Some 50 minutes before Game 5 of the NBA Finals Thursday night, which LeBron James labeled the “biggest game of my life,” the Miami Heat star could not have been more relaxed. James stood at his locker stall, all smiles, bopping his head to the hip-hop beats playing in the room. Dwyane Wade, another member of the Miami’s “Big Three,” or “Heatles” or whatever fashionable nickname you choose to call the Heat’s best players, was leaned over in a chair, solemnly staring at a film of the Heat’s deflating Game 4 loss to the Dallas Mavericks, which tied the series at 2-2.
But James was his jovial self. He mouthed the words to a song called “Play Your Part,” which features vocals from hip-hop artists Rick Ross, Wale, and Meek Mill. “Just play your part,” the lyrics go. “Just play your part. We’ll be cool as long as you just play your part.”
It’s a catchy — and fitting — tune. After James scored just eight points in Miami’s 86-83 Game 4 loss, and two points in the fourth quarter of the Heat’s 88-86 victory in Game 3, the world wondered where LeBron had gone. Would James play his part to help Miami dust off Dallas? Is all cool with the Heat?
Not really. Dallas took Game 5 Thursday night, 112-103, as the Mavericks pulled away from Miami down the stretch thanks to some sick shooting. A pair of Jasons — Kidd and Terry — sank two huge three-pointers for Dallas in the last 90 seconds; for the game, the Mavs hit an unbelievable 13 of 19 shots from three-point range, a 68.4% clip. Dallas now returns to Miami, for Sunday night’s Game 6, one win away from the NBA title. And a summer of endless scrutiny for Miami, the NBA team America loves to loathe, would begin.
You can certainly say that James played his part, as he finished with the measure of a terrific all-around game, the triple-double: 17-points, 10-rebounds, and 10-assists. The problem is that when you’re LeBron James, a physical freak who, upon ditching his native Cleveland for South Beach, told a preening Miami crowd that he envisioned the Heat winning “five . six . seven” championships, you can’t just fill digits in a box score.
After James began to shed his reputation as a playoff choker in Miami’s series wins over Boston and Chicago, he has stalled again in the Finals, scoring just two points in the fourth quarter of Game 5. When Miami needed him most, he failed, triple-double be damned. With the score tied at 100, and just under three minutes left, James shot an 18-foot jumper over Kidd, a defender a dozen years his senior — and missed it. A Dirk Nowitzki dunk gave Dallas a two-point lead: on the ensuing possession, James charged into Dallas center Tyson Chandler, who drew the offensive foul. After the Mavs missed, James then settled for 25-foot three-pointer from the top of the key. It clanged off the rim, Kidd’s three put Dallas up 105-100 with 1:50 left, and Miami never recovered. , James should just overpower them down low, in the post, rather than settle for the jumper, like he did in the fourth quarter. Having a freight train like James lounging outside the three-point line, on so many possessions, is a waste of basketball resources. It’s like chucking diamonds down the drain.
“I’ve been saying for years that LeBron should be un-guardable in the post,” says one Eastern Conference team executive. “But he’s most comfortable going 100 miles-per-hour, or shooting jump shots facing the basket. He’s the ultimate A.A.U. player. He doesn’t have the repertoire of moves, so he’s not going to put himself in a position where he looks stupid.” The executive points to the clever footwork and fade-aways that players like Wade, Kobe Bryant, and of course, Jordan, developed down low through their careers. Even Magic Johnson, to whom James is often compared, had a hook shot. “I get the sense that during the summer, he works on his conditioning and his shooting,” the executive says. “And his shooting has improved. But he hasn’t become a better post player because he hasn’t wanted to.”
In the second quarter, Miami started to pound the ball into James down low, and though he never looked entirely comfortable, James scored a few buckets, and drew a few fouls. But in the second half, that strategy faded. I asked James why he stopped going down low, and if he thought of posting up in the last three minutes, while the game was still tight. “Honestly, we just worked our game,” James said after the game. “I was able to get the ball in the pot a few times in the first half. It worked. Some of them didn’t work. With D-Wade being out to start the second half, I took it upon [myself] to be a little more of a ball-handler, get guys into our offense.
“We just try to give what the defense gives us,” James continued. “We have nothing to say about our offense tonight. We shot 53% from the floor. These guys shot 57%, shot almost 70% from the three-point line. Offensively, it had nothing to do with why we lost this game. We just couldn’t get enough stops down the stretch.”
This isn’t entirely true. Sure, Miami couldn’t get a stop late. But offense — especially James’ lack of production — helped Miami lose. With the game tied, or within a two-point difference, late, James missed two jumpers, and rammed into the Dallas defense on one of those 100 m.p.h drives. James could have seen old man Kidd guarding him, and demanded the ball down low for a high-percentage shot. Instead, he took the tougher one, and missed.
Now, Miami is one game from elimination. The prospect of a Dallas victory will surely delight most of America. After the game, it seemed as if the delirious Dallas crowd had bottled up all of America’s loathing for the Heat, and it was now time to unleash it. “No, no, no, no, no honey,” a Mavs fan told an elevator operator who raised the prospect of Miami winning both Games 6 and 7. “They made us believe. We played a team with three $100 dollar players, we kicked their ass. Thank God. We kicked their f——g ass.”
And James knew it. While he was bouncing around before the game, he sat stone-faced, and silent, in the locker room afterwards. At one point, after fiddling on his phone, he just folded his hands, staring blankly. If James can’t rediscover what got him to these Finals, he won’t like what’s ahead of him.
Gregory is a staff writer at TIME. Keeping Score, his sports column for TIME.com, appears every Friday. Follow him on Twitter at @seanmgregory.
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