He’s dominant, record setting, and healthy
CLEVELAND — On the same night LeBron James became the first player in NBA history to score 27,000 points, grab 7,000 rebounds and pass for 7,000 assists in his career, James revealed something even more astonishing: He feels great.
James should pass Michael Jordan’s career minutes (regular season and post-season combined) sometime in late January or early February. He could surpass 50,000 minutes by the end of the NBA finals. It wasn’t long ago James was joking about the thin tread left on his tires. Now he seems to be rebuilding it.
His effort Saturday, with 44 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds, only further confirms that since it came on the second night of a back-to-back and on the same night that Kyrie Irving, seven years younger than James, warned coach Tyronn Lue before the game he didn’t have any legs left.
“The last couple years this is the best I’ve felt,” James said. “And I told you guys I’ve put a lot of work into my body, into my craft. I’ve rearranged a little bit with my diet, and it’s worked to my benefit. And for me to have back-to-back nights like this after coming off a long road trip, just shows that everything is working in the right direction.”
Here is something even more telling: James’ best shooting performances have come on the second night of back-to-backs this season. It’s a small sample size of only three games, but James has an effective field-goal percentage of 66.1 per cent and a true shooting percentage of 66.4 per cent on the second night of back-to-backs.
By comparison, his worst numbers are with one day off in between (the most common setup in an NBA schedule). He has an effective fieldgoal percentage of 53.1 per cent and a true shooting percentage of 57.1 with a day off between games.
James worked hard to fix his 3point shot, which was one of his glaring weaknesses last season. He ranked among the worst jump shooters in the game and his 3-point percentage inexplicably plummeted to 31 per cent. He’s back up near 37 per cent this season after making 5-of-10 3s on Saturday.
“When you catch the ball and you got shots in rhythm, he has to shoot it,” Lue said. “They work on his shooting every day. He can shoot the basketball. He makes 10, 11 in a row every time they’re doing their shooting. For me, it’s not a matter of can he make them. It’s a matter of him taking them.”
James believes he needs to shoot 3s when teams sag off him at the 3-point line and dare him to shoot. He has been punishing teams doing that this season.
“I have the ability to make 3s. It doesn’t drive my game. I’ve got to keep defences at bay and keep them off balance throughout the whole game where they’re just not keying in on my drive or keying in on my post-ups.
“It’s always a rhythm thing for me. I’m just in a really good rhythm right now. My body feels great. My stroke feels pretty dang-on good as well. I’ve just got to continue to put the work in.”