One Quarter

A 24 point first quarter wasn't enough.  A 40 point game wasn't even enough.  LeBron James' 40 point effort could not lead the Miami Heat past the Milwaukee Bucks this evening. LeBron outscored the Bucks 24-23 in the first quarter, but as we all know, basketball games consist of four quarters.  However, I'd like to focus on the extreme difficulty of scoring 24 points in one quarter. 

24 points is the most any single NBA player has scored in one quarter all season long.  Some teams don't even score 24 points a quarter (obviously, just as the Bucks couldn't score more than that tonight).  After a certain point in the quarter, as a defender, individually and as a team, you know where the ball is going.  The ball is going to LeBron, and he shouldn’t even have an option to take a shot.  Somehow, someway, LeBron continued to find his own shots and make those shots.  Now, if LeBron could take this same confidence and mindset into the fourth quarter, then there wouldn’t even be a discussion about who will win the title.  

The fourth quarter could be a question of conditioning, or it could be a mindset problem.  The season is about midway through, so I hope conditioning is not the problem.  I would be even more worried if James’ mindset is the problem.  A player of his caliber should want the ball even if they know they’ll be facing extreme criticism whether or not they win or lose.  Hopefully throughout the rest of the season, LeBron will be able to prove himself not only in the first quarter, but in the more important fourth quarter.