Facing elimination, one thing has been made clear this postseason. That is, that the Cleveland Cavaliers will only go as far as LeBron James takes them.
In Game 5, the Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James seemed uninterested. Although James still dropped a 24-point triple double, his team struggled, and for Cleveland, they’re only going to go as far as LeBron James takes them.
In jest, the hosts of Pardon My Take, PFT Commenter and Big Cat, teased that James 44-point performance in Game 4 wasn’t impressive anymore. They’re not all that wrong though.
James has six 40-point this postseason, and in those games, the Cavs are 5-1. In games where James fails to hit 40, the Cavs have been just 5-5. So, if James doesn’t put up a superhuman performance of 40 points, the Cavs are just an average postseason team.
Albeit built around LeBron James, this team relies on him for virtually everything. His usage percentage this postseason has been second to none other than MVP hopeful James Harden.
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It’s not just James scoring that wills Cleveland to victory it’s his IQ. The Cavs have struggled this series because James turns the ball over, and when that happens, he, for starters, seems to become a bit less interested.
James has averaged 5.8 turnovers per game against the Celtics and well over 6 turnovers per game in losses. Arguably the greatest passer of his generation, James has learned to use his vision to his advantage, but against a strategic coach like Brad Stevens, James has struggled.
39 of James’ 63 turnovers have been bad pass turnovers this postseason. If James’ Cavaliers lost Game 6, his 17 games would be the fifth fewest postseason games played during any season in his career.
However, those 39 turnovers would already break the top three in postseason bad pass TO’s.
That, for even James, is unacceptable. He’s been forced to do so much that those lanes have closed without another dominant scoring option.
So, by saying the Cavs will only go as far as James takes them is two-fold. He must do his usual scoring, his usual assisting, and his usual rebounding duties. But, it goes much further than that. James putting up 40 points and being as dominant as ever isn’t enough anymore.
They need him to be smart with the ball too. So, while his 40-point win/loss total is important, the Cavs have lost just two times when James turnovers the ball over fewer than five times.
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Expect James to will his team to victory in both Game 6 and Game 7, but, while watching, remember that it will be more about James’ turnovers than his scoring.