As Lebron James gets the deflection and the Lakers go in transition, he stays in the backcourt.
And the Suns are able to contain the initial attack, so you can see at this moment that all the Lakers are in the front court but he’s not even in the frame. Oh there he is riiight here. In an elimination game at home, down by 21 in the second quarter, I absolutely expected more out of the king, and if you stick around you’ll see why it’s actually not surprising that the Phoenix Suns eliminated the Lakers.
But at the same time, I’m not blaming James as well. Why? Let me explain everything. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it.
First things first, all credit goes to the Phoenix Suns. Like, look at this. You got 3 defenders literally standing in front of the basket, there is no possible way to get inside. And you got the 2 guys on the outside also being active. Woow talk about executing a game plan to perfection.
Just look at Crowder and all the pushing and shoving and fighting that he did in this game to help his team out with every ounce of energy, battling on the defensive end against the much bigger Lebron. Check out the multiple efforts here as he ultimately ends up with the block for the jump ball. And lastly, with another block, saving what would have been 2 points here.
But maaan, as much as was about the defense, look at Lebron, he’s got no lift whatsoever.
That’s the reason why he misses this layup in the first place in my opinion.
Same reason why he misses this one as well. Come on now, Devin Booker should not be able to contain him in normal circumstances right?!
And let’s compare yet another missed layup on the drive against Frank Kaminsky right here… To another drive from earlier in the season against Rudy Gobert, when Lebron hammered it down, as the defensive player of the year finalist actually got out of the way in time.
My point here is: James did not seem to have the strength nor the endurance to go in these playoffs. You could see him being gassed and hanging his head, not crossing half court as I already mentioned, being passive at times, and flat out asking for a sub in the fourth quarter just as the Lakers battled back all the way from 29 point deficit to make this an interesting game down the stretch.
The face says it all tho, as this was far from the player that famously said “the whole game, I’m playing the whole game” in a similar elimination type setup from a few years ago.
This exhausted and worn out look is definitely a lot different than this iconic death stare that we all remember from the legendary Heat vs Celtics series.
Thing is, even if you have the determination and the will, you can only go as far as your body takes you. Whether it was that ankle injury that’s been bothering him, or the undefeated father time catching up to Lebron, he is starting to look like a mere mortal on the court possibly for the first time in his career.
That was only amplified by the fact that the Suns only needed to cover him defensively, since Anthony Davis gave it a go with the groin injury but in only 5 minutes on the court, he saw that he’s by no means healthy enough to play, so as you can see right here, the painful grimace, the disappointment, as he left the game early in the first quarter, leaving the king all by himself.
If you ask James himself tho, there’s no room for concern whatsoever, as he said that the prolonged rest that he’ll be able to have this off season will take care of all problems and come next season, he will be ready to compete at the highest level.
(LEBRON INTERVIEW)
And despite the loss, after a hard fought series, I love the humility as we see Lebron James and Devin Booker here. James gifting an autographed jersey saying continue to be great to Book, which of course most of you know is sort of like a 2nd chapter in Booker’s career after Kobe Bryant famously gifted his sneakers to Devin and wrote Be Great on them. Something that meant so much to the young fella that he even went and tattooed that same Kobe writing.
And boy am I glad for him! From being attacked year after year that he’s kind of an empty calories type of player, that he can only put up big numbers on a losing team, Booker led Phoenix to the next round defeating the champions of all teams, and putting up ridiculous numbers. Just look at some of these games that he had. Culminating with this game 6 where he exploded for 47 points on 8 for 10 from downtown. 80% from beyond the arc! Book had the flamethrower on him for this one.
He burned the Lakers 2 times in a row with this action, starting from under the basket, then curling around for the handoff and fir ing away for the bucket. Exact same thing again. And when you get it going like that, then it’s heat check mode, raising up from anywhere! hand in his face, it didn’t matter.