Expect LeBron to ignite
There’s been plenty of buzz over LeBron James’ magical ability to close his eyes and recite the play-byplay of a recently completed basketball game.
The best of yesterday’s offerings included this headline at BBC.com: “Does LeBron James really have a photographic memory?”
But given LeBron’s awful performance in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 108-83 loss to the Celtics in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals Sunday afternoon at the Garden, the King’s postgame play-by-play recital probably received more attention than it should have.
It also had inquiring minds wondering if he’d come up with a similar spellbinding display of magic at the Cavs’ practice yesterday at the Garden, such as perhaps making all the sportswriters disappear.
Instead, LeBron made himself disappear. He was not available to the media, leaving it to others to speak for LeBron’s no-thank-you-just-looking 15-point effort in Game 1.
“Usually when LeBron has these type of games, the next game he does something legendary,” said teammate Tristan Thompson. “At the same time, we can’t rely on that. Our job is to do it as players. We’ve gotta be able to help him and be effective. The more effective we are the more it opens up for him.”
Said Kevin Love: “I expect him to have a big response. He’s always done it. Since I’ve been here, he’s always responded big and I imagine it will be a lot like, what was that, Game 2 against Indiana?”
Yes, it was. After scoring 24 points in Cleveland’s 98-80 loss to the Pacers in Game 1 of their openinground playoff series, LeBron responded with 46 points in Game 2, keying a 100-97 victory.
“We had a really tough loss and he came out and played really well,” said Love. “He’s going to approach this game as one he has to lead.”
So take that, Celtics fans. But what about Cavs fans? It’s here-we-go-again time for sports on the shores of Lake Erie, as Akron native LeBron James may well be leaving the old sod at the end of this season. LeBron famously — and somewhat hilariously, given “The Decision” that aired on live national television — departed Cleveland in the summer 2010, taking his talents to South Beach and the Miami Heat. He won two NBA titles in Miami, and then returned to Cleveland in 2014. In 2016, he led the Cavs to their first NBA championship, the first for the Cleveland sports market since the original Browns won the NFL title in 1964.
So it’s a little different in Cleveland this time. If LeBron leaves again, he won’t be driving a stake into the hearts of Cleveland fans. That’s what it was like last time. These folks were thirsting for a championship, and suddenly the man best-equipped to deliver one to them — a native son, no less — bolted for Miami.
But while it won’t be as bad if LeBron leaves, it’ll be bad enough. As anyone around here will recall after the 2001 Patriots won the Super Bowl, people can get addicted to championship parades.
This is why Celtics fans are walking around in a happy daze these days. They don’t care that a series victory will likely set up an impossible-to-win showdown against Golden State in the NBA Finals. Celtics fans have gotten over the loss of Gordon Hayward, and gotten over the loss of Kyrie Irving.
They’ve also gotten over reading and hearing that the Celtics would get bounced in the first round ... the second round ... this round.
Celtics fans would love nothing better than to wear the armor of scrappy underdogs in the NBA Finals.
Cleveland fans don’t have that luxury, mainly because any team with LeBron James on it cannot possibly be considered “scrappy.”
Underdogs, yes. But scrappy underdogs, no.
And that’s a bummer for Cavaliers fans. If LeBron leaves after this season, the Cavs become a 35-win team. Even if he stays, the balance of power in the Eastern Conference already may have shifted away from the Cavs, whatever they do in the offseason.