Since the NBA introduced the three-point line in the 1979-80 season, no starting small forward has ever shot a higher three-point percentage than what LeBron James did this season for the Miami Heat.
However, during the NBA Finals series against the San Antonio Spurs, it appears that touch has since left James just adding to his struggles.
James' is shooting 43.6 percent during the finals, while during the regular season he shot 56.5 percent from the field, remarkable numbers for a non-center.
According to the Miami Herald, no starting small forward who made more than two three-pointers in a season ever shot as high of a percentage as James did this season. Chris Mullen was closet, at 55.3 percent in 1996-97.
Aside from a strong 15 for 25 performance in Game 4, James has been relatively inefficient offensively. He shot 7 for 16 in Game 1, 7 for 17 in Game 2, 7 for 21 in Game 3 and 8 for 22 in Game 5.
James went 1 for 8 Sunday when defended by the Spurs' Boris Diaw, but when faced against other defenders he was 7 of 14.
"Boris is a pretty good defender," Spurs guard Tony Parker said. "It gives a different look for LeBron. He looks awkward, but he gets the job done. Every time in Europe he guards guys like that, the fours who can't really move"
His overall shooting performance this series is worse than his 47.8 percent accuracy in the 2011 Finals loss to the Dallas Mavericks. James is averaging 21.6 points in this series, compared to his 17.8 in the 2011 Finals and 28.6 in the 2012 Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
If the Heat hope to force a Game 7, James will need to have a strong performance in Game 6 Tuesday night at 9 p.m.
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