LeBron’s Game 3 play still hot topic

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — LeBron James was nowhere to be seen, staying behind the scenes, keeping a low profile. Just as he did in Game 3. James did not address the media Monday, hours after one of the worst postseason games of his career — an 11-point, six-turnover, head-scratching atrocity in a 111-108 loss to Boston that for the time being has made the NBA Eastern Conference finals interesting.

As is always the case with Cleveland’s superstar, the poor performance prompted the usual speculation and suspicion: Is he hurt? Was he sending a message to his teammates?

“It was a weird game,” Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said. “A weird-feeling game.”

And it was an uncharacteristically passive performance by James, who had scored at least 30 in eight consecutive playoff games and imposed his will on the overmatched Celtics in the series’ first two games.

But James wasn’t himself Sunday night, not by a long stretch. He passed up shots and made mental and physical mistakes normally reserved for others.

For a superstar who regularly seizes the biggest moments and makes them his own, it was strange to see James basically look like one of Cleveland’s reserves. He took just three shots and didn’t attempt a free throw in the fourth quarter. Incredibly, he went scoreless over the final 16 minutes.

James accepted responsibility afterward, saying simply “I didn’t have it” during a postgame news conference that was preceded by a run-in with a heckling fan in the hallway.

If James’ play wasn’t stunning enough, Cleveland forward J.R. Smith said his celebrated teammate lacked confidence.

“He’s got to be aggressive, get downhill, play like he’s been playing, play confident,” Smith said. “That’s what I always think, when people of his stature or people like him, you’ve got to play confident the whole night and play aggressive. It’s the Eastern Conference finals. It’s not enough for him. For what he does, what he brings, it’s not enough. He knows that. We know that. Just expect him to be better in Game 4.”

The series resumes Tuesday night at Quicken Loans Arena before returning to Boston on Thursday for a Game 5 that didn’t appear necessary until the Celtics stormed back from 21 down and won when Avery Bradley’s 3-pointer danced on the rim before falling with 0.01 seconds left.

As Lue spoke to a large group of reporters and some Cavs players got in extra shots after practice, James was noticeably absent from the floor.

Lue said James was “in good spirits” and that no one was pinning the loss on him.

“No blame. We’re all to blame,” Lue said. “We lost; it happens.”