CLEVELAND: The way LeBron James tells it, it’s so simple, so elementary. Yet the numbers he produces when his team is facing elimination are so robust.
James has been calling the Cavaliers’ predicament “do-or-die” for the last week, but when his team truly is facing the end of the season, James typically shines even brighter.
They are facing elimination yet again on Thursday, when they host the Golden State Warriors in Game 6 of the NBA Finals. James has plenty of experience at this by now. His teams are 8-7 when facing elimination and he is averaging 32.4 points, 11 rebounds and 6.6 assists in those moments while shooting nearly 47 percent.
“I’ve just been fortunate enough I guess to make some shots. Grab some rebounds, find some teammates,” James said. “Guys put the ball in my face and get some blocks and guys throw some errant passes and I’m able to get some steals.”
It can’t all be quite so simple, of course. James’ legacy grew a bit more during the Cavs’ Game 5 win at Oracle Arena on Monday when he exploded for 41 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists, three steals and three blocks in the victory.
“It’s not easy, but it’s that simple. I just go out and play,” James said. “I understand the magnitude of [elimination games] but it doesn’t bother me too much. I know how much I put into the game. I know how true I am to the game. I know how much work that I put into the game when no cameras are around. I’m able to try to just bottle that, just bottle that and live with the results. It’s not always been great.”
James had 32 points, 18 rebounds and nine assists last year in Game 6 when the Warriors closed out the Cavs for a championship. Expecting another night like that from any other player almost seems foolish — Kyrie Irving warned right after Game 5 it’s not realistic to expect him to score 41 again. With James, however, those performances have almost become expected.
Now everyone is back in the exact same scenario, on the exact same date no less. Thursday marks the one-year anniversary of the Warriors’ celebrating their championship inside Quicken Loans Arena, and now they’re back to do it again. James dismissed the significance of the date, but Kevin Love did not.
“I think it’s a big deal,” Love said. “I know that our fans and our crowd are going to be into it and going to get themselves into the game. We don’t have to worry about that.”
Love finds a way to remain relevant regardless of how well or poorly he plays. Coach Tyronn Lue defended his play in Game 5, which resulted in just two points and three rebounds in 34 minutes. Lue insisted Love’s rebounding figures will be down when he’s forced to chase players out to the perimeter, yet the film reveals he has been beaten to rebounds in this series he typically grabs.
“Kevin was great. Defensively he did a lot of good things,” Lue said Wednesday. “Offensively we have two guys that did something that hasn’t been done in NBA history: Two guys score 40 points in a single game. So there wasn’t a lot of room or a lot of shots for a lot of other guys because they had a special moment.
“It’s hard enough to win a game in the regular season and then to win a game in the NBA Finals. And guys are focused on Kevin not scoring the basketball.”
Love insists he did what he was told offensively Monday night by running to the corner on every possession. He took only five shots and missed all three of his 3-point attempts, but the shots dried up in the second half as both James and Irving heated up.
Love took only one shot in the second half. Similarly, J.R. Smith took only two and missed them both after he scored 10 points in the first quarter. More will be expected from both of them to get this series to a Game 7, something James on Wednesday referred to as “two of the best words ever.”
“We definitely need Kev to play better. We want him to play better,” James said. “But we don’t want to add no more stress on him or added pressure. We just want him to go out and play, just let it hang out.”
Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at www.ohio.com/cavs. Follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/JasonLloydABJ.