LeBron James Opt-O-Meter: 7 And a Duck after Dropping Game 3 vs Nets

Editor’s note: After every playoff game the All U Can Heat staff weighs in on the “LeBron James Opt-O-Meter” — the real-time measurement of LeBron’s mood in regards to whether or not he will stay in Miami after he opts out of his contract this summer. It’s not difficult to understand: 1 means he’s gone, like ‘Seeyuh, Miami, I’m going to Los Angeles’ gone. 10 means he’s staying, like already signed the contract in red gel pen staying. Like going in on South Florida-based investments with David Beckham staying. The reading is the average combined rating from the AUCH staff.

5/10 Opt-O-Reading: 7 + a Duck

David Ramil: I’ll say a 5. Poor effort all around, lackluster defense and total disinterest on playing consistent defense…this was a team-wide collapse. While LBJ was also part of the problem, seeing his alleged fellow All-Stars Wade and Bosh building a new wing in the NBA Brick Museum has to give James cause for concern. And there’s the whole Johnny Football jersey, too…

Jimmy Cook: 8. While I’m very frustrated I’d like to look at the light at the end of this dark Game 3 tunnel. As atrocious as this performance was on all-cylinders for the Heat, especially the 2nd Half, there are three takeaways that make this a little less painful. 1) This was a must win for Brooklyn and they did just that. 2) Heat missed many open looks they usually hit, but in all honesty ball movement was non-existent and ice cold shooting followed, this was bound to happen eventually. And 3) The Nets hit 15 threes, which broke a 7 year franchise playoff record. In other words, that won’t happen again this series. Blow up everything, regroup and make the adjustments for Game 4 on Monday. That’s what Miami does best, and why LeBron is still staying, even after this no show. 

Blaine Hunkins: 6. One of the worst defensive games I’ve ever watched by the Heat. No one waned to contest any threes, let alone any midrange jumpers. James got off to a hot start, but got cold due to his teammates being incapable of hitting open shots. Like David said, the whole Manziel jersey situation has got to raise some concerns. It’s only one game, but if role players like Battier and Allen can’t hit their shots, the Heat are in a whole lot of trouble. 

Kristopher Keaton: I’m gonna go 7. Wade played decent.. and not much else. Poor effort from the Heat defensively and even James took his foot off the gas after the hot 1st quarter start. Bad rotations and lack of ball movement doomed Miami tonight.

Ehsan Kassim: 9. One game doesn’t make a major dent in LeBron leaving Miami, but this game was terrible. I had to double check my contract as a Heat fan to see if I could opt out. (I can’t by the way.)

Wes Goldberg: Duck. This was a duck. LeBron came out firing and, yeah, that was great. But the rest of the team didn’t get involved and I had a feeling that would hurt them later in the game. I was right and the Heat ended up putting up a duck against a team that needed to win and couldn’t miss from three.