After being outscored by Danny Green through the first three games of the NBA Finals, LeBron James has finally issued a guarantee: he’ll be better for Game 4. Okay, so it’s not much of a guarantee. If James doesn’t play better — and really, is there anyway he can’t? — the Heat are done, toast, cooked.
So how about the last three times he’s faced a Game 4 in the NBA Finals? Check the numbers:
*Game 4, 2007 NBA Finals vs. San Antonio: 10-for-30 shooting, 24 points, six rebounds 10 assists – lost by one
*Game 4, 2011 NBA Finals vs. Dallas: 3-for-11 shooting, eight points, nine rebounds, seven assists – lost by three
*Game 4, 2012 NBA Finals vs. OKC: 11-for-23 shooting, 26 points, nine rebounds, 12 assists – won by six
He hasn’t exactly been killing it. Then again, according to LeBron, he’s like 20 times better than he was in 2007, so we’ll have to see what he does tomorrow night. As for his strategy offensively, you can bet he’ll have something up his sleeve. It’s not like San Antonio is doing anything otherworldly against him…
“Getting the ball on the move, get some early offense, not playing against their set defense as much,” James says. “They’re doing a good job when I come off pick-and-rolls, they have a guy shrink the floor at the elbow and getting a big in front of my body, and a guy guarding to pressure the ball as well. They’re are putting me in a position where they can crowd me a lot. I’m going to … do a better job of attacking their defense (Thursday).”
What do you think?
Follow Dime Magazine on Twitter
Become a fan of Dime Magazine on Facebook
