Are 2013 Miami Heat Just Cleveland Cavaliers With LeBron James As One Man Show? [Gifs]
The Miami Heat defeated the Indianapolis Pacers in game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals last night.
With Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade struggling are the Miami Heat just the Cleveland Cavaliers from three years ago, when LeBron James was their only consistent offensive option?
At halftime of the Miami Heat Indianapolis Pacers Eastern Conference Final game 5, the Pacers led 44-40.
When the two teams returned to the floor for the second half, James could be spotted upbraiding his Heat teammates for their lack of effort in the first half.
In the second half, things started to change for the Miami Heat, but not because of James' teammates; although, Udonis Haslem did pitch in 16 points on a remarkably efficient 8-for-9 shooting that mirrored his game 3 shooting.
James scored 16 of the Heat's 30 third quarter points as they outscored the Pacers 30-13 to take a 13--point lead into the fourth quarter.
For the game, James finished with 30 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists on 13-for-26 shooting.
Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, the two other members of the "Big Three" that came to Miami in the summer of 2010, were a combined 6-for-15 on the night, with just 17 points between them.
Oftentimes during that third quarter run, the Miami Heat began to resemble James' old Cleveland Cavaliers team.
With the Heat offense stretched out along the 3-point line, James went one-on-one with Lance Stephenson or Paul George and either found open shooters--like Haslem in the left baseline corner--or finished himself.
James was an uncharacteristic threat from deep, going 3-for-7 from beyond the 3-point arc, when he only averaged 3.3 attempts per game this season and just 2.4 three-point attempts last season (per hoopdata.com).
The two teams face off back in Indiana in game 6 of their thrilling Eastern Conference Finals matchup on Saturday night, but with James having to carry so much of the offensive load, it begs the question: Are the Miami Heat just a more glorified Cleveland Cavaliers team from three years ago?