LeBron stresses ‘zero concern’ over big loss
Celtics employ stifling defense to take steam out of Cavaliers
You see ways you can get better throughout the series. But I’ve been down 0-1, I’ve been down 0-2. I’ve been down before in the postseason.”
LeBron James, after losing in Game 1
BOSTON — LeBron James has made Boston’s TD Garden his personal playground during the playoffs in recent years, but none of that mattered on Sunday in the Celtics’ 108-83 blowout of James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference final.
The Cavs entered the series with a 9-3 record against the Celtics in games played at the Garden over the past four years, including six straight wins.
James’ 979 postseason points against Boston were the most by any player against any opponent in the last 50 years. And his 21 playoff wins against the Celtics were also the most against them during that span.
But Sunday was a much different story.
James committed seven turnovers while being held to just 15 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.
That would be a solid night for most NBAers, but was pedestrian by the superhuman standard that LeBron has set for himself this postseason, at times single-handedly carrying the Cavs to victories.
But he was very clear that his concern level at being down 1-0 was “zero”.
“You see ways you can get better throughout the series. But I’ve been down 0-1, I’ve been down 0-2. I’ve been down before in the postseason,” said the Cavs captain.
“But for me, there’s zero level of concern — no matter how bad I played tonight with seven turnovers, how inefficient I was shooting the ball. We have another opportunity to be better as a ball club come Tuesday night and we’ll see what happens.”
James said the Celtics deserved credit for the defensive strategy they employed against him, which started with Marcus Morris challenging him from the outset, limiting him to 2-of-6 shooting in the first quarter as Cleveland fell into a 36-18 hole.
“I think they had a great game plan in Game 1, and he was the start of it,” James said.
“He was my matchup and I think they did a great job of communicating throughout the whole game, knowing where I was. (Celtics coach) Brad (Stevens) did a great job.”
The Celtics showed James several different looks throughout the game, switching as many as five different players on him.
Morris, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Terry Rozier, Marcus Smart and Aron Baynes all took turns guarding James at times.
Boston frequently sent a double team when he got the ball in the post. It forced him to settle for jump shots early and limited his ability to get to the rim.
Cleveland was outscored by 18 points with James on the floor.
“We are just going to try to make it as tough for him as we can,” Rozier said.
“The other guys, obviously, (Kevin) Love and JR Smith, we don’t want to give them open looks. We did a good job of that and we just have to keep it up.”
When the Cavs cut Boston’s lead to 14 at the end of the third quarter, the Celtics responded with a 7-0 run at the start of the fourth.
James was asked after the game what happened during that particular flurry and he responded with a verbatim recitation of each play, including Tatum’s coast-tocoast layup off a Eurostep move in the lane.
When he was finished, James leaned back in his chair, spread his arms and wryly said: “There you go.”