By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)
The Heat have never trailed 0-2 in a playoff series during the LeBron James era, but Sunday night, against a San Antonio team playing truly mesmerizing basketball, there were multiple occasions where it looked like that might happen. However, when you have the best player in the world, sometimes that’s all you need. In the second half alone, LeBron was 8-11 from the field for 22 points, shouldering the bulk of the scoring load to draw Miami back into the game in the third quarter and help put it away in the fourth.
The interesting thing was how James went about dominating the action in the second half. Unlike his usual big nights, which involve intimidating drives to the rim and thunderous finishes in transition, all 11 shots for James after halftime came from outside the paint (as shown on the shot chart below).
I took a look back at the video of all 11 shot attempts in the second half. Many of these were well-defended and it’s safe to say that earlier in his career, when his outside shooting was very much still a work-in-progress, LeBron would not have been able to achieve this level of success and the Heat would have fallen. It speaks to his level of commitment on improving his game that he continued to work on aspects of his play that were merely average, so that he could one day have nights like this. Let’s revisit these plays blow-by-blow.
SA 50, MIA 47, under 10 minutes, third quarter:
We see very good defense by Kawhi Leonard off a Mario Chalmers-James pick-and-roll. Leonard challenges the shot as best he can from a couple feet above the foul line but LeBron sinks it. This will be a theme. Ironically, Van Gundy makes the comment from the booth that this was James’ first jump shot of the game. It will not be the last, Jeff.
SA 62, MIA 56, under 6 minutes, third quarter:
This time it’s a Norris Cole-James pick-and-roll, but the Heat add a nice wrinkle by having Chris Andersen set a secondary screen on James’ defender, Boris Diaw. This action gives LeBron plenty of time to size up a wide-open three-pointer. Well drawn up by Erik Spoelstra and there’s are the little things a coach needs to do even when he has talented players. Are you watching Scott Brooks?
SA 62, MIA 59, under 6 minutes, third quarter:
On the next possession, the Heat set a down screen for LeBron but Diaw stays with him, remaining only a foot off him with the hand in the face. Still, James calmly rises up and sinks the 19-footer from the wing. He’s heating up.
SA 62, MIA 61, under 5 minutes, third quarter:
The LeBron onslaught continues as James brings the ball up-court and quickly pulls up from the top of the arc. Diaw had to stay a few feet off as it looked like James might be charging up for one of his runaway locomotive drives to the rim. This is around the time when the internet started digging into Diaw for giving up 8 straight points to LeBron, but I’m really not sure what he could have done differently.
MIA 65, SA 64, under 4 minutes, third quarter:
Bringing it up again, LeBron recognizes he has Manu Ginobili on him in transition. He crosses over but Ginobili does a nice job staying with him. Again, San Antonio has largely been playing solid defense each of these possessions. However, the size advantage for LeBron allows him to get off an easy mid-range jumper from the left wing. He, of course, drains it because James is currently a combination of being on fire from NBA Jam and having the invincibility star from Super Mario.
MIA 67, SA 64, under 4 minutes, third quarter:
James playing the point guard role once more, brings the ball across the timeline and immediately backs off Diaw with a couple power dribbles on the right wing, pulling up for a 20-footer. Buckets. He’s now 6-6 in the third quarter, all on jumpers. The internet is having a collective basketball orgasm.
MIA 69, SA 64, under 3 minutes, third quarter:
LeBron receives a pick from Andersen and the Spurs switch with Duncan meeting LeBron at the edge of the paint. James pulls up for a wild, off-balance shot from the elbow. A miss! He didn’t looked nearly as controlled in this shot attempt as the others this quarter. It appeared to be a case of his hot streak making him think he could throw up whatever he wanted rather than staying within his fundamental shooting stroke. I guess we’ll let it slide, 6-7 isn’t too bad.
MIA 83, SA 80, under 9 minutes, fourth quarter:
LeBron has Leonard back on him, as he’s turned away from him 20 feet from the basket on the right wing. James tries to break him down but Leonard has both the quickness to prevent the drive and the agility and length to challenge the ensuing shot on James’ step-back jumper. This is why Leonard is one of the top wing defenders in the league. It’s a second miss in a row, what’s going on? Is he cramping up?
SA 85, MIA 83, under 8 minutes, fourth quarter:
The Spurs back up and the crowd is going wild. The Heat try to run some screens to free LeBron but Leonard stays glued to him. Then, James basically holds the ball at the top of the key as the shot clock winds down. Terrible offense really, but LeBron rises up at the last moment and sinks the long jumper. When the best player in the world is feeling it, you can overcome some bad offense.
SA 87, MIA 85, under 7 minutes, fourth quarter:
We see more great defense from San Antonio on this possession including Tim Duncan staying with Ray Allen off a switch. Unfortunately for the Spurs, later in the action, a Chalmers-James pick-and-roll frees LeBron for a good look at a three-pointer from the left wing before Leonard can recover. James drains it and mean-mugs for the San Antonio crowd as the Heat go back on top. This is the defining sequence of the game in my mind.
MIA 90, SA 90, under 4 minutes, fourth quarter:
LeBron has the much smaller Tony Parker and tries to back him down from the left wing. Parker does a good job holding his ground and forces James toward the baseline. LeBron throws up an off-balance shot while fading out-of-bounds, which draws back iron. James seemed to think he had to take advantage of the size mismatch and shoot regardless of the fact that Parker played solid defense. It would be his last field goal attempt of the night.
SA 93, MIA 92, minute and a half remaining, fourth quarter:
Of course, in true LeBron fashion, his biggest play on a night where he was scorching hot from the field was actually a play where he passed the ball. After a Chalmers pick frees James to get into the lane, Duncan is forced to help and LeBron finds Chris Bosh wide-open in the corner. Bosh sinks the shot to put the Heat up two (part of what was a very impressive last couple minutes for Bosh by the way), and Miami led the rest of the way.
If Bosh misses that wide-open shot, people are probably ripping LeBron for passing with the game on the line, despite everything else he did. But it went in, so he’ll be (rightfully) lauded as the unselfish superstar. The Spurs did nearly everything correctly Sunday night and win a game playing like they did the vast majority of the time. However, like with music, sometimes sublime improvisation tops flawless execution of a piece, and there’s no better maestro in the world than LeBron James.
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