LeBron continues to crumble in pressure situations

Peter Vecsey
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HOOP DU JOUR

Cannot believe Cavaliers’ owner Dan Gilbert hasn’t gone Rockin’ Robin — tweet tweetly-tweet — after LeBron James’ LaBrea tar-pit performance against my Hedge Clippers the night following a familiar fourth-quarter malfunction against the Warriors.

On the same evenings LeBron recorded belly-to-belly up shortfalls, Kobe Bryant dropped back-to-back 40-point-plus deposits against two of the NBA’s best defenders, Jared Dudley and Raja Bell, 48 on the Suns and two score on the Jazz.

I’m guessing Kobe’s 40-40 was a bit more pleasurable than his 50-50 split with Vanessa.

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IT’S NO CHOKE: LeBron James’ continued meltdowns late in games could turn into a big problem for the Heat, Peter Vecsey says.

Without being mean or mordant, what are we to make of James’ repeated breakdowns? Befuddled by the Clippers’ zone defense, I guess, he looked like a John Deere in the Hollywood headlights on the welfare line, aborting 8 of 17, but especially in the final moments (2 of 4) of regulation.

Well, aside from being a little bit richer and somewhat more famous, apparently, he’s a lot like you and me in terms of coming unglued in pressure-packed situations.

James seemed so shaky, so self-conscience, so nervous waiting for the referee to hand over the ball, he shook my hands and rattled my brain. His body language was eminently decipherable: face contorted; lips twitched; eyes darted; receding hairline retreated deeper into the darkness of his headband; and nails begged to be bitten.

This just in: Shaquille O’Neal announced he’s un-retiring so he can intentionally foul LeBron.

Meanwhile, LeBron’s jitters are not confined to stage fright 15 feet out, unguarded, naked to the world. The tighter the game, the tighter his arm and jaw become.

In Oakland, James vaporized earlier than usual and remained in thin air.

In Los Angeles, despite James’ conspicuous cracking at crunch time, coach Erik Spoelstra and teammates, specifically Dwyane Wade, were determined to feed him intravenously, and he urgently wanted every shot.

You better believe it. LeBron is possessed to erase the high-rising reputation he folds along the dotted lines. After so many cave-ins he’s probably questioning his success and doubtlessly worried critics might have him pegged.

You better believe James is desperate to exorcize rapidly multiplying demons, because every day there’s fresh evidence — short-armed perimeter springers and voided off-balance head shots — his career might turn out to be an open-and-shut-championship-less case.

We all know LeBron is one of the NBA’s all-time greatest players, but you have to ask yourself what is going on in his head.