LeBron James's talent is limitless.

It seems counterintuitive to criticize the decision-making of a player who is, by far, the best clutch player in the NBA this season (sorry, Kobe). And yet we must say this: LeBron James blew the Celtics game today after leading his team back into it. On the surface, LeBron’s numbers look great. 42 points on 31 shots, 7 rebounds, 9 assists, and a +/- ratio that was three points better than the final margin. 20 points in the fourth quarter! That’s outstanding production, clearly. And yet, observe his shot chart from today’s game: That’s 13-16 from inside 15 feet... and 1-15 outside 15 feet. 1-15! Obviously, this is a severe aberration, as LeBron James will almost never miss long jumpers at such a ludicrous rate. But with such success getting to the rim and/or the free throw line (22 attempts; he only made 14, but that’s an issue for another day), it defies reason that LeBron should have even taken 15 long jumpers to begin with.

We can’t and won’t attempt to match the depth to which Kelly Dwyer tackled this very subject six weeks ago. His analysis is solid, and you should take his word for it. We’ll just add this: LeBron James is a rocket-powered tank of a man. His talent is limitless. He is capable of making whatever he wants on a basketball court. We sure think it’d be a better idea for him to want to make something other than hoist more than a dozen long jumpers in a big-time game like the C’s/Cavs contest tonight.

(Note: Some phrases in the original text were repetitive or unclear and have been slightly rephrased for clarity and flow.)