Once more, we present the cliched playoff storylines: Watch out for San Antonio; LeBron James fails in a clutch situation. The Spurs have been underrated for years. At some point you can no longer ask if they get enough credit because the narrative is played up so often that … they get enough credit. But there’s no doubt the Spurs are fantastic to watch.
Their only problem, from an attention standpoint, is they lack a villain. It’s impossible to root against Tim Duncan, except when he gets whiny, or Manu Ginobli or Tony Parker, unless you’re an Eva Longoria fan.
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Still, the Spurs play excellent team basketball. They develop role players — Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard. They play hard. They’re not a sexy team, but, yes, they’re a threat and if you don’t like franchises that have abandoned previous towns, then the Spurs are the team you want to see reach the finals.
As for James, in seven playoff seasons, he has been involved in a situation where his team trails by two or less in the final 10 seconds 23 times (winning nine). James’ numbers aren’t bad: He’s made five of 12 field goals (and both foul shots). Compare that to Kobe Bryant over the same stretch: 2-for-9 from the field with no foul shots.
However, in the last three seasons — two of which he was named MVP — James’ teams have been involved in seven such situations. He’s attempted one shot, no free throws, has zero assists and lost five times. In his first two playoff seasons, he found himself in this spot 10 times, making four of seven field goals. So the better he’s become, the less he’s willing to take over in the final seconds.
James was fantastic most of Tuesday, taking over at power forward for Chris Bosh and never coming out in the second half. Then again, he is a three-time MVP. Fantastic is what he’s supposed to be at this time of the year, right?
But those four missed foul shots late and serving as a decoy for (a cold-shooting) Mario Chalmers … seriously? And his team losing again.
Our gut feeling: When the playoffs end, we’ll still be talking about the Spurs and James’ playoff failures.
– John Keim
