Hoops Habit
Fansided

Cleveland Cavaliers: 5 Lessons From ECFs Game 1

By Gerald Bourguet

May 20, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard J.R. Smith (5) reacts during the fourth quarter of game one of the Eastern Conference Finals of the NBA Playoffs against the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
May 20, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard J.R. Smith (5) reacts during the fourth quarter of game one of the Eastern Conference Finals of the NBA Playoffs against the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
6 of 6
Next
Cleveland Cavaliers
May 20, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) dunks against the Atlanta Hawks during the fourth quarter of game one of the Eastern Conference Finals of the NBA Playoffs at Philips Arena. Cleveland won 97-89. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports /

1. Iso-LeBron Bad, Every Other LeBron Good

Let’s get this out of the way: LeBron James once again carried his Cleveland Cavaliers to victory last night. He’s been doing it since the second round, so we shouldn’t be surprised. With Love out and Kyrie banged up, King James has stepped up as the best player on the floor each and every night.

That being said, he wasn’t perfect by any means in Game 1. In fact, the Hawks were able to claw their way back into the game late in the fourth quarter thanks to Cleveland’s reliance on isolation plays.

Despite Reggie Miller’s constant complaints about how far away from the basket Paul Millsap was defending LeBron, it was actually working pretty well for the Hawks. For about five straight possessions, LeBron dribbled out the shot clock before either launching a distant perimeter shot or driving to the basket and committing a turnover.

True enough, LeBron shut everybody up (except Reggie, of course) when he closed the game with a dagger dunk at the rim, but come on. That was just horrendous defense (and a laughably bad effort from Kyle Korver) that led to that dunk. The Hawks practically laid out the red carpet for the King’s path to the rim:

LeBron finished with 31 points, eight rebounds and six assists, so this definitely falls under the “nitpicking” category. But he’s still not shooting the ball particularly well, and suffice it to say that a little more ball movement late in games would do the Cavaliers some good.

King James was excellent in every area but the heavy isolation sets last night. He took over in the second quarter, he put the game away when it mattered most and with Carroll out, he should have a field day moving forward. But no matter who is guarding LeBron, this Cavs offense has better options than simply letting him go one-on-one down the stretch.

Next: Golden State Warriors: 5 Lessons From WCFs Game 1

More from Hoops Habit

Home/Cleveland Cavaliers