LeBron James found the final seconds of Miami’s loss to Houston painful. It was a complete contrast with just the night before.
First on Tuesday night there was the play above — with 15 seconds left in the game and the Rockets up three James Harden tried to make an ill-advised pass ahead to Dwight Howard in the front court (the Heat were forced to foul and you pass to Howard?). The result was a turnover, but in the fight for the ball Howard inadvertently elbowed LeBron in he face. I don’t care what color mask he’s wearing, that is going to hurt if your nose is broken. That’s what he told the Miami Herald.
There had been a report on twitter that LeBron had re-broken his nose on that play, but that is not the case according to the team.
With the turnover Miami got a final shot, and you knew LeBron would take it. During the play Howard got switched on to LeBron after a screen — but that worked for Houston. LeBron could have driven by Howard for a lay up, but LeBron needed a three, and Howard is mobile and long and was able to contest the shot, a 25-foot three that did not fall. Again from the Herald:
LeBron had 22 points on the night on 9-of-18 shooting, but was scoreless in the fourth quarter.
