LeBron James had a usage rate of 20.5 last game — meaning when he was on the floor 20.5 percent of the time a play ended with a James shot, turnover or trip to the free throw line.
That is his lowest number in any regular season or playoff game this past season. And according to Hoopdata, it is even lower than his usage rate in the legendary “collapse” game against Boston last season (in that game he still got to the line 12 times, it was just 4 times on Tuesday).
We all get it but we thought we’d just thought we’d emphasize it one more time — LeBron was passive in Game 4.
After that disaster in Boston he exploded in the next game. Heat fans hope to see that Thursday. What LeBron shows up is the big story of Game 5. This is the biggest game of LeBron’s life, he needs to be a major factor in the outcome.
He tweeted like he gets it:
He also sounded like he got it when speaking to the media Wednesday.
We will see. LeBron has to not only be more aggressive — especially if guarded by Jason Kidd or Jason Terry — but has to recognize when the defense has shifted to focus on him and left teammates open. He has to continue to dominate on defense. He needs to have a great all around game.
If he does, the Heat will be a very difficult team to beat.
