LeBron unleashes assault on Raps and record book
CLEVELAND— Midway through the third quarter LeBron James found himself isolated on the right wing, behind the three-point arc, staring down Raptors power forward Serge Ibaka.
Instead of dribbling or passing, he launched a contested three-point shot: Bull’s-eye.
Bringing the ball up court the next possession, James found the same spot and calmly drained another trey.
The back-to-back threes formed part of the long-range barrage that battered the Raptors in Wednesday’s 125-103 Toronto loss. Cleveland converted 18 of 39 three-point attempts. And they were important scores for James, who spent the evening piling up points and passing milestones.
Wednesday night, he became just the fourth player to make more than 300 three-pointers in his playoff career. And a third-quarter three-point shot pushed him past Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for second on the NBA’s all-time playoff scoring list.
“I’m very blessed and I’m taking advantage of the opportunity I’ve been given,” James said. “Even at 32, I’ve been this league for 14 years (and) I just don’t take the opportunity for granted.”
When James left the game in the fourth quarter — with 39 points and six rebounds — the sellout crowd at Quicken Loans Arena showered him with MVP chants. James now has 5,677 career playoff points, trailing only Michael Jordan (5,987).
At his current rate James could overtake Jordan this year. Wednesday’s game bumped James’ 2017 playoff scoring average to 34.2 points.
But if the Cavs keep dispatching playoff opponents quickly, James might run out of chances this spring. The James-era Cavs have never lost a playoff series after winning the opening game, and Wednesday’s win sends them to Toronto leading 2-0.
After Wednesday morning’s shootaround James promised his team was prepared in case Toronto shuffled its starting five. And when Toronto fielded a starting lineup that featured Norman Powell and Patrick Patterson instead of DeMarre Carroll and Jonas Valanciunas, Cleveland reacted by racing to a 34-22 first-quarter lead.
Cavs coach Tyronn Lue says his team’s approach to containing Raptors star DeMar DeRozan set the tone for the game and series. Where in the past James might have defend- ed an opponent’s main threat, the Cavs have used J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert, who helped limit DeRozan to five points, and helped liberate James by easing his burden.
“You’ve got to give credit to those guys for giving LeBron the energy to do what he’s doing,” Lue said. “When he’s able to fly around and he’s able to play with the kind of pace… it’s tough (for opponents).”
Wednesday’s game was the Cavs’ second after an eight-day break following their sweep of the Indiana Pacers, and while players have said they spent the week concentrating on conditioning and shooting, they immediately re-established their rhythm against the Raptors.
Cleveland totaled 28 assists on 41 field goals, let by point guard Kyrie Irving, whose 11 assists were a career playoff high, and who continues to set up James for spectacular finishes. After an off-the-backboard alley-oop to open the game, Irving’s behindthe-back bounce pass found James, who scooped it in stride and dunked.
“When we’re attacking consistently down (the court) every single time, putting pressure on the defence, we’re going to get our teammates open shots,” Irving said. “We just play the game the right way.”