What do you expect from LeBron in Game 5?Henry Abbott, TrueHoop: A concerted effort to ignore the avalanche of goofy insinuations that he is somehow incapable of shining under pressure -- even though at the age of 26 he has already authored several of the best individual playoff runs in NBA history.John Krolik, Heat Index: Honestly, I don't know. Rob Mahoney, Two-Man Game: Utilize more James-Wade pick-and-rolls. This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Heat winning the first meeting. Use James in either capacity, but by involving him in plays directly with Wade, the Mavs' defense will be forced to adjust its pick-and-roll strategy and make some difficult decisions. LeBron had some nice passes and had a few good rebounds, but he is not a role player, and he played like one. But the major reason was his complete vacant approach, especially in the second half when the Heat were in trouble. John Krolik, Heat Index: Fact. If he just keeps working, most nights he'll get dramatically better results. This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning the first three meetings. However, a division champion is guaranteed to be ranked at least fourth, regardless of their record and their winnings. 2020 NBA Finals: Lakers vs. Heat 2020 NBA Finals: Lakers vs. Heat THE FINALS : LAL-MIA THE FINALS : LAL-MIA Conference Finals Conference Finals The Thunder finally advanced to their first conference finals since they moved from Seattle when they eliminated the Grizzlies 105-90 in Game 7. Q. Dirk, is Game 5 a must-win for you? Except for the last game each was heavily contested with each of the first 4 being decided by 6 points or less. Michael Wallace, ESPN.com: Fact. And it would get Mario Chalmers a lengthy contract extension. Anything that would have gotten the Heat four points would have done. They made some great looks, but at the same time I have to keep myself in rhythm while I’m doing that as well. Use James in either capacity, but by involving him in plays directly with Wade, the Mavs' defense will be forced to adjust its pick-and-roll strategy and make some difficult decisions.Michael Wallace, ESPN.com: (A) Show him film when he was attacking against Boston and Chicago. But because of the way he played. Absolute fact. I understand that anyone is capable of having an off night. As such this series was expected to be a very easy one for the Bulls. The 3 division winners and 5 other teams with the most wins from each conference qualified for the playoffs. It can be difficult, because Miami has some guys that make some breath-taking plays. I've followed LeBron's career as closely as anybody since I've been in middle school, and I officially have no idea what to expect from him at this point. Or maybe he was mourning Terrelle Pryor's departure from Ohio State. Entering the final quarter down 67-49, the Trail Blazers, with the help of Brandon Roy's 18 fourth quarter points, embarked on their biggest fourth quarter comeback in franchise history to win the game 84-82. Dallas' defense has done a good job, but James is the best basketball player on the planet. To avoid the ball and to not attempt to take advantage of mismatches is extremely out of character. Brian Windhorst, ESPN.com: Fact. You knew he had a fever. Dirk Nowitzki was named NBA Finals MVP. Henry Abbott, TrueHoop: This time of year I find there's nothing like two shots of espresso. Don't even let him go into that corner for a while.5. Did he give the game to Dallas? It doesn't matter whether he or Dwyane Wade or Chris Bosh is the source of the most offense, but all three need to be involved. Q. The Bulls took Game 1 by blowing out the Heat 103-82. Wade looked dominant, the Miami bench outplayed the Dallas bench, and Bosh did his part. To give up 14 points to an explosive team with LeBron, with Bosh and Wade on one team, if you give up 14 points in the quarter to close it out, I think that’s huge. And it would get Mario Chalmers a lengthy contract extension. They became the fourth 8th-seeded team ever to advance to the Conference Semifinals after defeating the Spurs in 6, and the second since the first round expanded to a best-of-7 format in 2003. Like I said, I thought our defense won us the game. So here we are. In addition, this marked the first time that no first-round series was pushed to a Game 7 since the current format was introduced. Among his worst in recent memory.John Krolik, Heat Index: Fact. You guys would have gone up 3-1. John Krolik, Heat Index: Run him off some pin-downs and screens, but mostly it's on LeBron -- he needs to be aggressive and set the tone of the game himself, rather than trying to let his teammates and opponents dictate the flow of the game. The 2011 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 2010–11 season. Dallas' defense has done a good job, but James is the best basketball player on the planet. While that's better than his taking shots just to take shots, LeBron needs to be himself, even in deference. It is out of his character 99 percent of the time. This was the final postseason appearance for the New Orleans franchise while known as the Hornets, as the team was renamed the Pelicans before the 2013–14 season. In a game that close, a 3-for-11 shooting performance from LeBron, and zero points in the fourth quarter, sticks out like a sore thumb. Both teams are getting after it. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks defeating the Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals. And we didn’t take care of our business on both ends of the court. How will he respond in Game 5? So I just went for it. It's only a matter of time before he makes a serious impact on this series, and that could start in Game 5. ESPN.com and the TrueHoop Network Mavericks had nothing going. But that's a C-minus game from LeBron at this stage of the season. If two teams with same record met in a round use normal tiebreakers. Rob Mahoney, Two-Man Game: A good, but not great, LeBron James performance. The Heat clearly needed something, anything, from him in the fourth quarter, and he vanished. ESPN.com and the TrueHoop Network. Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic tied a franchise record with 46 points (31 in the first half) in Game 1 of the first round against the Atlanta Hawks, tying Tracy McGrady's total in Game 2 of the 2003 First Round against the Detroit Pistons. Not because of the stats. But the major reason was his complete vacant approach, especially in the second half when the Heat were in trouble. The eighth seeded Grizzlies won their first playoff game in franchise history after they defeated the top seeded Spurs 101-98 in Game 1. Neither would surprise me.Rob Mahoney, Two-Man Game: A good, but not great, LeBron James performance. In Game 4, the Mavericks blew out the Lakers 122–86, sweeping the two-time defending NBA champions from the playoffs. Both teams have won on the road one game. John Krolik, Heat Index: Honestly, I don't know. Kind of bounced around, bounced out. The Spurs evened the series up in Game 2, but the Grizzlies won Games 3 and 4 to take a 3-1 lead in the series. It is out of his character 99 percent of the time. In Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks set a playoff record for most free throws made without a miss with 24, previously held by Paul Pierce (21) in 2003. The next two games the Celtics took fairly easily as injuries to both Chauncey Billups and Amar'e Stoudemire took their toll on the Knicks. But the low-hanging fruit came from James, who passed on chances to use his considerable physical advantages to make athletic plays at the rim, even while he was guarded by an exhausted-looking, 38-year-old Jason Kidd. Michael Wallace, ESPN.com: It would be easy here to say a breakout game. NBA Finals 2011, Game 4: Post-Game Reactions -- 'This Series Is A Jump Ball', Dallas Mavericks Are NBA Champions: Post-Game Reactions, NBA Finals 2011, Game 4: Post-Game Reactions -- 'This Series Is A Jump Ball', NBA Finals Game 4: Dallas - 86 Miami - 83. The last without one was the 1999 NBA Playoffs. And generally we want to play through Dirk as much as we can. It might be impossible to play with less. Michael Wallace, ESPN.com: (A) Show him film when he was attacking against Boston and Chicago. But I think one thing I try to concentrate is, if I get two guys on me, try to make my teammates better, hit those guys for open looks. Not because of the stats. Dallas Mavericks’ Owner Highlights How LeBron James Has Changed Since His Team Beat Him in 2011 Basketball “Just Tried to be Locked Into Him” – Anthony Davis on Guarding Jimmy Butler … Due to the Celtics' struggles at the end of the regular season as well as the star power of the New York Knicks in Amar'e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony this was a favorite first round upset for many. Beyond that, your guess is as good as mine.Brian Windhorst, ESPN.com: LeBron averaged 25 points a game in the regular season and 25 points in the first three playoff series. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in its conference, and the numbers to the right indicate the number of games the team won in that round. Sure, he flirted with a triple-double. And obviously, yeah, we would love to get Game 5 here. I've seen him step up and do amazing things when it matters most. If he just keeps working, most nights he'll get dramatically better results.John Krolik, Heat Index: Run him off some pin-downs and screens, but mostly it's on LeBron -- he needs to be aggressive and set the tone of the game himself, rather than trying to let his teammates and opponents dictate the flow of the game. So that was big. But James was never really a functional part of the offense, and the Heat paid the price. Held him to eight points on 3 of 11. Q. LeBron, you guys had a commanding lead in the fourth. These are two games teams trying to figure out a way to make plays down the stretch. [17], This was the first playoff meeting between the Grizzlies and the Thunder. The Spurs won in OT 110-103. I never think any one player wins or loses a game. John Krolik, Heat Index: Fact. Because the reasons James offered after that Game 4 performance -- or lack thereof -- just don't cut it. I've seen him back down from challenges.
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