Miami Heat: Will LeBron James Ever Be a Michael Jordan-Like Closer?

LeBron James and the Miami Heat have a problem with marquee games against elite teams. This problem would be understandable if they were the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are talented but very young as a team. 

The Heat are a veteran team, however. Despite being in his mid-20s, James has been in the NBA for seven seasons. He's hardly a newcomer.

His superstar teammates Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh are also young, but Wade has been through the experience of a successful championship run. 

So why are the Heat struggling so badly against the league’s best? The answer is, they rely too much on James to close out games, something he cannot handle from a mental perspective. 

The part of their dependence on James that is most disturbing is although Miami has a proven closer next to him in Dwayne Wade, James has the ball in his hands when the final buzzer sounds. 

On several occasions, James has even passed up the final shot, choosing to pass the outcome of the game to shooting specialists Eddie House and Mike Miller.  

After last night’s defeat to the Knicks (now led by Carmelo Anthony), the Miami Heat were noticeably rattled, and their flaws were explicitly displayed. 

Head coach Erik Spoelstra looked heavily disappointed when ESPN put the camera on him after James’ three pointer to tie the game was off the mark.

To be fair, Spoelstra is in difficult situation. He is a young coach with two superstar players, both of whom are used to having the ball in the final moments of an important game. 

While James is Miami's best player, and may well win his third consecutive league MVP award this season, he is not the guy who should decide a game's outcome.

Dwayne Wade, a proven regular season and playoff closer should have the ball in his hands during the final moments of every game, and he should be allowed to decide if he'll win the game or find an open teammate who will.  

James couldn't beat the Celtics or Magic in the playoffs with Cleveland, and he's making the same mistakes in Miami.

He's putting too much pressure on himself to be the hero, and playing with several stars, he doesn't need to put that pressure on his shoulders.

Miami is 0-1 against the new-look Knicks, 0-2 versus Chicago, 0-2 versus Dallas, and 0-3 versus the Eastern conference leading Boston Celtics, who have had James’ number well before he took his talents to South Beach.

Another troubling sign for the Heat is that many of these games were competitive right to the very end.

The five losses in five games to the Celtics and Bulls were all close games, being decided in the final moments of the fourth quarter.

Two of the most recent losses to these elite teams were lost by James himself. Against the Celtics on February 13, James missed one of two free throws in the final minute. If he had hit both freebies, the game would've been tied.

Last night versus the Knicks, James missed a game-tying three-point shot with under a minute to play.

James' repeated failures against elite teams cannot continue if Miami wants to even get to the Finals, let alone win it.

James must become a player who can handle the pressures of winning and losing. But when he does fail, he has to be able to withstand it without letting himself be too damaged mentally. 

This sort of mental toughness and confidence is something every great player has, but in Lebron's case, he has neither.

Follow Nicholas Goss on Twitter, @nwgoss