DALLAS (AP)—LeBron James(notes) and Dwyane Wade(notes) have rooms across the hall from one another at Miami’s team hotel in Dallas, which was convenient after Game 4 of the NBA finals.
They needed to talk.
And despite all the questions that have arisen after James’ eight-point effort on Tuesday night—the first time in 90 career playoff games where the two-time NBA MVP was held to single digits in scoring—Wade emerged from that late-night strategy session convinced as ever in his superstar Heat teammate.
“Eventually,” Wade said Wednesday, “he’s going to do something amazing, and it’s going to put us over the top.”
Game 5 is James’ next opportunity.
The Heat and Dallas Mavericks are tied at two games apiece in these NBA finals, which resume Thursday night before shifting back to Miami for Game 6 on Sunday and, possibly, a winner-take-all Game 7 on Tuesday night. It’s a best-of-three series now.
“I think it’s that time,” James said. “I think it’s that time that I try to get myself going individually.”
Said Wade: “Sounds good to me.”
James’ words surely sound good to the rest of the Heat, too. Come Thursday, everyone will be waiting to see whether he bounces back from a stunning Game 4 statline. He was more than 20 points below his career playoff average, shooting only 3-for-11 in Miami’s 86-83 loss.
So far in the finals, he has nine points in the fourth quarter. To put that in perspective, Dirk Nowitzki(notes) had 10 in the final quarter of Game 4 alone.
They needed to talk.
And despite all the questions that have arisen after James’ eight-point effort on Tuesday night—the first time in 90 career playoff games where the two-time NBA MVP was held to single digits in scoring—Wade emerged from that late-night strategy session convinced as ever in his superstar Heat teammate.
“Eventually,” Wade said Wednesday, “he’s going to do something amazing, and it’s going to put us over the top.”
Game 5 is James’ next opportunity.
The Heat and Dallas Mavericks are tied at two games apiece in these NBA finals, which resume Thursday night before shifting back to Miami for Game 6 on Sunday and, possibly, a winner-take-all Game 7 on Tuesday night. It’s a best-of-three series now.
“I think it’s that time,” James said. “I think it’s that time that I try to get myself going individually.”
Said Wade: “Sounds good to me.”
James’ words surely sound good to the rest of the Heat, too. Come Thursday, everyone will be waiting to see whether he bounces back from a stunning Game 4 statline. He was more than 20 points below his career playoff average, shooting only 3-for-11 in Miami’s 86-83 loss.
So far in the finals, he has nine points in the fourth quarter. To put that in perspective, Dirk Nowitzki(notes) had 10 in the final quarter of Game 4 alone.
