LeBron: Celebration or bust in Game 7? - Tucson Citizen

Source: USA TODAY

Michael Jordan never won a title alone.

Neither did Larry Bird or Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant or Shaquille O’Neal, Isiah Thomas or David Robinson or Hakeem Olajuwon.

The list, like the road in the Robert Earl Keen song, goes on forever.

Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett had each other.

Who wins a title alone?

Yet, if Miami Heat forward LeBron James doesn’t advance to the NBA Finals, and if he doesn’t win a championship this season, it turns into some angry and hypercritical indictment on James’ career and character.

No matter what James does, the masses want more. Too much is never enough.

“I said it last year,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. “He’s a great player. I don’t know what else he can do. He does the right thing. When he makes the right pass and the guy misses the shot, he’s criticized. When he forces a shot in a double-team, he’s criticized.

“It’s the way it is for him, for whatever reason. He’s competitive as heck. He’s one of the most powerful players to ever play the game.

“And maybe it isn’t enough. I don’t know.”

As soon as the memory of James’ 45-point, 10-rebound, five-assist season-saving performance â€" the numbers surpassed by only one player in a playoff game, Wilt Chamberlain 48 years ago â€" faded into the darkest hours of Friday morning, it was no longer about Game 6.

That was no longer good enough. He has to win Game 7. Today. Against Boston. In prime-time.

He’s expected to make believers of us. Or he conforms to our set-in-stone beliefs.

“I’ve said this time and time again, you can get whiplash if you try to follow every storyline that’s going on on the outside,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “It can be (and) is very energy-sapping, if you’re paying attention to it, and very distracting.

“We don’t trust it. We don’t trust it when they’re saying negative things about us or when they’re saying positive things about it. There’s a truth somewhere in between, and that’s what we’re focusing on.”

If the Heat win Game 7, it likely will be with less from James and more from others offensively, especially guard Dwyane Wade.

But do the Heat have enough interlocking pieces â€" or are they lacking the necessary pieces?

Boston is considered a team. So are the Thunder, who will play the winner of the Celtics-Heat in the NBA Finals opening Tuesday in Oklahoma City.

The Heat don’t have that same reputation, although they are one win from consecutive Finals appearances.

The Heat need offense from guard Mario Chalmers and forward Udonis Haslem and even forward Chris Bosh, just returning from a lower abdominal strain that sidelined him for three weeks, and forward Mike Miller, who is close to ambulatory with a variety of injuries.

It is a flawed roster and has been, and that’s expected. Once a team commits $47.7 million in salary to three players, options become limited. Outside of a few players, such as Miller, Haslem and Chalmers, the Heat’s roster is filled with league-minimum salaries.

The Los Angeles Lakers paid Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum $58.8 million and filled the roster as best they could and still paid $85 million in player salaries (about $15 million over the luxury tax threshold) for what? Los Angeles lost to the eventual Western Conference champion Thunder in five games in the second round.

Miami depends on James, Wade and Bosh, then counts on at least other player to have a solid offensive game. When that doesn’t happen, or when Wade or James doesn’t have a big game, it’s difficult for the Heat to win.

The Heat do not have a great low-post game outside of James and Bosh, who are both more comfortable operating a little further from the basket. And the offense has a tendency to suffer when three-pointers are not going in and when an opponent clogs the lane, as Boston has done to different degrees of success.

Miami’s defense is often overlooked. Lengthy but not huge, the Heat play strong interior defense and possess the quickness to close out on perimeter shooters. Miami was fourth in the NBA in points allowed per 100 possessions at 97.1.

Now, the storyline is: Can James and the Heat win Game 7. It’s a legitimate question, but the burden on James is overwhelming, especially if you look at what he’s done in the postseason and against the Celtics.

James is 0-2 in Game 7s, both with the Cleveland Cavaliers, losing on the road against the Detroit Pistons in 2006 and on the road against the Celtics in 2008. He had 27 points, eight rebounds and two assists against the Pistons and 45 points, six assists and five rebounds against the Celtics.

James ensures he will have “no regrets” in Game 7 today.

“He’s a brilliant basketball player that will read the game and whatever we need,” Spoelstra said. “Maybe it’s more assists, maybe it’s rebounds. Who knows. But he’ll be there.”

The Heat cannot count on James to score 45 points on 19-of-26 shooting every game. He is doing enough already, averaging 30.8 points, 9.5 rebounds and 5.3 assists for the postseason. Only one other player has averaged at least 30 points, nine rebounds and five assists during the playoffs (10-game minimum), and that’s Oscar Robertson.

James needs offensive help, especially from Wade, whose left knee might be bothering him more than he will admit. He refuses to acknowledge it if that’s the case.

Wade, who is 1-1 in Game 7s, hasn’t had a big decline in playoff scoring average against Boston. He has just gotten off to slow starts. His rebounding and assists averages have increased and he’s focused on playing defense against the versatile Celtics.

“I’m not in an individual’s mind state,” Wade said. “I’m doing whatever I can to help us win. Certain shots hopefully I make that I missed. If not, I’ll still make an impact on the game. I’m not a one-dimensional player.”

The Heat say they are a no-excuse team, so, “If you’re on the floor … there’s no room for excuses,” Heat forward Shane Battier said. “Everyone is banged up.”

Against Boston, James is averaging 34 points, 10.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists, and he had just enough offensive help in Game 6. Chalmers and Battier made big threes. Bosh contributed enough.

But are the Heat enough of a well-rounded team to endure in a deep, grueling series against a championship contender?

The answer comes today.

“Both teams will come out with the appropriate levels of urgency. That’s the beauty of a Game 7,” Spoelstra said. “We fought and earned the right to have this in our home court. We don’t take that for granted and we don’t assume that will take care of anything.

“We’re going to have to play, compete at the same urgency level we played at (Thursday). But we’ll also have to play well and probably have to beat (the Celtics) when they’re at their best. And that’s the way it should be.”

Copyright © 2012 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

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