Lakers' LeBron James says no NBA Finals mercy rule this time because of Heat 2011 collapse vs. Mavs
Because of what he experienced during his first visit to the NBA Finals as a member of the Miami Heat, Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James made clear there would be no mercy rule in these NBA Finals against the Heat.
In the 2011 Finals, coming off a convincing Game 1 victory in that best-of-seven series against the Dallas Mavericks, James and the Heat began to celebrate during Game 2 after extending their lead to 15 points midway through the fourth quarter, with teammate Dwyane Wade after one shot in front of the Mavericks bench signaling to Dallas that the game was over.
It wasn’t. The Mavericks rebounded to win, 95-93, that night to tie the series 1-1 and eventually win the series 4-2.
So even with James and the Lakers rolling to Wednesday night’s 116-98 thrashing of the Heat at Disney’s Wide World of Sports complex, James made clear nothing would be taken for granted ahead of or during Friday’s 9 p.m. Game 2 back in the NBA’s quarantine setting.
“We’ve got so much more work to do,” he said. “The job is not done. We’re not satisfied with winning one game. It’s that simple.”
All because of that simple truth he learned in Game 2 those 2011 Finals, a memory that still haunts, even with three NBA championships in the interim, including with the Heat in 2012 and ’13.
“The best teacher in life is experience,” he said. “I’ve experienced moments in my career where you have all the momentum in the world and you felt like you had the game under control, and one play here or one play there could change the course of a series or change the course of a game.”
Then he turned to 2011 series against Dallas, a series that practically left him a recluse that offseason.
“One in particular that always rings home for me is Game 2 of the 2011 Finals in Miami versus Dallas,” James recalled. “D-Wade hits a three right by their bench. I believe it put us up either 13 or 17. From that moment on, Dallas went on a hell of a run and finished it off with a Dirk Nowitzki left-hand layup to steal that game.”
Wade’s shot came with 7:14 to play, with Dallas then closing the game with a 22-5 run.
“That (expletive) burns me to this day,” James said. “I always talk about the best teacher in life is experience, and I’ve experienced a lot. That’s what prompts me to be who I am today, is being able to have those experiences.”
All while still willing to learn, with James saying he was up past 4 a.m. early Thursday morning going over video from Game 1.
“We’re playing against an exceptional basketball team, obviously, great-coached,” he said. “So we have to continue to understand that coming into Game 2. It was great to get with the guys today earlier and go over the film.
“They’re going to make adjustments in Game 2, and we need to be ready for that. We can’t come out with the energy that we had in Game 1 and go down 23-10 and expect the same result as we had in Game 1.”
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