Miami Heat's LeBron James participates in a practice session for Game 5 of the NBA Finals basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks Wednesday, June 8, 2011, in Dallas. The series is tied 2-2.

DALLAS — The last thing LeBron James needed was to watch Game 4 again.

James had already sat through a viewing of his miserable performance when he got back to his hotel room late Tuesday night, getting another look at the passive play, witnessing himself have little effect on one of the most important games of his career.

So a film session with his Miami Heat teammates the next morning wasn’t necessary. He was done with that game, already looking ahead to the next one on Thursday night, when he can restore a reputation that has taken its latest hit.

“You don’t want to drag on what happened last night,” James said Wednesday. “You get into the books, you get into your studies, and then you move on. It’s a new day. Tomorrow is a new game. And just like when we moved on from Game 2 to Game 3, we will move on from Game 4 to Game 5 and try to come out with a better outcome.”

James agreed he “didn’t play well” in Game 4, when the Dallas Mavericks edged the Heat 86-83 to even the series at two games after the two-time MVP failed to find ways to make an impact offensively.

“I didn’t do that last night,” James said. “Those are the things that I pride myself on that hurt me the most. I’ll just be hard on myself and figure out a way to do it better the next game.”

The Heat arrived about 30 minutes late for their interview session Wednesday after watching extra film of the game, though they could have saved time by just fast-forwarding through James’ no-show.

He scored only eight points, held in single digits for the first time in 90 career playoff games, and attempted only 11 shots. James said he criticized himself all night, taking solace that he had at least two more chances to turn things around.