Udonis Haslem opens up about his missed game winning jumper against Utah Jazz – NBA News
The game between the Miami Heat and the Utah Jazz last week was one of the most thrilling encounters witnessed after the All-Star break. Jazz led the Heat through most part of game, but started to crumble, as LeBron James started
to turn on the heat late.
With a nine game winning streak on the line, James erupted with one power play after another and in the end; it all boiled down to the last possession. With the clock running out fast James had the ball in his hand, but as has
been the case this season, instead of making the final shot, James found Haslem completely open on the glass. The veteran power forward tried but the shot was off the mark and Jazz held on.
After the game there was a lot of criticism on James for not taking the game deciding shot himself, and in the LeBron bashing hoopla, everybody forgot about Haslem.
The Miami big, who filled in for Chris Bosh in the game against the Los Angeles Lakers, apparently carried the baggage in the all important game and missed all of his five tries from the floor. However when asked about the effect
of the Jazz miss in the Lakers game, Haslem denied the connection;
“Nah, man,” Haslem said. “I don’t put pressure on myself. That shot is over with. Like I said, if I was dependent on scoring then I would be getting 20 shots. I’m not depended on to score. I’m depended on to make them when I get
them, but it’s not for me to go out and score 20.”
He further stressed that, with so much offensive firepower available on the roster, his role in the team is to add the extra hustle on the D.
“When I get my four or five shots, I try to make them, but my main mind-set is defend and rebound, and if shots fall, they fall,” Haslem said. “If not, I still got to defend and rebound. We got other guys that score the ball. We
got other guys to run plays for.”
The Big Three of Miami – LeBron, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh – have been the main offensive outlets for Heat this season, much like the last. However, it was proven in last season’s playoffs that when up against the heavy weights,
everybody has to pitch in on the offense to carve out consistent wins. Lakers are one of the elites that Heat can face in this season’s campaign, and Haslem’s slump is more of reality check, even though he disagrees to that.
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