LeBron’s Been Out For Lunch

Dave Pruitt, Sports Emerge
http://sportsemerge.com/
“Have you seen ‘Bron’?” …. “Tell me have you seen ‘Bron’?”  LeBron James has 9 total points in the 4th Qtr. of the last 4 GAMES!  Each Qtr. 12 minutes long, so 9 points in 48 minutes.  Is the stage to big for LeBron James?   Does the NBA Finals make “O’ Bron Bron” nervous?


If I can recall, the last time he was in the NBA Finals with the Cleveland Cavs in 2007 against the San Antonio Spurs he had a similar performance throughout the series which ended in a sweep.  If it wasn’t for having Dwyane Wade, LeBron would get swept in this series also.  LeBron just won his 1st Finals game this year with Game 1, literally the best performance he’s had against the Mavs this series, scoring 24 points & grabbing 9 rebounds.  Since then LeBron’s been out for lunch.


Dallas Mavericks A.K.A. “The Comeback Mavs” do it again in the 4th Qtr. the same Qtr. LeBron has become ghostly.  Dirk Nowitzki is now in many peoples eyes a top 10 or even top 5 players of all time.  Given his performance throughout the playoffs & in the the Finals I’m hard pressed  to agree.  He finally missed another free throw in Game 4 after 39 consecutive, that’s insane, he could shoot free throws in his sleep.


Honestly, I believe  the only reason Dirk missed a free throw was because his 101 degree to 102 degree temperature he had throughout the game.  He still finished 9 of 10 from the foul line & struggled from the field going 6 of 19 & finishing with only 21 points.  Dirk was asked in the press conference after the game to compare his flu performance to the great Michael Jordan’s flu performance back in 1997 against the Jazz where he scored 38 points.

Dirk responded, “Never thought about MJ’s performance but obviously I was way off.”  And Damn, so was I with my predictions.

I digress, Dirk didn’t have to carry all of the weight in Game 4 as he has the previous games.  Jason Terry called out LeBron before the game questioning his toughness.


He stated confidentally. “I’m welcoming the challenge,” he said. “We’re going to see if he can do it for seven games. That’s going to be the challenge. Right now, it’s Game 4. Can he do it again in Game 4? He wasn’t able to do it in Game 2. He did it in Games 1 and 3, so Game 4 is another opportunity.”
Was those statements what threw LeBron off in Game 4?  Was he to worried about stopping Jason Terry that he forgot he was an offensive threat also?  Apparently not because Jason Terry answered his personal challenge by scoring 17 with an unimpressive but necessary performance going 6 of 15.  Terry also got to the foul line shooting 4 of 6 being more offensively aggressive  but still lacking on the defensive side of the court.


Jason Terry outscored LeBron.  “Prince James” scored 8 POINTS, that’s it, that’s all…  It’s the NBA Finals, & LeBron has decided to stop being himself, he didn’t attack the basket seemingly at all in Game 4.  Chris Broussard of ESPN brought up a good point prior to the game stating that LeBron is deferring to not just Dwyane Wade or Chris Bosh but he his passing up his shot to give the ball away to a Udonis Haslem, Mike Miller or Mario Chalmers.  It literally looks like he doesn’t want the ball.

I made an analogy in a previous writing covering this series prior to Game 2 where the Mavs made the magnificent 4th Qtr. comeback down 15 with 7 minutes left.

I said,”I seriously thought that ABC Network paid them off, but now that I think about it they can’t afford to fix the blurriness on HD broadcast, so.”

It’s the same scenario, a conspiracy theory if you will, that I’m not entertaining just stating.  The way the Miami Heat are losing really looks like they are giving the games away to stretch out the series.  In Game 2, literally giving up a 15 point lead by changing the way they’re were playing from attacking the basket to shooting deep low percentage shots with 7 minutes left in the 4th Qtr.  Why would any team do that?  Makes me wonder…

Same goes for LeBron, a man who can genuinely score whenever he feels like it, a man who hits full & half court shots in his leisure.  Completely shut himself down in the 4th Qtr. of a game that the Heat led 74 -65 with 10:11 left.   He was scoreless in the 4th Qtr.  Why would any great player just stop playing with the game on the line?  Makes me wonder…

Or is Shawn Marion in LeBron’s head with his intense defense, is LeBron backing down?  Didn’t ever think I’d say this but LeBron may have some confidence issues going up against Marion. I’m just sayin’…

I actually believe all the credit is due to the Mavs stellar defense played in the 4th Qtr. holding the entire Heat team to only 14 points.  The Mavs forced turnovers helping them make a 17-4 run & ultimately closing the game to tie the series 2-2.
Wade is holding up his end of the bargin, balling out of his mind with 32 points & 6 rebounds in Game 4.  Chris Bosh even has showed some confidence that he says “never went anywhere” in a half time interview, he produced 24 points & 6 rebounds.


Lunch break should be over for LeBron in Game 5; I expect him to attack the paint early but now will he try & do too much?  It’ll be up to Coach Erik Spoelstra, Dwyane Wade & mainly LeBron to keep a balance with his points & assist. He had 8 points & 7 assist in Game 4, maybe it’s time for LeBron to be SELFISH.


The Mavs will have the ”if it ain’t broke don’t try to fix it” mentality in Game 5.  I expect what I expect evry game from the Mavs, the ball to go through Dirk Nowitzki, forcing double teams & leaving shooters open at the arch.  The question is will his Snipers be on tonight, he’ll need similar production from Jason Terry now that Rick Carlisle has chose to go with Brian Cardinal who did absolutely nothing in Game 4 but did it better than Peja Stojakovic.


Game 5 Thursday June 9th @ 9pm ET on ABC.


It is what it is…