LeBron James: Doing More Than Ever, With Less Than Ever

This article is officially a hot take, as I’m writing it the night of the second game of the unbelievably good 2015 NBA Finals. I almost went with surprisingly good, because according to the experts, this wasn’t even supposed to be a competitive series.

Just five out of the 27 ESPN reporters favored the Cleveland Cavaliers over the juggernaut Golden State Warriors, and after Kyrie Irving was lost for the season during overtime in the Warriors’ Game 1 victory I’m sure 27 out of 27 analysts would’ve taken the Warriors to close out the series.

Although the ever-idiotic Skip Bayless seems to think that Matthew Dellavedova won this game for the Cavs, I’m more inclined to crediting LeBron James, who posted an insane 39-16-11 line in a whopping 50 minutes in the Cleveland win.

Never thought I'd see the night that a kid named Dellavedova from Australia took LeBron James off the hook.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) June 8, 2015

The most impressive part of LeBron’s night to me was that he didn’t make all of his shots; in fact he was just 11 for 34 from the field. Any amateur statistician can tell you that’s not very efficient basketball; both the number of shots and shooting percentage are less than ideal.

LeBron just doesn’t care. More accurately, it doesn’t matter to him, and it apparently cannot stop him from winning. His passion, combined with a completely unparalleled skill set the likes of which we have never seen before, were enough to say the hell with efficiency, analytics and even logic.

After all, there should be no way that the Warriors, who are stacked enough to bring Andre Iguodala off of the bench and not even give David Lee Finals minutes — despite his two All-Star nods and 17.8 regular season PER — should struggle against the injured, shallow Cavaliers.

June 7, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) celebrates with guard Matthew Dellavedova (8) the 95-93 victory against the Golden State Warriors in game two of the NBA Finals at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports /

Especially considering how badly many of Cleveland’s nine players to receive Finals minutes have been. J.R. Smith had some of the most idiotic fouls I’ve ever seen on Sunday in addition to shooting just 30.7 percent against Golden State.

Tristan Thompson might be the worst offensive player I’ve ever seen, and despite his excellent rebounding he shouldn’t be averaging 43 minutes per game in the NBA Finals. Iman Shumpert is shooting a ghastly 28.5 percent against the Warriors thus far.

More from Cleveland Cavaliers

Matthew Dellavedova played great defense on Stephen Curry in Game 2, but managed to cough the ball up six times that night and seems incapable of actually running an offense. James Jones and Mike Miller are little more than catch-and-shoot threats, and really aren’t even that considering they’re shooting a combined 33 percent in the Finals.

To his credit, Timofey Mozgov has been fantastic in the Finals so far and in Game 1 Kyrie Irving was very good too, but he’s out for the season now. That’s all of the non-LeBron James players the Cavaliers have used thus far. That’s it.

So LeBron has dragged an overachieving Mozgov — who greatly benefits from LeBron’s passing, which accounts for most of his scoring thus far — and a crew of misfits to take the Warriors to overtime twice, and managed to beat them in one of those contests.

And people (like our friend Skip) STILL want to criticize James. I honestly don’t get it. I’ve acknowledged James’ greatness before, but after Game 2 I’m ready to go a step further. If LeBron manages to win this series, I would call him the unquestioned Greatest of All-Time (GOAT). I wouldn’t even blink.

Let’s not forget that these Warriors are seriously good. Golden State led the NBA in true shooting percentage, effective field goal percentage and defensive efficiency, and were second only to the Los Angeles Clippers in offensive efficiency. I mean, just look at their roster. It’s deeper than the damn Mariana Trench.

Player	Age	G	MP	PER ▾	TS%	OWS	DWS	WS	WS/48
Stephen Curry	26	80	2613	28.0	.638	11.5	4.1	15.7	.288
Klay Thompson	24	77	2455	20.8	.591	5.7	3.1	8.8	.172
Marreese Speights	27	76	1207	19.5	.546	2.2	1.8	4.0	.158
David Lee	31	49	904	17.8	.541	1.6	1.6	3.2	.168
James Michael McAdoo	22	15	137	17.7	.564	0.2	0.3	0.5	.177
Draymond Green	24	79	2490	16.4	.540	3.3	5.2	8.5	.163
Festus Ezeli	25	46	504	16.2	.580	0.8	0.9	1.7	.159
Andrew Bogut	30	67	1583	15.8	.565	1.9	3.4	5.2	.159
Leandro Barbosa	32	66	982	15.3	.558	1.6	1.2	2.8	.137
Harrison Barnes	22	82	2318	13.4	.573	3.7	3.0	6.7	.139
Shaun Livingston	29	78	1468	12.9	.529	1.5	1.8	3.3	.107
Ognjen Kuzmic	24	16	72	12.9	.727	0.2	0.1	0.3	.171
Andre Iguodala	31	77	2069	12.3	.553	2.3	2.8	5.1	.117
Justin Holiday	25	59	657	12.1	.498	0.2	1.0	1.3	.092
Brandon Rush	29	33	271	0.8	.255	-0.7	0.4	-0.3	-0.056

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 6/7/2015.

Notice the ridiculous nine Warriors (out of a possible 15 players Golden State suited up this season) with PERs over the league average of 15. In comparison, out of 20 Cavaliers that logged minutes this season, only six had PERs above 15, and three of them are out for the remainder of the playoffs. The three left? Thompson, Mozgov, and of course LeBron.

Golden State also managed to win 67 games playing mostly against the far-superior Western Conference, they have the league MVP, and they’ve only lost four games at home this whole season, playoffs included. Unfortunately for the Warriors, they could go the rest of the Finals without losing at Oracle Arena again and still lose the series.

That’s the LeBron James effect. Despite losing two of the best three players Cleveland has, he still has his lowly Cavaliers in a good position to bring the Cavs their first ever championship. They just need to win the three games left in Cleveland to end the city’s long drought.

June 7, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) moves to the basket against the defense of Golden State Warrior guard Stephen Curry (30) and forward Draymond Green (23) during the second half in game two of the NBA Finals at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /

LeBron faced a lot of heat for taking so many shots in Game 1, and I was among those who figured that strategy wouldn’t hold up against the Warriors. To his credit, James did move the ball slightly more in Game 2, but he was still one of just three Cavaliers to score in double figures. But he takes those shots for a very good reason — it’s the best possible outcome for Cleveland.

I’ve already went over how terrible most of the remaining Cavs have been against the Warriors. Which of those players can be trusted to take more shots? Mozgov has been good, but he can’t create his own shots; he requires LeBron to set him up with good looks when the Warriors leave Mozgov alone to double LeBron. No other Cavalier is breaking 50 percent from the field.

James knows he’s shooting more than he ever has, but he’s also acutely aware that he has no choice. It may not be his preferred style of play — LeBron has always been known as much for his prolific passing as he has his scoring abilities, if not more so — but that’s what makes James so great: he can do it all.

And he has against the uber-good Golden State Warriors so far in this series. LeBron is averaging 41.5-12-8.5 in the NBA Finals, and he’s doing it with little help around him. If he can keep up this insane clip, beat the Warriors three more times and snag his third title in the last five years I don’t think I’ll be the only one impressed enough to crown the King.

Next: Golden State Warriors: 5 Adjustments For Game 3

More from Hoops Habit

Home/Cleveland Cavaliers