King James Gospel
Fansided

Cleveland Cavaliers: What we learned from a narrow OT win over the Clippers

By Jackson Flickinger

CLEVELAND, OH - NOVEMBER 17: LeBron James
CLEVELAND, OH - NOVEMBER 17: LeBron James /
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CLEVELAND, OH – NOVEMBER 17: LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers handles the ball against the LA Clippers on November 17, 2017 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH – NOVEMBER 17: LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers handles the ball against the LA Clippers on November 17, 2017 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images) /

LeBron keeps impressing.

Doc Rivers has seen James develop like no one else has. Rivers has had numerous playoff battles against LeBron over the last decade and has really seen him grow as a player.

Rivers told ESPN’s Dave McMenamin before the game just how special of a season we’re seeing from LeBron. His analysis couldn’t have been any better.

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"I don’t see a difference except for he’s smarter. I’m amazed, really. We were laughing about it, it wasn’t so funny to us watching film. Most players when they get to his age are smart enough now they see everything. But usually when they get to that age, they’re too old to do anything about it. Kevin McHale had that comment. ‘If I had the knowledge now but my body at 22, I would have been the greatest player of all time.’ LeBron has the knowledge of all those years and he’s still top two, three athletic in the league. He has both going for him. He can beat you with his brain, he can beat you with his power. It’s a daunting task when you watch him on film."

Rivers hit the nail on the hand. James was surgical in his 39 point performance on Friday night posting a 73.1% effective field goal percentage in the process.

LeBron did everything the Cavs needed from him. He’s been the one constant with the seemingly endless list of injuries. Cleveland hopes they can cut down his minutes some moving forward, but right now they need everything from him just to win games against mediocre teams at home.

The Cavs will look to push their winning streak to five games when they travel to Detroit to take on the surprise Pistons. Detroit is on a two-game losing streak, but they still go into the game 10-5 and in second place in the conference.

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Not many experts saw this start coming from them. We’ll see if the Cavs are up to the challenge.