LeBron James Finally Clutch Is Reason Why Critics Can Hush

Now that he silenced the world and such anarchy is over, it's fair to state the truth. LeBron James is simply clutch. Only the naive believes he didn't have one of his best games in Finals history. Weren't you watching? Because if you weren't a witness, this was the kind of performance his disbelievers and even supporters were waiting for anxiously, and indeed, he delivered in crunch time.

This was James finally revealing his vicious and relentless toughness -- one of the finest LeBronstravaganzas we've ever seen. The night for James was a breakout Finals game -- particularly in the fourth quarter -- leaving his critics in silence and amazingly surprising everyone in full view. The first order of business is to taste glory and win his first ever ring as an NBA player, the only reward that's not visible on his resume to accompany with his individual achievements. James, in all, is getting tired of hearing that he has no championship ring, that he won't ever be the next best thing to Jordan. It's all an insult to him.

While he has heard the typical nonsense from critics and has been harangued by naysayers demeaning him, motivated by the haters and widespread criticism, he delivered on a critical pull-up shot without calling bank shot, and then closed it out with two late free throws. By that time, the Miami Heat had buried Oklahoma City 100-96 to tie the NBA Finals at one game apiece Thursday night, as the series shifts to Miami for three. This was not only good, but also great, a time for James to shut mouths close and prove everyone wrong.

Just when we thought it was safe to describe him as a fourth-quarter finisher, Kevin Durant, a three-time NBA scoring champ, sputtered down the stretch and was limited due to foul trouble, playing with five fouls, as he feared to be an aggressor. But now, in these Finals, it was LeBron with a vital defensive play stopping Durant's potential game-tying shot. With a chance to make it by driving baseline, Durant watched the shot bounce off the rim. He forced Durant to miss on a baseline 10-footer in the final seconds, he contested the shot, and he harassed him, refusing to give him space to capitalize on a game-tying basket. The refs just let them play, and didn't blow the whistle on James, on a no-call that could have gone either way.

Durant, on the other hand, won't take it, but James certainly will. And he took the win. Even after his foolish decision show and premature celebration in Miami, James, an unlikable figure in the NBA, has mastered the role of greatness to some extent, the primary star in South Florida that everyone loves or loathes. Meanwhile, some people, among James' critics, think Durant is a more clutch performer than James. But one can argue that James is widely a better finisher than Durant. Erasing the regretful past times from a self-serving infomercial that permanently damaged his image and credibility, James is rising to the occasion -- hate him or love him -- not once did he quit or disappeared and seemed more confident. Filled with hunger, quenching thirst and pride, he dispelled any doubts that he's not clutch.

Above all, he shot 12 for 12 from the foul line, and from what we've seen, when the going has gotten tougher, James has played his hardest. And so, once again, he has stepped forward, handling all the pressure, dealing with all the scrutiny as the most despised player in basketball, if not all of sports. He's not the same player we saw one year ago, and in truth, he's meaner and tougher, a beast-like creature who can single-handedly lead the Heat to a second title. It's not Dwyane Wade. It's not Chris Bosh. The focal point of these much-anticipated finals happens to be James, after all, even though he's taken some criticism in the past for either being too selfish or too selfless.


This is turning into a series of vindication as James may finally celebrate and raise the first championship trophy by continuing his dominance. Finally, the most visibly polarizing figure in the sport could make a case as the best NBA player, and to some degree, he has laid the claim, only lacking the honorable prize. In recent news, to keep tabs on him, James has had two consecutive 30-point performances in this series alone.

At the end of the day, he's helping his team win, he's coming through in clutch situations and, as a result, he put away the Thunder. Through two games, James has been the man of the show -- and amazingly fun to witness with our very eyes. The fast start set the tone early in this game as the Heat pushed out to an 18-2 lead, scoring on Oklahoma City, who missed 12 of its first 13 shots. The team couldn't overcome a 10-point deficit, moment from moment. And every time the Thunder would cut into the lead, the Heat continued to score and James was unstoppable. It was inexcusable, whether the refs helped the Heat with no-calls or overused their whistles, the way the Thunder played in the first half.

The lack of urgency and struggles from Russell Westbrook, who has a sore left thumb, was a drawback for the Thunder after missing shot after shot. This outing clearly summarized Westbrook's horrible night and the numbers were misleading, for which he missed 16 of his team-high 26 shots to finish with 27 points. But this is one game where James had one vintage moment in the finals. This is one game where he was money in the fourth quarter. The ball eventually made its way to Wade, but he has yet to make noise in the finals. And thanks to LeBron, the Heat not once had to worry about a fourth-quarter collapse, and held on to a victory that they badly wanted in the 2-3-2 format series.

There's no doubt it was the hardest NBA Finals contest of his career -- on the road -- in a hostile territory, where James maneuvered by Thunder defenders with strength and a fierce approach to attack the rim and finish. For once, he wasn't scoreless in the fourth quarter, and his mental attitude spoke volumes, knowing that he is playing with a heavy burden in his role as a primary superstar. Late in the game, the Heat were on the brink of losing a 13-point lead, and every time the Thunder would make a run, James would deliver.

More surprisingly, he was unflappable and composed to handle the roughest time of the game. It's hard to question LeBron's greatness, his ability to step up late in the game when he avoided a heartbreaking collapse, at last in the finals. With James around, it can also be noted that he bailed out his coach Erik Spoelstra, who is well aware of offensive uncertainties, a weakness in which his diagrammed plays tend to unravel at the worst time. But that's when LeBron comes in to save the day, taking over at the end and throttling the opposition into submission.

It's been long overdue, and it's about time that James comes across good fortune in these finals, a testament to his success.

You know what that tells us?

You can't ever underestimate the heart of LeBron James.

Aging Spurs Not the Deepest, Not Even Close

The scenes are just as entrancing as always. It was fairly evenly matched. But it's not that close now. What happened Monday night might have decided the winner of the Western Conference Finals, with the Oklahoma City Thunder only one win away from securing a spot in the NBA Finals.

Before the Spurs-Thunder series, we heard all the positives about the Spurs. But the rhetorical notion that the Spurs were so experience, so deep and so disciplined wasn't exact. There's a reason Tim Duncan had a worried look on his face as he walked off the floor forlorn and unhappy. His facial expression was all indicators that the Spurs were done. Fighting for survival for now on, old age and torpidity equates to late-season struggles.

The Spurs, on the verge of elimination and trailing the series 3-2, are the oldest NBA team with five members of their roster at age 33 or older. The timing is bad to suddenly falter, but with all the disadvantages for a team that once built a dynasty, the Spurs are struggling because they are simply broken and exhausted, even if they are equipped for a championship. In a stunning turn of events -- with a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series -- San Antonio dropped three straight games.

There is a theory -- fatigued and slow to run the floor -- that age has a cumulative effect on one's ability to perform at such a physical level. The evaluation of talent was a misguided conception and it wasn't what it appeared as the Spurs are one loss away from vacation with Kenny and Charles and the rest of the TNT cast. Because this is the Spurs, an NBA team that has won four titles between 1999 and 2007, and because they have what is considered the big three in Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker and Duncan, expectations are heavy for a well-accomplished franchise.

But now, against a quicker, fresher and younger core, they are close to planning summer vacation, losing to the Thunder 108-103 in the Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals. If they go on to lose, consider it a disappointment, a sentiment of misfortune and doomsday when the Spurs had the goods to extend their domination. There's not much time left, which means the Spurs are on barrow time and apparently not suited to contend with the fastest and strongest as much of the roster is almost eligible for senior citizen discounts.

Now, you hear much about how the Thunder, a small-market team whose emergence is what defines the NBA, are exciting, jelling together and growing as consistent troops on a mission to conquer a title. Since we have been brainwashed into thinking the Spurs are completely dominant, after having their impressive 20-game winning streak snapped by these Thunder, fans across the land have been inundated with buzz.

It was a lack of duration and energy that vitiated them, smearing a championship campaign after all the hype centered the four-time winners. If the Spurs fail to force a Game 7, which they probably will with all the momentum and confidence riding on the Thunder's side -- and everyone is stunned -- it would be a real shame on their behalf simply for discrediting a team that proved to be more athletic and physically active and well-proportioned. The clock is ticking and the Spurs have to make adjustments if they want to stand a chance against the youthful Thunder.


It would be a tall order, not to mention that Oklahoma City will return home for Game 6 where the crowd brings energy, for the Spurs to travel to the loudest NBA venue and grind out a pressing victory in a hostile territory. By the time it was all over, Manu Ginobili released his frustration by clenching his fist and striking the defenseless scorer's table. It was one of the lamest moments for the Spurs, and these painful times were illustrated after the left-handed sixth man missed a three-pointer that bounced off the back of the rim at the buzzer. He was the absolute best on this particular night, and whether he's growing old in the twilight stages of his accomplished career, Ginobili had one of his flashy playoff runs as a member of the Spurs, where he has been prone to injury throughout his career.

It's folly to ignore what he and the Spurs have collectively done this postseason. But then the same could be said for the Thunder, a team that simply outplayed San Antonio. In their current state, the Spurs are dangerously faced in a predicament within sight of wasting one of their greatest seasons by letting a 2-0 lead slip away. We may have seen the last of them. This Spurs team may never have another chance to compete at the highest level. It won't happen if this current roster separates after major redevelopment, a franchise that could aim for a new direction, an organization that could say farewell to Duncan.

After spending years in the league, Duncan's exit would be fitting if he does consider retirement, and call it a well-achieved career. They are now left with no other choice but to win on the road, needing to make a statement for us to believe in them again, as we were confident at the beginning of this series, particularly after the 26-point performance by Ginobili in Game 1 and after Parker compiled 34 big ones on the scoreboard in Game 2. This is the moment that no lead is ever safe, and as it turns out, the Spurs are victims, eyewitnesses to blown leads.

In response to two consecutive losses, the Spurs came out attacking the Thunder, fighting and delivering early. For the third quarter, the Spurs opened with an 18-4 spurt that sent an energized crowd into delirium. And all season, the big three have been resilient, refocusing and bouncing back after rare losses, with the wisdom and intellectual capacity of Gregg Popovich, the brilliant mind of all coaches for making adjustments and finding solutions to normally correct the problem.

But, this time, he and his players had no solution, although they were well on their way to a potential win but blew it when Russell Westbrook drove and earned free throws to shift momentum. Popovich -- over on the bench -- was biting his nails nervously and watched the Thunder outscore the Spurs 25-10 to manage an 81-72 lead with 12 minutes remaining. Without much youth, or fresher bodies, the Spurs are suddenly at the end of their reign, no longer feared or intimidating to their opponents, as one can see.

And in view of the demise -- the latest disintegration that only leaves behind precious memories for a once unbreakable dynasty -- it figures that now the Spurs will have better hopes and plans for the future to refurbish. More often than not, particularly in this game, Oklahoma City's sizable, taller defenders forced the Spurs into 21 turnovers, folding offensively with a mountain of mistakes and mental lapses.

Not only did the Thunder snap San Antonio's winning streak, but also they have them on the brink of elimination, and it is hard to imagine the Spurs advancing out of this round without any bumps and bruises when all the momentum and hopefulness was sucked out of them. By seeing this, one can argue that the Thunder are built hereafter, the scariest team in the west for the next few years. Missing in action was Danny Green, the Spurs regular shooting guard who was benched in favor of Ginobili.

There was no possible way Duncan could operate alone, as old as he is now, needing breathers every now and then. Not that he was a rickety point guard, but Thabo Sefolosha was a defensive fix assigned for guarding Parker and, after all, he was a better defender and maybe even faster than him as Parker was throttled. Another difference was Gary Neal, the Spurs outside shooter, who was fairly quiet and missed a number of shots. And even DeJuan Blair was useless in the first half.

It was only a matter of time before the Thunder gained full control of this series. And certainly, it happened. That's when Popovich, remember, a man known for his adjustments, inserted Ginobili into the starting lineup. By doing so, he scored 34 points in 38 minutes for the deepest team ever, as many described San Antonio.

In reality, it was not the deepest, maybe the most experienced, but definitely not the most complete team. At least it doesn't seem that way at this very moment. They could bounce back from this, and then again, maybe not.

Only time will tell.

Rebuilding Lakers Means Fire Sale Now

Broken! Soft! Tempestuous! Beaten! Strangely atrocious! This pretty much sums how bad the playoffs were for the Los Angeles Lakers, who are now on their way home early for the second straight season following an exasperating and embarrassing 106-90 Game 5 loss Monday night to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference semifinals, dispatching Los Angeles in the second round.

This is the second straight season of disappointments and woes, another somber moment after the Lakers were eliminated in the NBA postseason, pointing to signs of drastic changes needed. If the Lakers want to stay in contention each season, it's now time for an overhaul, extensive rebuilding to surround a discontented Kobe Bryant with fresher and younger legs. It's now time to move into another direction, to please the superstar guard before we might hear him request a trade out of Los Angeles.

Threats of Kobe leaving the Lakers can come at any moment now. The state of the Lakers franchise remains uncertain, another riddle to figure out in what should be an interesting offseason for a regal franchise, known for winning championships and raising banners into the rafters at Staples Center.

As for Pau Gasol, the Lakers tall, lanky forward from Spain, he is likely to be traded this summer after the brief postseason run, so the team will listen to offers. Gasol, a soft, spongy ballplayer when he can't hustle, grab rebounds and dictate the flow of the game under the basket with a post presence that no one has seen from him much in the playoffs, wasn't a dependable player and Bryant couldn't rely on him to be a second-scoring option.

The Lakers have a pair of largely gifted seven-footers the tallest front court in the NBA, but nonetheless failed to control the boards and close off the lane. The two were bullied by the Thunder, and so were the rest of the team other than Bryant, who refused to quit, despite trailing in the second half of Monday's elimination game. In some ways the Lakers have the best-worst team in the NBA, simply because they have the greatest superstar of this generation but have the most underachieving core of players alongside the Black Mamba, a team captain who hate to lose, hate to come up short of winning an NBA championship.

Kobe was not pleased with his teammates, nor the Lakers executives -- once again devoid of what he plays for, an honorable trophy each season. Bynum was supposed to be a reliable center, and more importantly, all grown up since he was given a five-game suspension for his dirty, thug-like hit on J.J. Barea in the Lakers' Game 4 loss to Dallas of the semifinals a year ago -- he's immature and apathetic after all -- but can become the most dominant center since Shaquille O'Neal. It's the darkest moment, equivalent to an episode of the Twilight Zone. After a wonderful dynasty early in the 21st century, now with a weakened and withered bench, an older core of players incapable of keeping up with the youth and emergence of faster players fitted to run a long marathon, the Lakers have to retool again.

If the Lakers take account of a rebuilding project, they could then again win more titles. But until then, the Lakers won't deliver the goods with their current roster. And now, with an abrupt ending to the Lakers' erratic season, Mike Brown's job status is mired in jeopardy. There's not much happiness in Lakersland. The storyline, after a miserable loss that extended this Lakers demise, is that Bryant is unhappy with the state of the franchise and the personnel decisions of Lakers vice executive Jim Buss. It is almost staggering that Gasol and Bynum went for a combined 2-for-11 and poured in seven points in the second half of an elimination game.

The newly minted executive, who is the son of owner Jerry Buss, finally had a wake up call, and now it's his responsible to make dramatic changes to make certain the Lakers return to usual form. All this season, the Lakers won based on finesse and experience, not youth, speed or hungriness. All this season, the Lakers won because of Kobe Bryant, and with the exception of Gasol and Bynum, it cut their season short. It's well-documented Bryant is here for the long term, obviously, but the rest of the team is called into question.

With all due respect, Magic Johnson, who had a contentious opinion regarding Brown, is not alone. There's already been much conversation on whether Brown will salvage his job for another season, all because he brought in a blue-collar defensive system and deserve credit for his acumen to emphasize a strong effort defensively. But, of late, the Lakers never committed to defense, and Russell Westbrook single-handedly dismantled the Lakers. It wouldn't be surprising if Buss fires Brown, especially when he and general manager Mitch Kupchak can now phone Stan Van Gundy about the coaching job here in Los Angeles.

The worst is, it has been painful to watch the Lakers in the midst of a crisis, one that requires an extreme Hollywood makeover. Sending off Bynum to New Jersey for Deron Williams and Brook Lopez would be a good way to rebuild in the City of Angels -- or even sending the seven-foot center who selfishly is apathetic and doesn't care where he plays next season -- he may wind up in Orlando for Dwight Howard. Bynum, a pouty brat who was benched, sarcastically shot well out of his range, cried, played selfishly and laughed after a disgraceful loss, can be dealt over the summer for good value.

There's no doubt he needs to grow up on a team where his act of petulance and immaturity are problems for a franchise on a mission to amass championships, which traditionally the Lakers have done so well. If no one else knows, Bryant can admittedly tell us how incompetent and useless his current roster is collectively. At this point of Bryant's career, he's tired, mentally and physically burned out when all of this is on him. If they lose, he's the scapegoat. If they lose, he's the one to blame, for either being too selfish or too unselfish, for either being a facilitator or ball hog. Damned if he does. Damned if he doesn't. The hope is that the Lakers can eventually rebuild the current roster with blockbuster trades and signings to put them into championship mode.

Then, once it's all said and done, the Lakers can redefine themselves. There are a number of things -- if they can go back in time -- that the Lakers as a whole would handle differently, like choosing to hire Brian Shaw, which was Bryant's preferred favorite. The realization of the Lamar Odom trade spelled absolute doom, sending him to Dallas, a team that wiped the Lakers out of the postseason. And certainly, they slowly diminished without his services, trading him essentially for nothing in return, for which Bryant was furious and puzzled on what the future held following the deal that was unorthodox. A year ago, Dallas swept these Lakers in the semifinals.

This year, nothing changed, except they managed to win at least one game versus Oklahoma City but went home in five games. The Lakers, I fear, are in a world of trouble until they figure it out. It's not about the lost of the greatest coach of all time, Phil Jackson. It's not about Metta World Peace as the most reliable player Kobe can trust or even his state of mind. It's not about the Odom trade. It's about the Lakers reverting to winners. There were no real surprises, ever since a near-successful trade that would have sent Gasol and Odom to New Orleans for Chris Paul was vetoed.

While there were Rajon Rondo rumors across L.A. with speculations of Howard coming to the Lakers following their early season struggles in the first couple of months, they had to play with what they had, they were so erratic and then traded Derek Fisher, the veteran point guard who led them to five NBA championships. It is clear the Lakers are basketball royalty, and anything less than a championship is a failure. But after the game, after suffering a beatdown for the second straight season that created a soap opera, it was an eye-opener for one of the big-time sports franchises -- among them -- the New York Yankees, Dallas Cowboys, Chicago Cubs, Green Bay Packers, Duke and Notre Dame.

We didn't know it was going to be like this, when the Lakers traded for Ramon Sessions hoping to reduce their weakest area, trying to get faster, younger and more athletic but Westbrook was still too quick and lethal. It's telling, though, that the Lakers need more than just Sessions.

It wouldn't be surprising for the Lakers to pursue a local player in Brandon Jennings, a big-name free agent this summer. It wouldn't be surprising for them to release Brown and replace him with Jerry Sloan, Van Gundy or Shaw. This summer will be interesting, for sure, as the Lakers need to do whatever it takes to reestablish a lost personality.

Lakers Show Signs Of Life With Comeback Win Over Thunder

The Los Angeles Lakers might have hope, after all, staying alive to end the disappointment of the mental breakdown in Game 2. When they needed to respond and avenge the losses of two disastrous games, the Lakers came away with a 99-96 victory Friday night in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals of the NBA playoffs and can tie the best-of-seven series if they win Game 4 Saturday night.

After barely erasing the memory of a dreadful beginning to this series, while nearly on the brink of dropping three straight to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Lakers yet again expressed emotion and life in a riveting battle. For a while now, we had the notion this series maybe, just maybe, was over for the Lakers. But, right now, we can't rule out the Lakers, especially after what happened Friday night, pulling off a must-win to extend the series and refusing to allow the Thunder to pull out the brooms for a chance to sweep them. Suddenly, it would be interesting to see whether or not Team LA could send it back to Oklahoma City tied 2-2 on Monday, and with a scorer as impeccable as Kobe Bryant in the fourth quarter and even a center as prolific as Andrew Bynum, when he does show up to have a consistent performance, the Lakers can beat the Thunder twice at home.

Now try to imagine how much public interest the Lakers would be given if they impressively bounce back and turn an unexciting semifinals into a dramatic, watchful spate of games. If there's one player enjoying it all, it's Kobe Bryant, the Lakers superstar who lives for the challenge against each opponent and hates to lose. What you and I saw was the Kobe Show, refusing to take another defeat and agonizing letdown that stopped the Lakers from gaining a step closer toward redemption. The strongest of them all was Bryant, as usual, to rescue Los Angeles from hell, and perhaps, the brink of elimination in which the Lakers would have been one game away from an second-round exit without a chance to erase the bitter destruction of the blowout in Game 4 against the Dallas Mavericks a year ago.

It's clear Bryant -- in the most important game of the Lakers' season -- was the catalyst and survived a long, gut-wrenching marathon. The marksman, Bryant, refused to watch his team trail in the playoffs. With his competitiveness and athleticism, he still has the capability and healthy body to play the game late in his 16-year career. He has played the game like an ageless shooting guard, a youthful veteran leader, longing for a championship when he already own five rings. You could see it in his eyes. You could sense it. This time around, the Lakers drew fouls and converted on 41 of 42 free throws. The quick turnaround was huge for the Lakers, and without Bryant's services, they would have most likely dropped dead. It was Bryant's usual determined, possessed stare, a serious facial expression, and indeed, he indicated it on the court by his body language, scoring 36 points and going a perfect 18 for 18 at the line.

Bryant was at the top of his game, and when he's at his best, he's ultimately that damn good. You never know what could happen with Kobe "Bean" Bryant on the court. Up until now, he and the Lakers were older, slower and age had been a glaring problem. In contrast, the Thunder were surely too quick, too aggressive and too potent. Fair or not, the expiration date is quickly approaching for Bryant, which is drawing much debate as to whether he can earn his sixth ring. If the Lakers lose, the talk around town will be that the Busses plan on drastically making changes and rebuilding around Bryant for an overhaul. The Lakers have plenty of work left -- amazingly, playing aggressively to resurrect any struggles that could have ended their season in a four-game sweep.

You can argue that the Thunder wouldn't be nearly as good or even more efficient than the Lakers if Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook weren't there. You can argue that the Thunder wouldn't be the deepest team in the playoffs if there were no James Harden. It was all about Bryant, the greatest scorer on earth, scoring 14 of his 36 points in the fourth. If he keeps knocking down shots and getting to the line, along with help from his supporting cast -- such as Steve Blake, who answered back after receiving death threats via Twitter by some idiot -- then fear the Lakers. Blake, serving as Bryant's sidekick, had 12 points and hustled for the ball much of the night. And it was good for Bynum, to be sure, though no one ever knows when he's a show or no-show.

He was reliable with 15 points and 11 rebounds, and then Gasol corralled 11 rebounds and delivered six assists. Though, Bynum was only 2-for-13 from the field, and made 11 of 12 free throws. At tip off, they were off to a quick start, controlling an eight-point by the end of the first quarter, but then later in the game they became too relaxed and torpid. At the end, the Lakers finished on a 12-4 run that erased a five-point deficit, and luckily Durant missed a potential game-tying three-pointer.

Right after, Bynum denied Serge Ibaka's shot at the buzzer, and the Lakers escaped while the home crowd sporting gold shirts celebrated. It's been exactly three days since they lost Game 2, blowing a seven-point lead by playing carelessly in the final two minutes, a game they had a chance to tie. It was strange, however, as it has been ever since he was traded out of town, to see Derek Fisher in an Oklahoma City blue uniform. But the Lakers were refocused and pulled off one of the toughest wins, without hanging their heads and giving up on themselves, which quickly turned this into an engaging matchup.

It's a start.

Old or not, don't rule the Lakers out.