It’s now time for LeBron more like Jordan less like Magic

The Cleveland Cavaliers are going to need LeBron James to score nonstop if they’re going to win a championship this year.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: LeBron James is more like Magic Johnson than Michael Jordan. James, the omniscient passer who plays the small forward position for the Cleveland Cavaliers like a dual-threat quarterback, has been heralded for his court vision and ability to elevate his teammates by acting as a facilitator.

All the while, James has been underestimated as a scorer despite averaging 27.2 points per game over his career. It has a lot to do with his willingness to pass the ball, even in big moments, and his affinity for getting his teammates involved. Still, it’s flawed thinking to not to consider James, the youngest player to reach 30,000 career points, isn’t an all-time great scorer just because he tends to display a pass-first mentality.

Nonetheless, it’s become apparent as the season has trudged on that James needs to be more like Jordan and less like Magic for the Cavs to win a championship. A sentiment that is shared by at least one NBA player.

On a team that’s now without Kyrie Irving, it’s only natural that more of a scoring load has been placed on James’ shoulders. After averaging 26.4 points per game last season, he averaged 27.5 points per game in the regular season and while that’s only an incremental increase, the numbers that best show his importance to the Cavaliers’ wins are shown in his scoring splits.

In losses, James averaged 25.1 points per game, shot 52.7 percent from the field, 28.4 percent from three-point range, 69.0 percent from the free-throw line and had an offensive rating of 107. In wins, James averaged 29.0 points per game, shot 55.2 percent from the field, 41.5 percent from three-point range, 75.2 percent from the free-throw line and had an offensive rating of 125.

He’s now averaging 35.0 points per game in the Cavaliers’ first-round series and they’re tied 1-1 with the 6-seed Indiana Pacers.

In their loss, he scored 24 points on 17 field goal attempts and 14 free-throw attempts.

In their win, he scored 46 points on 24 field foal attempts and 13 free-throw attempts.

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Undeniably, I’ve been convinced that this is a team that will rely on James more than ever and it seems that Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue believes the same thing.

In Game 2, Lue surrounding James with four shooters, players who have a high basketball IQ and have developed the most chemistry with him.

After scoring 80 points in Game 1 and the team getting out to a slow start with James trying to get teammates involved and not looking for his own shot, it seems Lue gave James and the rest of the  team a clear directive in Game 2: give James the ball and get out of his way.

James single-handedly outscored the Pacers 20-18 in the first quarter in Game 2, a far cry from James’ scoreless first quarter in Game 1.

He scored the Cavs’ first 16 points in sensational fashion, probing the interior of the paint and getting any shot he wanted.

The best way to give James the space he needs to attack, since he’s a slasher that likes to get downhill and attack, is to draw players out of the paint and onto the perimeter.

By placing Kyle Korver and J.R. Smith in the starting lineup in place of Rodney Hood and Jeff Green, Lue placed two all-time three-point threats on the court that demand respect beyond the perimeter in place of Hood, a 36.9 percent shooter from three from his career, and Green, a 33.2 percent shooter from three for his career.

While Hood’s career three-point percentage is solid, he’s struggled to find consistency from behind-the-arc in Cleveland, making just 35.2 percent of his three-point attempts in the regular season and going 1-4 from three in Game 1. He’s now 2-6 from three (33.3 percent) for the series.

Korver, a 43.1 percent shooter from three for his career, went 0-2 from three in Game 1 but having made 43.6 percent of his threes in the regular season and being 4th all-time in career threes, he’s just a bigger three-point threat than Hood. Point blank period. He made 4-8 three-point attempts in Game 2 and is now shooting 4-10 (40.0 percent) on the series.

The same can be said of Green and Smith.

Smith, a heavily maligned guard with a knack for hitting the toughest shots you’ll ever see and has made the twelfth most threes all-time, shoots 37.4 percent from three for his career and made 37.5 percent of his threes in the regular season. After going 3-6 from three in Game 1 (he was one of the only Cavs to show up), he went 0-2 in Game 2. He’s shooting 3-8  from three on the series (37.5 percent).

Green shot 31.2 percent from three in the regular season and went 0-3 from three in Game 1. He was 0-1 from three-point range in Game 2, making him 0-4 from three for the series.

The last piece of the puzzle, Kevin Love, is a 37.0 percent shooter from three for his career but made 41.5 percent of his threes for the Cavs in the regular season. After going 3-6 from three in Game 1, he went 2-6 from three in Game 2, making him 5-12 (41.7 percent) from three on the series.

With Love starting at center, he makes the opposing team’s best rim-protector guard him on the perimeter and opens up ample space for James to attack.

James, who played at power forward, has the speed advantage he needs at the power forward to consistently beat his man to the rim and when he can’t, he can get in his bag and pull out a solid scoring move from his low-post package.

If they opt to play off of him at the three-point line, he’s made defenses pay for that decision all season.

“Jordan LeBron” is the player that the Cavaliers will need on more nights than most. Although he’ll certainly have his high-assist nights and a team with this many shooters and high IQ players will provide a tremendous boost in the scoring column, James is the engine that drives the Cavaliers.

He has to assert himself early and often.

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*All stats gathered from www.basketball-reference.com