LeBron James' and Dwyane Wade's Missed Free Throws May Cost Them the Series

In a classic series in which, once again, the sports media and fans have focused on the officiating and who takes the last shot—rather than what actually goes on during the game—there has been a constant theme with the Miami Heat that not only cost them Game 4, but was the reason they struggled in Game 3 and almost lost Game 2.

And that theme is their inability to capitalize from the foul line throughout the game.

The Heat's problem is not offense or defense. It isn't effort or toughness. In this series, and throughout the playoffs, it has been their pathetically horrendous free-throw shooting that has kept games close, and has cost them dearly in the clutch.

In this series alone, the Miami Heat as a team have not shot greater than 70 percent from the foul line and have shot under 70 percent in three of the first four games including an atrocious 10 for 20 attempts in Game 3, which they lost by 10 points.

They missed seven free throws in Games 1 and 4 respectively and also missed an astounding 16 free throws in Game 2 (31-for-47). And had they shot a decent percentage from the line in this game, Rondo's performance wouldn't have even made the game remotely close.

The surprising thing is that the Heat's two best players and their starting point guard are the biggest offenders.

Mario Chalmers is barely shooting over 50 percent for the series (11-19) and has missed many foul shots at crucial points in the game.

Dwyane Wade, historically a good foul shooter at around 80 percent for his playoff career, has shot a dismal 69 percent for the entire playoffs and has cost the Heat late with very untimely misses from the foul line. It seems like his confidence from the line has been shaken, and even his body language puts forth the appearance that he doesn't feel comfortable at the line this postseason.

But by far the worst offender is the man who has been to the line more than any other player in these playoffs, the three-time MVP, LeBron James. Although the numbers in Games 1 and 2 put forth the illusion that LeBron James hit a majority of his free throws, it was his misses late in Games 2, 3 and 4 that really left the Heat in a bad way.

After Mickael Pietrus committed an awful clear path foul in Game 2, LeBron had a chance to put his team up six and also receive the ball and another chance to score early in the fourth quarter. LeBron would miss both shots terribly, and the Heat would fail to score on their next possession, allowing Boston to eventually cut into the lead and tie the game.

James had a forgettable 1-for-5 night from the free-throw line in Game 3. In Game 4, LeBron would go 4-for-8, and had he made two of those free throws, the Heat would have won the game in regulation. Even in overtime, with a chance to tie the game, he split a huge free opportunity late that could have tied the game. Not befitting of a league MVP at all.

The Miami Heat are literally shooting themselves in the foot by missing out on so many easy points. They are not taking advantage of the fact that the Celtics are committing a large amount of fouls and are leaving important points off the scoreboard.

If Miami loses this series, they have only themselves to blame. All they need to do is look at the FT disparity and their horrendous output—and do the math.

The only way the Miami Heat will win this series is if they capitalize on their foul line opportunities. If they continue to shoot free throws at this rate, LeBron James will still be the MVP, but will not get to 16.