Cleveland Cavaliers: Lessons from a 17-point comeback vs Washington

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CLEVELAND, OH – APRIL 3: LeBron James #23 and Rodney Hood #1 of the Cleveland Cavaliers look on during the game against the Toronto Raptors on April 3, 2018 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 2018 NBAE (Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Lesson No. 2: You don’t score on LeBron in crunch time.

A lot has been made about LeBron’s lazy defending this season and rightfully so. James takes multiple plays off a game on the defensive end of the floor.

LeBron switches onto Beal, but then doesn’t pic.twitter.com/K7MzlkzXjb
— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) April 6, 2018

However, James still has the ability to be a great defender when it really matters. LeBron forced a missed go-ahead jumper from John Wall in the closing moments of the game to secure the win. And that’s something that’s happened multiple times already this year.

John Wall missed the late jumper over LeBron pic.twitter.com/iyETzpnxab
— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) April 6, 2018

John Wall missed a potential go-ahead jumper over LeBron James late in the game.

According to Second Spectrum, James has been the defender on 7 direct isolations in final minute of 1-possession games since returning to Cleveland. Opposing teams have scored 0 pts on those plays.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) April 6, 2018

We’ve seen situations this year where LeBron takes it upon himself to close out the game on the defensive end of the floor.

LeBron isn’t the defender he once was, but he still has the ability to be shut stars down when he needs to.