Heat vs. Clippers: LeBron James' Free Throw Problems Will Haunt Him All Season

Miami Heat star forward LeBron James' free-throw woes in Wednesday night's loss to the Los Angeles Clippers are a real problem that he must correct as soon as possible.

James shot just 9-of-17 from the free-throw line against the Clippers, one of his worst career performances from the line.

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"We missed 14 free throws and eight of them came from me," James said. "I've been shooting the ball particularly well from the free-throw line, but tonight I didn't make enough. So I put our free-throw shooting on me. It's kind of a rhythm when it trickles down to everybody else, so I've got to concentrate a little more and knock them down when I get fouled."

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There are a few reasons why poor foul shooting cannot be a problem for James. First, he is most effective when he uses his combination of strength and speed to drive to the basket and either get fouled, score or both.

When he drives to the basket, defenses often foul him because it is so difficult to defend someone as skilled and powerful as James.

For the season, James is only shooting 75 percent from the free-throw line. That's not good enough for arguably the best player in the NBA. He has to be able to hit free throws well above 80 percent to really help the Heat in the regular season and the playoffs.

If LeBron is going to have problems from the free-throw line, then the rest of his game will suffer mightily.

If he's worried about missing free throws, then he will be less aggressive and not drive to the basket as much as he should.

This means he will take more shots from the outside, which is exactly what defenses want him to do. Outside of 20 feet, James shoots just 38 percent from the floor, compared with 41 percent from 10-20 feet, and 78 percent inside 10 feet.

James' biggest weaknesses is closing in the fourth quarter, but to do that he must hit his free throws when the game is on the line.

He has done a better job this season of not settling for the outside shot in the fourth quarter and taking the ball to the basket, but when he gets fouled he has to make the defense pay.

If James hits one more free throw, the game never goes into overtime, and the Heat get a big win against a marquee team from the Western Conference on the road.

If James cannot shoot better from the foul line in close games, especially against elite teams on the road, Miami will be in a lot of trouble this season when the playoffs arrive and the pressure is taken to extreme levels.

Free throws are a simple part of basketball, but too often are they the deciding factor in the most important games.

Nicholas Goss is an NBA Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report.

Follow @NicholasGoss35