Cleveland Cavaliers: LeBron James Raising His Own Playoff Standard

LeBron James is on the quest that we still can’t fully comprehend. He covets a fifth straight NBA Finals appearance, which would be his sixth overall moment on the grandest stage. Michael Jordan has been there six times, Kobe Bryant seven times, and Magic Johnson nine different times.

James is just three wins away from having another crack at the Western Conference’s best.

Because of the dissimilarity in the two conferences, his opponent in The Finals is almost always viewed as superior to which ever team LeBron is leading. That sentiment wouldn’t change this year, if Golden State closes the deal and makes it past Houston. Although James is always considered the best individual player in The Finals — that also wouldn’t change this time around — it’s his supporting cast that doesn’t match up to the quality of the West representative.

Nobody expected this to be an easy road through the East Playoffs for LeBron and the Cavaliers, because of the injury cataclysm they suffered with Kevin Love in the first round.

However, the thought process changed a bit once it appeared that Cleveland would thrive using their remaining players. The idea was simple:  The same disaster that struck the L.A. Clippers would eventually catch up to Cleveland. Having five potent (or at least quality) starters with only one or two bench threats would prove to be too little depth for a lengthy playoff run.

After all, most of the time, David Blatt only has two guys that score off the bench.  Those two have been Matthew Dellavedova and J.R. Smith. More times than not, though, it’s only Smith contributing over the 5-10 point mark, with Dellavedova being there for one or two buckets in crucial spots of a game.

Doc Rivers had the same problem, with Jamal Crawford serving as his knockoff brand of J.R. Smith throughout the playoffs, and his son Austin Rivers being an inconsistent mess. His scoring was erratic, and comparable to what Dellavedova brings to Cleveland — sometimes it’s a quick little burst, and sometimes he’ll be hurting the offense.

Nonetheless, what we’ve seen throughout the playoffs is something crazy. At the same time, it’s not unprecedented. LeBron is taking every opponent by the throat, trying his hardest to choke out a championship for his beloved city.

After Wednesday’s Game 1 win vs. Atlanta, James collected his fifth game in the 2015 Playoffs of scoring at least 30 points. That’s five times out of his 11 played games. Scoring hasn’t been his only exceptional trait in the first 11 games, though. During these playoffs, LeBron’s 7.4 assists per 36 minutes is the highest mark he’s had since the 2009-10 postseason — funny enough, his last one with Cleveland.

James doesn’t have the same type of personnel help this May that he did in his four years with Miami (mostly due to injuries), but the roster styles are fairly similar. Ever since he started becoming a perennial threat to win the East, it was due to the level of shooters you surround him with. Put a lineup on the floor that doesn’t have (at least) two automatic shooters on the wings, and you’ll find that his game is much easier for a defense to handle. It puts a large burden on his shoulders.

However, opening up the court with imposing 3-point shooters to either side of him will guarantee a nightmare for any defense — even Atlanta’s methodical, 6th ranked defensive squad.  With LeBron, Kyrie Irving, and J.R. Smith on the floor together this postseason, the Cavaliers’ net 3-point makes per 100 possessions is +5.3 compared to their opponents, easily the highest amount of any 3-man combination Cleveland has played. In just attempts, the trio of LeBron-Kyrie-Smith is a +17.0 in net 3-point attempts. The team average for any 3-man combo in the playoffs is a +8.0 in attempts, so this group is more than doubling that amount.

Smith and Irving provide LeBron with everything he needs, even if Cleveland desperately needs LeBron to transform his 6’8″ body into point guard mode. Irving is banged up so badly that he hurts every time he moves, but all he really needs to be is a spot-up shooter when James forces a defense to react.

Drawing just the slightest bit of help from a defender guarding the wing (when James trucks into the lane) has made the offensive end extremely easy for Cleveland. And if you’re hellbent on not staying home on those shooters, you’re giving up a dominant drive since nobody can contain James in full-speed, one-on-one attacks.

It’s resulted in a 9-2 playoff stretch for Cleveland, off phenomenal play by James and lights out shooting from Irving and Smith. In fact, the two-man punch of Irving and Smith has combined to shoot 51-of-118 (43.2%) from beyond the arc during these playoffs. When factoring in the strength of defenses when mid-April and May arrive, having two guys shoot over 40% together from deep is widely impressive. Most of Smith’s looks are contested, and both are serving as great kick-out options for their freak of nature point-forward.

As for LeBron personally, he just continues to stockpile amazing performances. Wednesday’s Game 1 became his 21st career playoff game of scoring at least 31 points, dishing 6+ assists, and grabbing 8+ boards. We usually marvel at guys that record those stat-lines in today’s game, and the fact that James has accomplished it 21 times in the playoffs makes you wonder how much more he can surprise us with.

The most impressive part of LeBron’s Game 1 efforts vs. Atlanta was the manner in which he approached the game. Out of those 21 career playoff games posting that type of stat-line, it was just the second time that he attempted less than two 3-pointers. Every other one, it’s required him to take multiple threes. When he’s putting his head down and trying to terrorize your soul at the rim, there’s no question he makes things easier for his team.

In those 21 performances, LeBron’s team is a combined 18-3 in the playoffs (3-0 with Miami, and 15-3 with Cleveland).

People aren’t even realizing how much of a workload LeBron is enduring right now. With his teammates either sitting in a suit and tie or hobbling around on the court, he’s required to be there for David Blatt at all times. Of all remaining players in the playoffs, James is averaging the most minutes per night (41.4). Last year in the playoffs, James experienced the first (and only) year in his career of playing under 40 minutes per game in the tournament.

No longer will he have the luxury of getting extended rest while his troops hold down the fort. Not in this series against the feisty Hawks, who aren’t going away easily, and certainly not against the deepest team in the league (Warriors) if they reach the Finals.

Can we expect LeBron to put the Hawks in the rear-view mirror quickly?

Not so fast.

From Atlanta’s perspective, Game 1 was a complete divergence from what is expected. In fact, it’s hard to believe what happened to the Hawks in Game 1, because it hasn’t happened AT ALL this season.

Wednesday became the first time in the 94 total games Atlanta has played this year, that Budenholzer’s squad has shot at least 23 3-pointers and only made 17.4% of them (or below).

It literally never happened before this series. Atlanta laid an egg, and disappeared into thin air for a crucial game.

Nobody is saying that couldn’t cost them the whole series, because losing homecourt advantage was too monumental for a team that thrives on it. But, at the same rate, nobody should go around strutting that this series is a wrap all because of Cleveland’s Game 1 victory.

If everything had played out to the norm for Game 1, and it wasn’t a completely weird chain of events, those Atlanta pessimists would have a great point. There were just too many abnormalities in Game 1. Way too many to put a lot of credence into what happened.

This is an easy concept — LeBron will still be against his toughest competition in the East, because this Hawks unit knows how to defend for the most part. At the same time, Atlanta also learned something.  They’re against an unstoppable motor that doesn’t just kill you with his scoring.

LeBron is hurting Atlanta at every point of attack from what we’ve seen thus far. Now, it’s up to a great coaching staff to mitigate the damage, or they’ll fail to take the East crown.

**All statistical support credited to Basketball-Reference.com**