After a blowout Game 3 loss in the NBA Finals, Miami Heat's LeBron James held nothing back in his media availability Wednesday about his poor individual performance the night before.
"I played like s***," James said.
James scored 15 points on 7-of-21 shooting in Game 3, and to add insult to injury, his Heat were manhandled by the San Antonio Spurs in a 36 point blowout to take the series lead at 2-1. After such a poor performance from the four-time MVP, James promised a much better individual performance in Game 4.
"I will be better," he said. "I will be much better tomorrow night."
James appeared to grasp a better understanding of the stakes at hand and knows another performance like in Game 3 isn't going to cut it against precise effort of the Spurs.
"I take full responsibility for our team's performance last night," James said. "Me as a leader, I can't afford to perform like I did last night and expect us to win on the road, it's that simple. So I'm putting all the pressure on my chest, on my shoulders to come through for our team. That's the way it is."
James' isn't the only one who believes he must be more aggressive against the Spurs, as ESPN analyst Magic Johnson seems to agree.
James' play on the court has long been compared to the play of Johnson, but according to Johnson, James needs to channel the style of Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant in this series against the Spurs.
"I want him to be more like Kobe or Michael than like me," Johnson said with a laugh during a Wednesday NBA Finals conference call, "in order to win, because he has to score points and this defense and this team. This is the worst team that Miami could play because of the fact that San Antonio is going to stick to the game plan."
Johnson added that he could foresee changes to the Heat roster this summer that could directly impact the Big Three of James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
"I think what we may see is the end of this Big Three," he said. "I think that things will change, no matter what happens. Things have to change with that team, because everybody has caught up to them now."
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