WHAT, KING WORRY?
It’s mad to think LeBron’s flustered after lackluster debut
He was first among the Cavaliers off the floor. LeBron James, his face devoid of poker tells, walked along the newly laid black carpeting in the Garden’s southwest tunnel.
He glanced up once, twice, but remove the setting and there was nothing to distinguish this from a morning stroll down Newbury Street to get a cup of coffee.
Eight years to the day after he strode from the parquet and peeled off his jersey
— then took the rest of his wardrobe to South Beach — LeBron kept his shirt on. Literally and, later, figuratively. Back in 2010, he and the Cavs had fallen in six games to the Celtics in the second round, and LeBron had reached his limit. Two months later, the First Coming of King James in Cleveland would be over. All that was over last night was Game 1, and for that the Cavs were certainly thankful.
The Celtics had jumped them, 108-83, in the Eastern Conference finals opener, and James was utterly matter-of-fact as he addressed the situation.
This wasn’t his first rodeo. It was his 229th playoff game.
While the overreaction factories were preparing to run three shifts, LeBron was the model of calm as he sat on the interview platform in his civilian finery.
“I have zero level of concern at this stage,” he said. “I didn’t go to college, so it’s not March Madness. You know, you get better throughout the series. 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. But for me, there’s never no level of concern, no matter how bad I played (yesterday) with seven turnovers, how inefficient I was shooting the ball.
“I’m just as confident going into a series whether it’s a 0-0 series or I’m down 0-1. So we have another opportunity to be better as a ball club coming in (tomorrow) night, and we’ll see what happens.”
As for the “how bad I played” part, LeBron wasn’t lying. His was a stat line not fit for a king. There were 15 points on 5-for-16 shooting (0-for-5 treys) and seven turnovers. The Celts played him tough, but while James seemed easily able to get a switch onto a more desirable defender, he often chose to give the ball up. Sometimes, quite unintentionally, to a Celtic.
The Cavs were a minus-32 with LeBron on the floor, a figure that, according to stat man Dick Lipe, matches his playoff worst (also minus-32 against the Spurs in 2013).
It was the third time in James’ postseason life that he’d been 0-for-5 on treys with at least seven turnovers — and Boston has been the site of all three.
Marcus Morris was moved into the starting lineup to take the first shot at LeBron, but others followed. All of them had help.
“I thought they had great game plan Game 1,” James said. “He (Morris) was the start of it. He was my matchup, and I think they did a great job of communicating throughout the whole game, knowing where I was and knowing where our teammates was. Brad (Stevens) and the coaching staff did a great job in Game 1. You commend that.
“We have an opportunity to look at a lot of film (today), and see ways they were making us uncomfortable, making myself off balance and not have a rhythm all game. So we’ll be much better in Game 2.”
If Tyronn Lue screens the full video for the Cavs today, LeBron shouldn’t like all he sees from the guy wearing his uniform.
There was that time with about five minutes left in the third quarter when James was stopped on a drive. He felt as though he’d been fouled and raised his arms with palms up to protest as Morris took down the rebound and Al Horford finished the break with a layup.
LeBron never made it over midcourt. Never tried to.
With the Celtics quicker and more engaged all day, the Cavaliers’ frustration dripped into puddles all over the parquet.
Asked about any differences in the Celtic plan than the myriad others he’s had to deal with, LeBron brushed the notion aside.
“No, I’ve seen every coverage pretty much,” he said. “For me, Game 1 has always been a feel-out game for me, if you’ve ever followed my history. So I’ve got a good sense of the way they played me (yesterday) and how I’ll play going into Game 2.”
As well as the Celts played yesterday, they should be properly forewarned. One doesn’t have to dig too far into the Book of James to see his point — and his points.
The Cavaliers lost by 18 at home to Indiana in the first round. LeBron went for 46 in a Game 2 win.
And while folks walking out of the Garden were already dubbing yesterday the Mother’s Day Massacre, Greenhearts might want to tread lightly with the last word of that phrase. The Celtics won by 34 in the famed Memorial Day Massacre in 1985. The victim Lakers arose to become the NBA champions.
In other words, the Celts still have miles to go in this series. And it’s a lock they’ll encounter a better LeBron James than they did yesterday.