Here’s what I tweeted after Dwyane Wade nailed a corner three right in front of the Maverick’s bench last night to extend the lead to 15 points with only half a quarter to play: “And it seems like they're [Mavericks] falling apart mentally...how can all these dunks and dagger shots not do that? SERIES OVER”.
Maybe it was all the dunks in traffic LeBron and Wade were throwing down or the impossible shots Miami’s stars were making look easy. Maybe it was Mike Bibby—the Mike Bibby shooting 25 percent in the playoffs—raining threes or the fact that Brian Cardinal of Dallas checked into a must win game in the Finals even though he had played all of seven minutes in the postseason combined. Whatever it was, Dallas looked done. Finished. Caput.
I was all ready to gush over James and Wade and their ability to turn to an extra gear no one can match. Game two was tight until “The Big 2” decided to impose their will on the contest and dominate. That’s an ability no other two players have…in the world. Their mastery of tight games—totally opposite of what it was just months ago—has been astounding. Or so I thought…
But I guess old habits never die, and game two was a symposium of every killer habit that plagued the Heat throughout the regular season. “Can’t close; Chris Bosh doesn’t have it; Erik Spoelstra isn’t experienced enough; LeBron and Wade aren’t mature enough”…all familiar demons we thought the Heat had exercised, because that’s what these playoffs have been about for these two teams, right? Exercising the demons…
But Miami fell into a familiar pattern that has troubled a multitude of teams throughout these playoffs: heroball. I don’t think the Heat are selfish, nor do I think Miami’s stars have some kind of desire to singlehandedly win games, but last night there late game offense was nothing more than LeBron James dribbling the shot clock out and hoisting up long, contested threes…possession after possession. It’s called the clogged toilet offense—made famous by the Celtics desire to iso Paul Pierce at the end of games and watch him fire up contested jumpers. They were almost asking for a momentous and series changing comeback.
Heroball is a fascinating conundrum facing professional basketball teams, and one that would seem all too easy to correct. If Miami simply didn’t turn the ball over, spread the floor, and ran their offense they would have won. They scored five, FIVE, points the last seven minutes because ten of their eleven shot attempts were from 15 feet or greater. They attempted seven three’s the last seven minutes and made one.
LeBron’s been scorching from three-point land and both Wade and James have become accustomed to hitting difficult shots and making game-changing baskets. The Heat took many, many shots in game one Dallas very much wanted them to take; only they made them. With seven minutes to go in a series-shaping game the Heat took those same shots and missed. Did hitting all those exceedingly difficult shots—like LeBron’s step-back 28-footer to end the third quarter in game one—do more harm than good? Did it give them a conviction in their shot normally reserved for great shooters like Ray Allen or Stephen Curry? Dwyane Wade, who has been sparse with his jumpers throughout the postseason, preferring to put his head down and take it to the hole, went jumper crazy in those last, mind-boggling seven minutes. If there was ever a time and a place to become the foul-drawing machines LeBron and Wade can be it was the closing minutes of game two.
Miami is dead, they’re done, there’s no coming back from such an emotional punch to the nuts—at least that’s what you’ll be fed until the opening tip of game three is mercifully thrown Sunday night. Remember when Portland staged the most emotionally powerful and stunning comeback of the playoffs to even the series with Dallas 2-2? Do you remember the reaction, when many thought Dallas was done, when they were too emotionally weak to bounce back from such a devastating defeat?
Portland never won again.
If Miami has shown us anything, AYTHING during the season it’s been resiliency. Is there anything they haven’t fought through, risen from the ashes to overcome? They’ve gone through losing streaks and suffered defeats that threatened to shatter the very fabric of the team. They’ve had a bull’s-eye on their backs for seven months and they’ve fought through it all to come within three wins of the NBA championship. Everything Miami does is put under the microscope and dissected endlessly by every media mongrel combing every angle for the best way to tear this team apart—and I deserve part of the blame.
So let’s not overreact. They’re all big boys, they’ll be okay. There isn’t a trial or tribulation the Heat haven’t been faced with and overcome—this is just one more mountain to climb, one more question to answer. Miami’s toughness will be questioned, their heart doubted, and their collapse torn apart. Welcome back to the media inferno boys, enjoy your stay!
But through it all, remember how Dallas won two straight to put the Portland Trailblazers to bed after losing one of most emotionally visceral basketball games I’ve ever seen. We all doubted the Mavs, and in the face of crushing pressure they didn’t blink.
The Miami Heat will be under even more severe pressure…will they blink?
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