Heat Fans Witnessing Greatness
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – At this point in his career in Miami, the best question about Miami Heat Superstar LeBron James may be what can't he do? The Heat completed their February schedule at 12-1 thanks in large part to the ridiculous play of the reigning NBA Most Valuable Player.
LeBron finished off February with a 40 point, 8 rebound, 16 assist masterpiece as the Heat knocked off the Sacramento Kings, 141-129 in double overtime Tuesday. It capped off a month that saw LeBron take his game to an even higher level.
In February, LeBron was 139-217 from the field, which translates to a 64 percent shooting percentage. For comparison purposes, the league leader in field goal percentage is the New York Knicks' Tyson Chandler at 65.8 percent, but he didn't take more than nine shots in a game in February.
In the NBA this year, none of the top five scorers are shooting as well as LeBron is from the field, 57 percent. The closest any can get is Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant who is shooting 51 percent from the field.
LeBron dominated across the board of stats in February. James averaged 29.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 7.9 assists per game in February, had four double-doubles, including one triple-double.
He's become everything opposing coaches in the NBA feared he would in Miami, an even better version of the greatest player walking the earth. But for James, the rewards don't come from individual awards, but when the team gets a victory.
And the Heat has rallied around James and his running mate, Dwyane Wade. This season, the Heat are fifth in scoring (103.9 points per game), first in field goal percentage (49.7 percent), third in three-point shooting (39.1 percent), and fourth in steals per game (8.65).
All of it has propelled Miami to a 41-14 record this season, which is tops in the Eastern Conference. Indiana is the closest team to the Heat in the standings, but is still six games behind Miami's clip heading into March.
Incidentally, Indiana is also the last team to claim a victory over the Heat, a 109-82 victory in Indianapolis on February 1.
The Heat is about to hit its stretch run in March with 18 games in 31 days. The Heat toughest games come when the team plays the Knicks on March 3, the Pacers on March 10, and San Antonio on March 31.
Miami wraps up the regular season in mid-April and barring any injuries, will start the playoff title defense shortly after April 17.
If LeBron keeps up his play from February, he will likely win another NBA MVP award, which would be the fourth for James in the last five years. That would put James just one MVP award away from tying Michael Jordan with six and two behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who won six
