James named MVP for third time: Prior to Sunday’s Game 1 win over the Pacers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, Heat forward LeBron James was named the league’s Most Valuable Player, his third time in four years winning the award. James was given the award after average 27.1 points, 7.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game in the regular season, and then he went out and dropped 32 points, 15 rebounds and five assists on the Pacers to lead the Heat to a 95-86 victory. (Updated 05/13/2012)
Injury Report
No information available at this time (Updated 5/25/12).
Fantasy Analysis
There was not much suspense in the unveiling of the award, as James had arguably the best overall season of his career. He shot a career-high 53.1 percent from the field, and lead the Heat to the second best record in the Eastern Conference. The Heat has a 1-0 series lead in the Second Round, as they attempt to get back to the NBA finals for the second year in a row. James has continued his strong play into the postseason and should be considered a must-start Fantasy option in all playoff formats. (Updated 05/13/2012).
05/25/2012 00:44 With LeBron, Wade hitting stride, Heat might be better off without Bosh
LeBron James and Dwyane Wade are superb again, and the Heat are headed to the East finals. Gregg Doyel says now that his team has been eliminated, Frank Vogel feels free to say the Heat are better off without Chris Bosh.
05/24/2012 22:54 Wade, LeBron lead Heat past Pacers into Eastern Conference finals
Dwyane Wade scored 41 points, LeBron James added 28 and Miami finished off the Indiana Pacers, sending the Heat back to the Eastern Conference finals with a 105-93 victory in Game 6 on Thursday night.
After a whirlwind first season with the Heat for LeBron James, Fantasy owners can go into the 2011-12 season much more confident in him than they did last fall. A fear of the unknown temporarily knocked King James off his perch as the consensus No. 1 overall choice in Fantasy going into his first season on South Beach. After all, it would be LeBron's first season having to share the limelight (and the ball) with
the likes of stars like Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. But LeBron went on to address those concerns and proved that he remains the cream of the crop in Fantasy hoops. We now know, as anticipated, that there will indeed be a drop in scoring as part of joining up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami, but the fall in scoring was not as dramatic as feared (29.7 ppg in 2009-10 to 26.7 ppg in 2010-11) and there still remains a considerable gap between him and the next tier of elite players. That gap closed some last season, but it remained as he averaged seven assists and seven rebounds for the fourth
consecutive year and maintained practically the same level of production across the stat line that he has enjoyed throughout his career. The result was LeBron outscoring all others in Head-to-Head points for a fourth consecutive season. We suspect he will make it five consecutive years this season and fully
endorse him as the top overall pick in Fantasy hoops, regardless of format. (Updated 8/23/11)
