Winning 'ugly' not a problem for LeBron James and Miami Heat – NBA Update
The Miami Heat are currently 2-1 up against Oklahoma City Thunder in NBA Finals, and much credit needs to be given to LeBron James. The way LeBron has been playing in this year’s playoffs has simply been sensational. He is no longer the choker we witnessed last year against the Dallas Mavericks and is making it a point to create more and more scoring opportunities for himself and his Miami Heat.
LeBron has been very aggressive in the NBA Finals and has been intent on making big time plays. Sure some of them haven’t been as attractive as some of us would like, but as far as LeBron is concerned that is a non-issue.
"I don’t give a d**n how we get four; We can win 32-31. It doesn’t matter to me." – James said after Monday`s practice
Heat, were woeful in their shooting from the field in Game 3 and only had a conversion rate of 38% but, they did not let it get in their way and managed to hold on in the end to take a definitive lead in the series.
They also were unable to keep up their long distance shooting which has been the main reason for their quick starts to all three games in the series so far.
But it simply does not matter to James and company how they are getting it done, what matters is that they are winning games.
“We can win a gritty game, a high-paced game. We take every game as its own. We don’t go into a game saying this is what type of a game it’s going to be. I don’t care how we get four”
This type of attitude is what was expected of James to win an NBA Champion which is the only prize missing from his already illustrious career.
Winning the elusive Larry O`Brien Trophy is priority number one for James at the moment.
Miami`s performances in the post season so far have been filled with LeBron bringing a whole new style of approach to his game especially ever since Chris Bosh got injured in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinal series against the Indiana Pacers.
LeBron has brought a whole new level of energy to his game by being more aggressive on the glass. His post play has also improved leaps and bounds - a fact that was highlighted by Hakeem Olajuwon recently.
LeBron’s level of performances in the post season so far are befitting to the best player in the NBA at the moment and it’s only going to better as the series proceeds towards its deciding phase.
However being up 2-1 in a series may bring back harsh memories. Miami found itself in a similar situation in last year`s finals and eventually lost to Dallas Mavericks. James said he and Heat are aware of that fact and insisted that they are completely different team now;
“Of course it stuck with us, all the way to this day, Were a totally different team than we were last year when we were up 2-1. We understand what it takes to win and we’ve used that motivation, and we will continue to use that motivation”
With the next two games to be played in the American Airlines Arena, Miami will face a very stiff challenge from the young Thunder unit. However, the way LeBron has got this team playing at the moment, rest assured that Miami will pack a punch.
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