There are so many ways to go after last night’s Game 5, as the entire complexion of the series has changed. You could make the argument that the Heat should’ve swept this series, but instead they face a 3 – 2 deficit heading home for one, maybe two games. After the first game of the series, I thought Miami would have an easy road. Then, they took their collective foot off the gas in the 4th quarter of Game 2 and I thought maybe that would come back to haunt them – and it has.
Let me take last night’s game team by team, starting with Dallas. Rick Carlisle’s decision in the last two games to start J.J. Barea and bring DeShawn Stevenson off the bench has proven to be genius and makes you wonder why that hasn’t been the case all along. Barea has the uncanny ability to get into the lane at will and established himself early on. He would go on to score 17 points and wreack havoc all night for Miami.
Jason Terry was also huge. After Game 3, he was asked by reporters if he’s having a tough time getting going because of the defense LeBron James was playing on him. Terry more or less laughed it off and basically said he’d like to see if LeBron can do it again. At the time, I thought that was complete lunacy that Terry was spewing, but it has proven to be anything but. He certainly backed up his talk by hitting clutch shot after clutch shot last night en route to his 21 points.
Then of course, there was Dirk. Stellar play once again from the former MVP. Udonis Haslem plays him the best in my opinion but he continues to fall for Dirk’s up fakes where he routinely gets called for the foul, sending Dirk to the line. Since these games start so late, a good way to speed up the action is to not allow Dirk to attempt his free throws. What’s the point? Not only is he going to make them but if he draws iron on his free tosses, I’m astounded. His shooting at the line has been nothing short of disgusting. Naturally, he was on with his regular field goal attempts as well. I don’t like when Bosh defends him because Dirk typically has his way. Before the series began, I said Spoelstra, who has shown his coaching immaturity throughout the series, should put LeBron on Dirk but that hasn’t happened with any consistency.
But the overarching takeaway from last night’s game for Dallas has to be their three point shooting. I didn’t mention Jason Kidd’s name, but in addition to his aforementioned teammates, the Mavs shot 68% from three, going 13 – 19. That’s incomprehensible and is what won the game for them. Obviously, that’s a much better percentage than teams normally shoot, so will they have that same good fortune in Miami?
Now on to the Heat. From the moment LeBron said he was joining the Heat, I declared that it was his team because he’s the bigger name, and the better all around player than Wade. That held true through the first three rounds of the playoffs, but that has done a complete 180 in the Finals. I have a new-found respect for Dwyane Wade after last night’s game. He Eurostepped himself right into Brian Cardinal and injured his left hip in the first half, but re-entered the game even though his return was ruled questionable. Despite the occasional grimace, his play wasn’t that far off. Wade played 34 minutes, managed to get to the line 12 times and finished with 23 points with a bad hip.
Then, there’s LeBron who is continuing to prove Gregg Doyel’s shrinking theory to be correct, which started with his eight point performance in Game 4. Back in the 80s, even Larry Bird had two back to back eight point games in a single Finals series so some dismissed it as just being a bad night for LeBron. Granted, he had a triple double last night (17, 10 and 10) but that is simply not enough. That may have been the quietest triple double I have ever seen. They needed more buckets out of him. More specifically, they need more buckets out of him when it mattered most: in the 4th quarter. He was able to muster two points in the final stanza and only has 11 combined points in the final periods of the series.
In a game where Dwyane Wade was hobbled, how in the world is it possible that he not only outscores LeBron, but take 10 more free throws than him as well? That is inexplicable and inexcusable. LeBron played better in Game 5 than he did in the previous contest, but he still wasn’t LeBron James. Still way too passive and still struggling with his outside shot, whenever actually decides to shoot. He would come off of high screen and rolls, where the roller was covered, he’s not double-teamed on a mismatch and he still passes the ball. I just simply do not get it.
I’m not a body language expert, but during stretches of the 4th quarter, Wade looked frustrated with LeBron. Even prior to that, when Wade was in the locker room getting his hip checked out, that was LeBron’s moment. That was his time to earn his paycheck and silence the haters. He did neither and was his passive self. Something’s up with LeBron. I fail to believe it has to do with the ugly rumor that broke yesterday (which at the risk of sullying my name and turning into a gossiper, I won’t repeat) but he has to turn it up. LeBron has played a bunch of minutes in the playoffs, much more than Wade has actually, so fatigue is the only thing that I would buy – maybe.
LeBron tweeted “now or never” before Game 5 (which made headlines for strange reason unbeknownst to me), but that couldn’t be more true now. Because of LeBron’s gifts as a ball player, I hold him to a higher standard than what he’s done in Dallas, and rightfully so. He’s not the only reason the Heat lost the last two games but if he played like the typical LeBron James, things may be a bit different.
If you’re looking for your everyday, predictable basketball talk, then go somewhere else, because Kevin Burke of The Kevin Burke Project brings provocative, thought provoking content about basketball as only he can. Kevin also hosts The Hoop Doctors weekly podcast show, which you can subscribe to for free on iTunes. Follow Kevin on Twitter and Facebook
