LeBron James “Needed a Breather” Against San Antonio Spurs in Game 1
By Josh Hill
The Miami Heat are in the NBA Finals for the third straight year but they seem to have finally met their match. Their first trip to the Finals was at a time in which they were still adjusting to being the Big 3 and their first title win came against a young team still learning to play together. But with the San Antonio Spurs it appears the Heat have finally found a formidable opponent and nothing signifies that more than LeBron James admitting he needed a breather late in the first game against them.
According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, playoff fatigue may be catching up with the Heat and LeBron James was quoted as saying he just needed to rest a minute after three quarters of battling hard.
“I had been accustomed to being able to start the fourth but the third quarter was so — I was in the paint, defensive rebounding, I was closing out Kawhi Leonard on shooters,” James said via ESPN. “It took all in the tank from me in the third quarter. So I needed a little breather.”
In LeBron’s defense, his Game 1 fatigue may be a freak occurrences of all the right things converging on top of him. The Spurs may have looked fresher than the Heat because they hadn’t played in about a week after sweeping the Memphis Grizzlies. The Heat, on the other hand, had played just two nights prior in a do-or-die Game 7 against a spunky Indiana Pacers team.
To add to it, LeBron seemed to be the only guy truly stepping up throughout the series against the Pacers and after playing nearly every single minute of Game 7, it’s understandable that he needed a breather. Most player just run out of gas but it’s a testament to the kind of player James is when all he needs in that situation is a quick breather.
The question now is whether or not the Heat can get a grip on themselves. Their first game of the Finals already which may end up being a blessing. They barely lost to the Spurs which means if they can rest up even a little bit more than they were in Game 1, they might have what it takes to beat San Antonio.
But the last guy to be ripping is LeBron as he’s doing all he can and more for the Heat even if it’s draining him.