MIAMI —It was another down-to-the wire game for LeBron James. But this time
he didn’t have to worry about whether to pass or shoot. In fact, all he
had to do was watch.
His Miami Heat trailed by three with just
over three minutes left Wednesday night at AmericanAirlines Arena before
coming back to beat Atlanta 89-86. In his final 5:25 on the floor,
James didn’t have any points or assists, his only stat being a missed
jumper with 5:08 left.
OK, there still might be those who criticize James for not taking charge at the end. If so, give it a rest.
James
totaled 31 points and 11 rebounds; a one-man show for much of the game.
And when it was time to close it out, he actually didn’t need to as a pair of big guys re-emerged.
After starting out 1 of 12, forward Chris Bosh hit a hook shot with 3:02 left to close the gap
to 80-79, then made a 19-foot jumper with 33.5 seconds remaining to give
the Heat an 85-81 lead.
Forward Udonis Haslem has been
struggling with his shot all season, but he drilled a 16-foot jumper
with 1:07 left that gave Miami an 83-80 lead. Then he threw down a
beautiful alley-oop dunk on a pass from Dwyane Wade with 12 seconds
remaining that made it 87-84.
Of course, it was Haslem who
missed a wide-open jumper just before the buzzer last Friday at Utah,
enabling the Jazz to win 99-98. James was criticized for passing on that shot rather
than taking it himself.
That game came on the heels of
James turning the ball over in a last-second
situation in the Feb. 26 All-Star Game. And yes, for the first time in
NBA history, strategy was questioned after an All-Star Game.
“He’s
going to be criticized almost no matter what, and it’s unfortunate,”
Haslem said of James. “Last year, he made the pass to Eddie House at
Oklahoma City down the stretch and Eddie House knocked down the three and we
were fortunate to win the game, and he still was criticized. It was
still talked about, should he have passed, should he have not.
Unfortunately for him, he can’t really do no right. It sucks, I guess.”
But
everything turned out OK on Wednesday. Wade had assists on all three of
Miami’s final buckets and also hit two foul shots with 2.7 seconds
left.
As for James, much of his action was confined to the third
quarter, when he had 10 points and showed great restraint against
Atlanta goon Zaza Pachulia, who fouled him unnecessarily hard going
down the court and later hit him in the head when he was on the floor,
getting a personal and a technical foul.
“I don’t get baited
into it,” James said. “I know Zaza and I understand the type of game he
plays. … I like physical play anyway. Obviously, there is a borderline
between physical and then the other extra stuff. … I stopped playing
football a long time ago, but I still have football traits.’’
However,
it took a while for the Heat to stop getting pushed around by the
Hawks. Trailing 65-55, Miami went on a 13-0 run late in the third
quarter, playing some of its best defense of the season and forcing four
turnovers.
“We know what we’re capable of,’’ said Bosh, who
grabbed eight rebounds and had a block and steal to help make up for
shooting 3 of 14 for nine points. “We rely on our defense.’’
Haslem sure helped in that regard, getting four steals, but he had just four points in the first 47 minutes.
Haslem
had entered the game averaging six points and shooting 40.6 percent,
both on pace to be the worst marks of his nine-year career. He
attributes some of his struggles to missing much of last season due to a
foot injury and having a different role in the Big Three-led offense.
“I
went back to the basics,’’ Haslem said of putting in extra work. “I
know I can shoot the ball. Everybody here knows I can shoot the ball.”
Wade said it was like “old times’’ when he and Haslem hooked up on the alley-oop.
The
Heat won a close game for the first time since they beat Chicago 97-93
on Jan. 29. They hadn’t won a tight one for so long because they’ve
mainly been wiping out foes, winning by 12 points or more during a
recent nine-game winning streak.
Chris Tomasson can be reached at christomasson@hotmail.com or on Twitter @christomasson
