LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — With a defender on each hip and a third one on the way, LeBron James knew what the right move was. It’s been ingrained in him: If there’s more than one man on him, he has an open teammate somewhere.
Danny Green was standing right at the top of the key. It doesn’t get more elementary than that.
“It’s one of the best shots that we could have got, I feel, in that fourth quarter,” James said. “Especially down the stretch with two guys on me, Duncan Robinson and Jimmy (Butler), and Danny had a hell of a look.
“It just didn’t go down.”
A 111-108 Game 5 loss was a humbling finish for the Lakers, who led with just 21.8 seconds left. James scored 40 of his team’s points, including 12 in the fourth quarter. But in the moment that could have clinched, he knew the best play was to pass. With the ball out of his hands, Green missed an open shot off the front of the rim, and Markieff Morris – armed with the long rebound – attempted an overly ambitious lob to a limping Anthony Davis which resulted in a turnover.
The blank looks the Lakers had after the turnover with 2.2 seconds left spoke volumes. They knew it was over – and the supporting cast hadn’t done quite enough.
James, the winner of three Finals closeout games, took the court with the aggressiveness and shooting touch required to win. But it was striking that on a night when the 35-year-old scored 40 points, the teammates besides Anthony Davis (28 points) scored the exact same amount.
Reliable hands in this playoff run shut down at the worst possible moment, with the championship in sight. Rajon Rondo was 1 for 7; Morris was 0 for 2. Kyle Kuzma, who has been the team’s third-leading scorer during the playoffs, had an uneven night going 3 for 10. None of them hit 3-pointers.
Typically the Lakers have been able to lean on their bench for some timely scoring punches. That largely dried up: Their 14 points off the bench was the exact match of Miami’s Kendrick Nunn in Game 5.
That put pressure on the Lakers’ starters, but with Dwight Howard hitting the bench for the fourth quarter, only Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Green were in the game late. Caldwell-Pope made a number of game-swinging plays, including a 3-pointer with six-and-a-half minutes left that put the Lakers ahead for the first time since the first quarter.
Green put in a workmanlike eight points and made two of his five 3-point attempts. Just not the one that mattered most.
Afterward, James said there wasn’t much of a postgame message to Green or Morris, who he’s come to trust over the course of the season.
“They’re vets: I don’t think too much need to be said to them,” he said. “I believe they will be much better – and I’m not saying they even played bad tonight. Everybody in the lineup tonight that got minutes gave the effort. We just had some mental breakdowns at times, and (the Heat) make you pay for it.”
The beauty and terror of the Heat offense this season is that they’ve had a multi-pronged offensive attack. While Butler’s 35-point triple-double rises above the rest, especially during his shot-for-shot bout with James, all five of the Miami starters scored in double figures.
That was led by Duncan Robinson, the 3-point ace who scored a career playoff-high 26 points. After struggling for air in the first two games with minimal success, the 26-year-old has caught fire in the last three games and gained confidence. And it doesn’t have to be him on any given night because several Miami players can pour in points.
“This didn’t just start in the bubble,” Butler said. “We have been playing together, win, loss, draw, whatever, we’re in this thing together. And that’s what’s going to win us games. Night in and night out it could be anybody.”For the Lakers, it’s tougher to lose when James plays scorchingly well. There might not be another game in the series when he can shoot 15 for 20, or make six 3-pointers. He also had seven assists – which should have been eight.
By the time James got to the postgame podium, he had seemingly relaxed, attempting to even himself out before Sunday’s game. And even though he played brilliantly, he left a little blame for himself too on that decisive play.
“I know he wish he can have it again – I wish I could make a better pass,” he said. “You know, but you just live with it.”
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