Sunday’s battle between the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat was the first true moment of prime-time NBA this season. Sure there have been plenty of great matchups, but with the NFL holding only it’s annual all-star flag football exhibition, the NBA’s marquee matchup of the night put LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Derrick Rose squarely into the spotlight.
While the game featured lots of exciting action, its ending, a 97-93 Heat victory, left something to be desired – namely a worthy finishing performance from any of the stars involved.
It’s pretty evident to everybody by now that James, the most naturally gifted athlete in the league, is just not a finisher. I remember being astonished a few years ago when James stated rather matter-of-factly that he would never be as good a finisher as Kobe Bryant. He said Bryant wanted to crush his opponents and James just didn’t have such a mean will. I’m paraphrasing of course (trying to track down the exact quote), but it was shocking to hear from a young James and ultimately very prophetic.
It’s clear that Dwayne Wade is the closer on the Heat. But in the final moments of yesterdays game, Wade, probably in his endless quest to help spoon feed James’ closing-confidence, allowed James to dribble down the shot clock in clutch situations. Instead of demanding the ball from James, Wade watched his superstar teammate take two terrible shots in the last minute. Plus he missed two free throws in a row. At least he’s trying to win the game, Wade had to be thinking.
But Chicago’s star had his own closing issues. Rose also missed two consecutive free throws in the final minute. The missed free throws were his first misses of the game and the first fourth-quarter free throw misses of the entire season. He later missed a difficult shot that would’ve tied the game with just a few seconds remaining.
Overall, Wade had a so-so game just days from returning from injury. James (35 pts, 11 reb, 5 ast) and Rose put up monster numbers (34 pts, 6 reb, 6 ast) but neither performed like Mike in the house he built in Chitown. For Rose, it seemed simply like a lost opportunity – just one of those days where the shots that counted didn’t fall. There’s no doubt the reigning MVP will dust himself off and take out his angst against upcoming defenders. For James however, it further solidifies his “un-clutchness.”
James commented on the game with his usual Marc Bulger-like indifference on his lack of clutch skills and the ho-hum finish to a game that was otherwise a barnburner. “I think that’s a problem with our league sometimes, people just evaluate the last minute of games and forget that this is a complete 48-minute game,” James said. “But we understand it. We understand what makes the headlines.”
No sir, the last minute is not what makes headlines, it’s what makes winners and ultimately, champions. Unless James learns the difference, he’ll go down as the Dan Marino of the NBA.
