LeBron James Says He’s Frustrated About Not Getting The Last Shot

After Miami’s 122-121 double overtime loss to the Timberwolves this past Friday, LeBron James expressed frustration that he wasn’t taking the last shot. In the closing seconds of the second OT session, Shane Battier passed it out to Ray Allen, who was partially covered by Kevin Love. Allen missed, and the ‘Wolves got a big win in Miami, but now James — normally quick to pass to open teammates in the clutch, says he wishes he’d been the one to take the game-winner.

Via the Sun-Sentinel‘s Shandel Richardson:

“For me, it’s a little frustrating being in this position again and not being able to get the last shot,” James said. “It happened in the Indiana game and it happened [Friday] as well. It’s a little frustrating. I’m a little over it right now. Right after the game, I was a little frustrated by it.”

In the preceding week, Chris Bosh‘s game-winning attempt from beyond the arc in Indiana fell way short during a sequence where James appeared to have been open, only to see him flip it to Bosh. It appeared Bosh was the primary target after coming out of the timeout with coach Erik Spoelstra, and there was a note of irritation when LeBron spoke after that game.

In game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals last year in Miami, James hit the game-winning layup with 2.2 seconds left, and alluded to that in his comments following the Minnesota loss:

“You give me two seconds, I feel like I can get a good look at the basket, especially when you see on the other side Kevin Love got three or four looks at making the game-winner,” James said. “It’s a little frustrating but for us, we move on.”

Here he is after the double OT loss to Minney:

But the Heat rebounded with a big win over the Knicks during their Sunday matinee on ABC, and with Indiana’s dreadful loss to the Hawks on Sunday, the Heat sit alone at the top of the Eastern Conference standings. Meanwhile, the Heat’s primary threat in the LEastern Conference, Indiana, has been in a free fall over the last month, which only got worse on Sunday when Roy Hibbert was benched in the second half and refused to talk to the media after the game.