LeBron James: Comparing This Year to Last
By Reece Helms
LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers have played two playoff games thus far.
Two games in, they possess a 2-0 series lead over the Boston Celtics. So far, so good.
In Game 1 it was Kyrie Irving who led the way for the Cavaliers, but in Game 2 it was LeBron James who took control and led the Cavs to a 2-0 series lead.
Boston did their best to keep things interesting in Game 2, but Cleveland’s execution down the stretch sealed the win.
LeBron James scored a game-high 30 points, grabbed 9 rebounds, and dished out 7 assists. Perhaps his best assist of the night was this half-court alley-oop to Kevin Love:
For the Boston Celtics, Isaiah Thomas led the team in scoring with 22 points off the bench. Although the Celtics are win-less so far in this series, Thomas has had a great last two games, scoring a combined 44 points this series, 22 points in each game.
While Isaiah Thomas has two great playoff games under his belt, MVP candidate LeBron James has looked even better.
In the first two games combined, LeBron has 50 points, 15 rebounds, and 14 assists.
Yes those might be great stats, but James has 11 turnovers to go along with that, with six of them coming in the Game 2 win.
LeBron’s season averages have dropped since last season. His PPG total went from 27.1 to 25.3, and his FG% decreased by 8 percent.
Despite that, King James has had a great homecoming year in Cleveland. But how do LeBron’s first two playoff games this year compare to his first two from last year?
Well, they are both very similar.
Last year LeBron’s Miami Heat squad took on the-then Charlotte Bobcats in the first round of the NBA playoffs. Of course the Heat went on to sweep the series, but how did LeBron perform?
Earlier in this article we mentioned that James’ combined stats this series is 50 points, 15 rebounds, and 14 assists. Want to take a guess what his combined stats were in the first two games against the Bobcats?
He scored 59 points in Games 1 & 2 versus Charlotte, grabbed 15 rebounds (same as this year) and passed for nine assists.
LeBron James’ stats were almost the same as last year.
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Different team, same result. Obviously he went 4-0 in those games.
It will be interesting to see if LeBron keeps his foot on the gas pedal these next two games, or if he lets Kyrie Irving take the wheel like he did in Game 1.
In Games 3 & 4 against Charlotte, LBJ scored 61 points with 17 rebounds, and 15 assists. It will be hard for him to outplay that, but we all know James is capable of better things.
What do you think? Will LeBron James stay hot in Games 3 and 4 against the Celtics to complete the sweep? Or do you have the Boston Celtics forcing a Game 5 in Cleveland? Let us know what you think in the comment section below!