Skip to main content

NBA Playoffs 2012: How Derrick Rose's Injury Clears LeBron James' Path to Finals - Bleacher Report

Derrick Rose is out, which means the path to an NBA title has never been clearer for LeBron James and the Miami Heat.

Chicago still has what it takes to contend, and there's always Boston to consider, but the soon-to-be league MVP and his team are officially in the driver's seat.

The Heat are fresh off a romping of the New York Knicks, and arguably for the first time all season, appear genuinely interested.

That's because the postseason has arrived, a time when Dwyane Wade becomes intrigued and James has an additional slew of critics to go up against.

And make no mistake, the Bulls, more so than the Celtics, Knicks, Thunder and Spurs, were the greatest obstacle standing between the Heat and championship.

Miami split the season series with Chicago. Though the Bulls have proven to be a scrappy team without Rose on the floor, their chances against a LeBron-led Heat over a seven game series are less than favorable.

James is locked in, seemingly prepared to leave his inner postseason demons behind him. He tore apart the Knicks on both sides of the floor in just three quarters, scoring 32 points and grabbing four steals while shooting over 70 percent from the field.

There are only three players in the Eastern Conference who can be considered in the same class of performer as James. One, Wade, is his teammate. Another, Carmelo Anthony, was shut down by James himself on Saturday.

And then there's Rose, the 23-year-old prodigy who has drawn comparisons to Michael Jordan even amid his bouts with injury, the young gun who was believed to have the prolific athleticism necessary to overthrow the James-led Heat.

Does Derrick Rose's injury clear the way for LeBron James and the Heat to win the NBA title?

Does Derrick Rose's injury clear the way for LeBron James and the Heat to win the NBA title?

  • Yes

  • No

  • Not sure

But he's been taken out of the equation, and now the path to James' first NBA title is as open as ever. Any potential excuses are out the window. Any serious roadblocks have been removed.

James and the Heat now live in an Eastern Conference that is built for them to waltz into the finals. They lost only three games on their road to the finals last year, including a routine mash-up of a Rose-included Bulls.

And what awaits them this season? A battered Knicks team? A fragile Celtics squad? A Bulls team down their best player?

They are not opponents to be taken lightly, but they are also not opponents that instill fear in Miami. And they shouldn't.

As long as James continues to embrace the spotlight, continues to thrive on the stage he's supposed to thrive on and avoids another playoff meltdown, the Heat are coming out of the Eastern Conference.

With Rose out, the NBA championship is now James' and the rest of the Heat's to lose.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NBA Rumors: LeBron James' Son Bronny Is on Draft Boards of 'Multiple Teams'

Chris Coduto/Getty Images Bronny James' USC team has struggled this season, but that reportedly hasn't stopped the NBA interest in the son of legend LeBron James. "When I talk to people around the league, he's on the draft boards of multiple teams," Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported Thursday: Charania noted teams around the league believe he is "further along" on the defensive side of the ball than the offensive side, which makes performances like Wednesday's all the more important. The USC freshman finished with 11 points, six assists and five rebounds while shooting 5-of-11 from the field in one of his best offensive showings of the season in a loss to Arizona. The only game that he scored more points in was a Dec. 30 loss to Oregon State when he finished with 15 on 6-of-11 shooting from the field. Perhaps most importantly, James played a season-high 30 minutes against the Wildcats on Wedn...
Post a Comment
Read more

What Happened to the Rivalry Between LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony? - Bleacher Report

They were two young stars with unique and special abilities on the basketball court. They had recently played in a high-attention scholastic contest against each other. They were both selected in the same draft. The LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony rivalry was supposed to be the best individual rivalry since Magic and Bird. But while the relationship between Bird and Johnson is dramatized in a new Broadway play , Anthony and James will meet for the 15th time in their careers and do so without much fanfare. James and Anthony first met in a USA developmental camp in 2001 . Much like how Johnson raved about Bird after they played together on a college All-Star team playing in an international tournament, James couldn’t stop talking about Anthony. The two squared off in a high school showcase game the following year that pitted the player regarded as the best senior in the country (Anthony) against the one that was the best junior in the country (James), a game Anthony’s team wo...
Post a Comment
Read more

‘So You Think You Can Dance’ 18 episode 3 recap: In ‘Auditions: Day Three,’ one hopeful was like ‘the LeBron James of dance’

"So You Think You Can Dance" season 18 ended the first stage of the competition on Monday night, March 18, with the last dance hopefuls looking for a spot in the choreography round. So far the bar has been set pretty high by standout performances from dancers representing a variety of dance styles, shapes, sizes and ability levels. So who stood out among the last crop of contestants? Did the show save the best for last? "We've put 25 people through," said judge Allison Holker at the start of the show. She singled out contemporary dancer Braylon Browner and gymnast Dakayla Wilson as standouts from the first two days of auditions. Comfort Fedoke agreed that Wilson is capable of anything a professional choreographer could throw at her. Maksim Chmerkovskiy was especially impressed by contemporary dancer Easton Magliarditi . But "there's so many other things outside of dance that we're also looking at." More from GoldDerby SEE ...
Post a Comment
Read more