LeBron James: Setting The Tone

If I’m a Boston Celtics fan, I’m terrified.

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LeBron James didn’t have his greatest playoff performance. Not even close. It was mediocre at best, but it was enough.

In a veteran move, he set the tone early (by doing things like this tomahawk slam) and then let his playoff-virgin teammates get a feel for what it was like to take control. James finished with 8-of-18 shooting and missed enough jumpers that my dad said to me, “Why is he still shooting those?”

And yet, a mediocre night for LeBron is still 20 points, six rebounds, seven assists, two steals and a block. I wish my worst nights were like that …

But by making his statement early, he left room for both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love to show their stuff.

Irving in particular was spectacular. As I’ve mentioned before, he’s built for games like these. His game caters to the bright lights and egregiously loud crowds. For his first playoff game, he finished with 30 points (on 11-of-21 shooting) and only a single turnover. He also hit five three-pointers, showing off his shooting prowess and making Boston defenders look silly.

Love didn’t have a great shooting night like Kyrie, but nonetheless he found a way to be productive and get involved with the help of James. LeBron kept setting the table for his teammates over and over, and even reversed roles with Love when he fired him an outlet pass from almost full court.

Love recorded his first playoff double-double, ending with 19 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and a steal. He was just 5-for-14 from the field, but he was 2-for-4 from deep and made 7-of-8 free throws. He also had the highest plus-minus of any Cavalier, finishing plus-15 for the game.

What a game to get your feet wet. This game meant very little to LeBron (besides obviously getting his first playoff win with the Cleveland Cavaliers since five years ago). He’s been through this rodeo before. He’s been to four straight NBA Finals.

This was nothing.

But then you see the looks on the faces of guys like Kyrie and Love at the end of the game, and how they waited around afterwards to talk to specific people. During the closing minutes, Kyrie could be seen with his teammates on the sidelines where Mike Miller shook his hand and grinned at him in an obvious congratulatory manner.

James doesn’t do that kind of thing anymore. He merely finished the game and left the court, certainly pleased but knowing how much work is left to be done. He is in his famous Zero Dark Thirty mode. It might have been one of his most incognito playoff performances ever. For the first time, he wasn’t the one who was being watched under a magnifying glass.

Yet he was able to do what so few other players ever even get to try. He set the tone for two great young players and helped them through their nerves and excitement to push them towards a win. Irving and Love are now 1-0 in the playoffs for their careers.

And they can thank LeBron James.

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