I don't know if anyone else has been watching the NBA Finals, but they've been remarkable so far. I haven't caught every game... Game 3 was supposed to be pretty good, and I turned off Game 2 once Miami went up 15. But every other game has been pretty excellent, and overall the series is playing out in just about the most perfect way.

Here's the thing... you might know that LeBron is just struggling terribly, and has come up short in just about every 4th quarter so far this series. (If you don't know... then you have successfully evaded any sort of sports coverage over the past few days.) I'm not even going to try to analyze what's exactly wrong with him, since that's what everyone is doing. But I will mention a few things:

1) Miami's got the next two at home, which should mean they have the advantage, but... the way the series has played out has seemed to be completely gut-wrenching for the Heat, I think Dallas is smelling blood and will close it out Sunday. Of course I will be wrong, though. So really... Heat in 7.

2) Even if Miami does go ahead and win this series, I'm thinking that LeBron needs to put up a monster game in at least one or both games in order to avoid intense scrutiny. Because they will give him crap about how he didn't "win it" (much like how Kobe was somewhat haunted by the fact that his first three titles were won with Shaq)... and with good reason. LeBron is easily the most important NBA player in the league in terms of talent and popularity/notoriety, and yet he isn't even the most important player on his team. It's a weird situation, and LeBron needs to justify his status as the most important player, the most sought after free agent in history, etc--not by just winning a title, but being the man. And if he doesn't, then it comes to the point that you have to devalue him as perhaps just the best 2nd fiddle player in the league.

Not that that'll mean anything, because everyone will still talk about him since he's been hyped up so much. And really, he's been the most compelling story in the NBA for the past few years. But at some point... if he doesn't deliver in these next few games, people need to get off his back for not coming through when needed and just accept that he most likely can't come through.

(If I had to guess why he's not clutch, I'd guess it's because of the intense pressure he's put on himself. I mean, I can still clearly remember the game against the Pistons 4 years back when he scored Cleveland's last 25 points in an overtime win, and that did not seem like any sort of aberration but rather a f***ing great basketball player fully realizing that greatness. But then he decided to put his efforts into being a "brand", and has hyped his importance enough to put his decision on his free agency on television, etc etc etc. If he didn't have all this added pressure upon him, I'd have no doubt he'd have had a much more impressive game last night (and he had a triple double too), but I don't know if he has the mindset to deal with all this.)

3) The way this series has been unfolding has been great, though. I can't think of a better way to set up Games 6 & (possibly) 7. Cause not only does that Mavs have the Heat on the ropes, but LeBron is sort of morphing into the Dan Marino mold of being absolutely great but never quite coming through at the most crucial times. And if you're not particularly fond of the man, this is pretty great.

4) I feel bad because no one's talking about Dallas in those whole series, but it's much more fun to revel in the Heat's failures. No apologies.