King of the road gives Cavs reason to believe
NBA’s defending champs need to win at least one at Oracle Arena — and LeBron is the one to lead the charge
OAKLAND, Calif. — The last time LeBron James went through an entire NBA playoff series without winning a road game, he was playing for Cleveland. But it wasn’t with this incarnation of the Cavaliers. It was eight years and 29 playoff series ago, before he left for his four-year run in Miami.
It was so long ago, in fact, that the man serving as the coach of the Cavaliers at the time was Mike Brown, the same man who is now interim coach of the Golden State Warriors, the team currently battling James in these NBA Finals.
“Yes,” Brown said with a smile, when asked if that was weird to think about.
“It just speaks volumes to who he is as a player. He’s one of the greatest of all time. When you have his ability, when you have his intelligence and feel and all that other stuff, you’re able to lead your team in difficult situations and tough environments. So you take your hat off to him.”
If the Cavaliers want to have a serious chance of repeating as NBA champions, they’ll need James to continue his streak with a win Sunday night here at Oracle Arena in Game 2 of the NBA Finals. That would allow Cleveland to return home with the series even at a game apiece, and with renewed hope of a long series after being drubbed in Game 1.
And if anyone is capable of creating the kind of magic necessary to engineer a victory against the heavily favoured Warriors, it’s James, who last failed to win a road game in a playoff series when the Cavaliers lost to the Orlando Magic in six games in the 2009 Eastern Conference finals.
To put that streak into context: these NBA Finals are the 30th playoff series James has participated in since that series against the Magic.
By comparison, these NBA Finals mark the 30th playoff series the Warriors franchise has participated in since winning the title in 1975 — a fact that only underscores the number of playoff games James has played in during his career (a staggering 213 entering Sunday).
“For me, I approach every game the same way, no matter if I’m at home or on the road,” James said.
“But I understand the road is very challenging, especially when you get to this level.
“It’s very difficult to win on the road, and I’ve been fortunate to be able to do that in my career.”
Finding a way to do that Sunday will be crucial. The simple fact is this: The Warriors have home-court advantage, so if the Cavaliers are to successfully defend their title, they have to win at least once in Oakland.
The urgency to do so Sunday night is also pretty simple: If the Cavaliers go down 2-0 in this best-of-seven series, they will need to win four of the next five — against a team that includes all-stars Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. That’s a big ask — even for James.