Throughout the 2015-2016 playoffs, LeBron James has looked much like he was envisioned to be when this Cavaliers Big Three was put together.
When the Cavs added Kevin Love to team up with LeBron and Kyrie Irving, the instant assumption was that it would take a load off of LeBron’s shoulders and all three players could contribute with balanced scoring.
For the most part, it has played out that way when all three are healthy.
In the 2016 Playoffs, LeBron is averaging 24.6 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 7.3 assists per game. LeBron attempts 19 field goals per game. Irving is averaging 24.4 points per game, attempting 20 field goals on average.
It’s interesting that the two are almost identical in scoring numbers and field goal attempts. It shows that LeBron is comfortable and trusts Irving to carry the load on offense.
However, Irving is shooting 46 percent from the field in the Playoffs, whereas LeBron is shooting 53 percent.
Neither of those are bad percentages and in the first three rounds against Eastern Conference teams, it would be impossible to say the formula wasn’t working.
The difference now is that this is the NBA Finals against the best team in the league.
LeBron is in the NBA Finals for the seventh time of his career.
Irving is 24 years old and has only played in five NBA Finals games in his career.
We have yet to see LeBron really “take over” a game in the postseason, in terms of dominant scoring and standing out more so than the rest of the players.
LeBron almost always dominates the game when you look at all-around production and how valuable he is in every facet of what the team does, but there have not been moments where we’ve seen the 31-year-old play “like a man possessed.”
LeBron was asked about needing to play “like a man possessed” last week before Game 3 and responded, “I mean, what does that actually mean? I mean, I think for me to go out and be who I am and play as true to the game and as hard as I can and try to lead this team, that’s who I am.”
Maybe LeBron wants to be in more of a facilitator role than what he did in Miami and his first stint in Cleveland. This role is by design considering Love and Irving have both proven they can put up big numbers offensively, and even J.R. Smith can be a lethal fourth-option when he’s hot.
But what appears to be one of the problems with that idea is that none of those three has done it on this big of a stage, when the games are of this magnitude.
We saw in Game 4 in Cleveland, LeBron and Irving took 33 of the team’s 38 field goal attempts. If LeBron wants to be that facilitator, why doesn’t he trust anyone on the team other than Irving to make plays?
Credit has to be given to Golden State’s defense, who has made the conscious decision to not let “the other guys” beat them. The Warriors are willing to live with Irving and LeBron scoring 25 plus points if it means the rest of the roster has a quiet night.
The only time the Cavs won a game in this series so far, Smith went off for 20 points. That was the only game of the series in which three players scored more 20 or more for the Cavs.
After Game 4, when Irving scored a team-high 34 points, many praised Irving for being aggressive and attacking. But on the other hand, the lack of ball movement and lack of getting other guys involved played a big role in why Golden State was able to pull away in the second half.
Many praise LeBron for being a facilitator and not being a “selfish” player, but if he can play that way in the first half, go away from it in the second half, and for the most part not let anyone other than Irving have the green light, it’s fair to say that unselfishness went away in crunch time.
Game 5 is a great opportunity for Love to have a big game. The Warriors don’t have anyone who matches up as well against Love as Draymond Green, who will be watching the game next door, serving his suspension.
One of the formulas the Cavs have loved to use throughout the year is to get Love going early. It won’t be a surprise if they implement that in the first quarter of Game 5.
However, here’s the dilemma LeBron is in right now. He wants to be a facilitator and involve other guys. At times, he doesn’t appear to trust anyone aside from Irving to take shots. He’s the only member of the team who has been a star during the NBA Finals one time, let alone six other appearances.
Love and Irving are still inexperienced when it comes to that.
So does LeBron hope that they can fill the roles they were envisioned to have? With no track record of accomplishing it? Or does LeBron revert to “taking the game over,” like he did last year in the Finals, when he had virtually no help?
At this point, the Cavs are down 3-1, so whatever LeBron does and whatever the team does, they have practically no room for error.
It would be a testament to how great Golden State is if the Warriors are able to end the series in five games against a fully healthy Cavs team, compared to losing two games to LeBron last year, when he was relatively single-handed.
But Cavs fans have seen LeBron invoke the killer instinct at times in his career. Last year was an example of that for six games. LeBron willed his team to two wins.
In Miami, LeBron had moments where he “put his stamp” on many games in the Playoffs. One of the most notable examples of that was in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics in 2012, when his team was down 3-2 in the series.
LeBron scored 45 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. His team went on to come back and win the series, eventually going on to win the 2012 NBA Finals.
Going even further back, Cavs fans all remember his amazing game against the Detroit Pistons in 2007. LeBron scored 48 points, including 25 straight points and 29 of his team’s final 30 between the fourth quarter and overtime.
LeBron is obviously not the same player now as 2007 or even 2012 for that matter, but if the Cavs are going to have a chance to do what’s never been done in the history of the NBA Finals, and come back down 3-1, they may need LeBron to show that “killer instinct” that he had in those games.
This is not to say LeBron has to score 40 plus points or take 30 field goal attempts, but whatever frame of mind he was in to deliver those big performances, it is going to take a similar mentality to win a difficult road game at Golden State, let alone to take the series seven games.
LeBron can dominate a game in more ways than scoring. But maybe Game 5 is an opportunity to remind Irving who has been in this situation before and who has proven they can do it.
Maybe Game 5 is an opportunity for LeBron to put the team on his back and let the rest of the guys follow his lead.
LeBron’s postseason high in scoring in 2016 is 33 points. He has only had two games of 30 or more points out of 18 playoff games up to this point. Granted, Irving has played great in most games, but the formula of the “Big 3” all contributing balanced scoring has not gone quite as planned.
If it did, the Cavs would not be facing elimination in Game 5.
Who knows how Game 5 will go? Maybe Love gets hot early and the Cavs roll with it. Maybe J.R. wakes up again and catches fire. But if those things don’t happen relatively early in the game, I, for one will be looking to see at what point LeBron says “Enough is enough.”
It’s important to note that Andre Iguodala has done as great a job defensively on LeBron as anyone has against him in his career. But even though LeBron was less efficient in the 2015 Finals, Iguodala could not really contain him.
Having a full healthy roster was supposed to “free up” LeBron, but up to this point, in some ways it looks like he has been “held back.”
This is not to say the team is worse or less talented, but the flow and the fit is just not there in the way many envisioned it would be.
Perhaps Golden State really is just “that good.” But if for whatever reason King James falls short and the Cavs are knocked out in Game 5, no matter what reasons are offered, it won’t make the sting any less disappointing, and it won’t make an owner, general manager, or player/coach/GM any less anxious to see what can be done differently to give the team a better chance next year.
There are numerous question marks for the Cavs heading into Game 5, but the one at the forefront is “Which version of LeBron will show up?”
Oh by the way, there’s a two-time MVP on the other side waiting for his opportunity to show the world why he won the award unanimously and looking to beat the self-proclaimed “best player on the planet” for the second-straight year in the championship. As if LeBron didn’t have enough motivation to begin with.
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