the Mavs expertly stole -- those two games. It is said that a seven-game series is long, but it's not long enough to afford such missteps."
-Brian Windhorst, ESPN.com
"But overall, 17 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists and a blocked shot is a good performance. Not great. Not ideal because it came with four turnovers and only featured two free throw attempts, but to start calling him out or blaming him for this one is kind of dumb. He also played a good portion of the game either without Dwyane Wade (who only played 34 minutes) or without a completely healthy Wade. And in that stretch, he kept the team afloat despite being the single focus of the Mavericks defense."
-Israel Gutierrez, Miami Herald
"Even with the Mavs hitting crazy shots, Miami would have won if the LeBron we expected had shown up. James’ subpar offensive efficiency is the main differentiator in the box score. It’s a recurrent theme: James is averaging 17.2 points and 3.2 free throw attempts in the Finals -- that’s nice. He averaged 25.8 and 8.8, respectively, against Chicago -- that’s awesome.
"And right now, that’s the difference. LeBron being good isn’t good enough. Miami needs great, and it's not getting it. With King James, the Heat will still win this series. But if Viscount James keeps showing up, they’re dead meat."
-John Hollinger, ESPN.com
"Still, LeBron James hasn't lost these Finals. He hasn't lost this series. Now, winning could be bigger than ever. He's set himself up for one of the great, great victories in NBA history or one of the biggest flops ever seen. Never in-between with him, never halfway."
-Adrian Wojnarowski, Yahoo Sports
"If the Heat lose this series, the country will go into a giant spasm of moral preening the likes of which we haven't seen since Cokie Roberts had to tell her kid about Bill Clinton's dick. It's going to be awful. We're going to turn LeBron into a national sermon on the wages of narcissism. We're going to edit these finals into a highlight reel of Humility dunking all over Ego. We're going to be a country of Joe Liebermans, all freaking summer long. If there is a reason to root against the Mavs, this is it."
-Deadspin
"88 Lakers, 94 Rockets, 10 Lakers all were down 3-2 and won Games 6 and 7. It can be done, easily."
-Mike Prada, SBNation.com
