Breaking Down Why LeBron James Remains Miami Heat's Best Option in the Clutch

The Miami Heat has lost two playoff games this postseason and both losses had one thing in common—a last second shot attempt where the ball did not touch the hands of LeBron James.

The other part of the equation is that both shot attempts missed badly, proving that despite the criticism he receives, LeBron is Miami's best option in the clutch.

Is Miami coach Erik Spoelstra saying something about James with his play designs in the closing seconds of tight games? In the Round 1 loss to New York, it was Dwyane Wade who couldn't get a good look at the basket and against Indiana it turned out to be Mario Chalmers who clanked the game-tying three point attempt.

I don't necessarily have a problem with the play call for Chalmers as the Heat needed a three to tie, and he may have been the best option. 

But what I do have a problem with is that when you have two future Hall of Famers on the floor, you go to the third on fourth best option—especially when no player other than James or Wade had scored more than five points on the night.

Then there's the fact that Chalmers was 2-of-10 shooting the ball on the night, so Spoelstra couldn't have had great confidence in him coming through in the clutch.

The bottom line is that Spoelstra needs to start putting the game in LeBron's hands.

If he fails, he's going to get criticized anyway, so that's nothing he hasn't dealt with before. But if I'm Spoelstra, I have to go down with my best option.  Losing is one thing. Leaving bullets in your gun is something different altogether.

LeBron is even a better option than Wade right now late in games.

Even though Wade is averaging 22.6 points per game in the postseason, he's shooting the ball very poorly right now.

In Wade's past five games he's knocked down only 38 percent of his shot attempts (40-of-104) and this series alone he's been even worse, shooting only 35 percent (16-of-45). From behind the arc, Wade's shooting only 18 percent for the entire postseason.

James should be the only option right now for the Heat. Even if it means him creating for someone else, LeBron must at least touch the ball with the game on the line. He shot 53 percent from the floor during the regular season and is shooting 47 percent during the postseason. He can create for not only himself, but for teammates.

It should be a no-brainer who touches the ball, whether the opposing team is looking for him or not.

Next time the Heat are in a game-deciding situation needing a basket, I would be absolutely shocked to not see LeBron taking the shot.

If he misses, it wouldn't be the first time. But he's also come through more times than not in those exact situations.

He's Miami's best option and should be leaned on with the game on the line. Otherwise the off-season questions could start coming a lot sooner than anyone had planned.