James Gets to the Rim with 3.2 Seconds Left to Beat Magic, Pull Within 2 of Jordan

LeBron James seems set on perfecting his game and eradicated every defect. Michael Jordan said before the All-Star game that the key to stopping James was to force him left because he always pulls up for a jumper. Wednesday with the Heat’s 15-game win streak on the line, DeQuan Jones met James outside the three-point arc and forced him left in the closing seconds.

James did not pull up for the jumper or pass to a teammate as in past years, and he didn’t dribble left just far enough to pull up for a jumper like he did against Kobe Bryant in the All-Star game. Instead he went all the way to the basket using his left hand to lay the ball into the hoop and deliver a 97-96 win to pull him within two games of Jordan’s longest win streak of 18 games.

Barely beating the struggling Orlando Magic in Miami is not impressive, as the Heat blew a 20-point lead. Dwyane Wade also had a better game than James, which he has done a few times while shooting 62 percent during the last seven games. Wade was the better shooter (10 of 16), and had more rebounds (6 to 3 over James), assists (3 to 2) and steals (4 to 0).

But while James was only one of six on three-pointers, including two misses in the closing minutes, he overpowered another team by making six of eight two-pointers and 11 of 12 free throws in a 26 point performance during which the Heat won by 8 points during the 38 minutes he was on the court, and lost by 7 points during the 10 minutes he was not. 

Dec 29 1995-Feb 2 1996		Bulls	Opp	Streak	Feb 3 2013-March 10 2013		Heat	Opp
Indiana Pacers	h	120	93	W 1	Toronto Raptors	a	100	85
Atlanta Hawks	h	95	93	W 2	Charlotte Bobcats	h	99	94
Houston Rockets	h	100	86	W 3	Houston Rockets	h	114	108
Charlotte Hornets	a	117	93	W 4	Los Angeles Clippers	h	111	89
Milwaukee Bucks	h	113	84	W 5	Los Angeles Lakers	h	107	97
Seattle SuperSonics	h	113	87	W 6	Portland Trail Blazers	h	117	104
Philadelphia 76ers	a	120	93	W 7	Oklahoma City Thunder	a	110	100
Washington Bullets	a	116	109	W 8	Atlanta Hawks	a	103	90
Philadelphia 76ers	h	116	104	W 9	Chicago Bulls	a	86	67
Toronto Raptors	a	92	89	W 10	Philadelphia 76ers	a	114	90
Detroit Pistons	a	111	96	W 11	Cleveland Cavaliers	h	109	105
New York Knicks	a	99	79	W 12	Sacramento Kings	h	141	129
Vancouver Grizzlies	h	104	84	W 13	Memphis Grizzlies	h	98	91
Miami Heat	h	102	80	W 14	New York Knicks	a	99	93
Phoenix Suns	h	93	82	W 15	Minnesota Timberwolves	a	97	81
Houston Rockets	a	98	87	W 16	Orlando Magic	h	97	96
Sacramento Kings	a	105	85	W 17	Philadelphia 76ers	h	Fri	8-Mar
Los Angeles Lakers	a	99	84	W 18	Indiana Pacers	h	Sun	10-Mar
Average Bulls Score		106	89		Average Heat Score		106	95