Golden State Warriors: 5 Reasons To Resist Panicking

4. LeBron Still Isn’t Shooting Well

Three facts about LeBron James in this series: 1) He’s been unbelievable 2) He’s controlling the tempo of series and 3) He’s not shooting the ball well.

Before the “hater!” accusations start rolling in, let’s get this out of the way: LeBron James is the biggest reason the Warriors are losing this series. The man has been sensational, carrying his team to two victories (and nearly a third) while averaging absurd video game numbers:

What we’re seeing from LeBron is Michael Jordan-esque, and not because he’s turned into a high-volume shooter with underwhelming field goal percentages (that would be more Kobe Bryant-esque). Like Jordan did to the 1993 Phoenix Suns, LeBron is singlehandedly willing his team to victory over a superior, deeper team, except the Warriors are probably better than that Suns team was, and LeBron is playing without Cleveland’s two other leading scorers.

But we can say LeBron has been transcendent and still acknowledge that neither he nor his opponent have shot the ball well.

For the series, King James has gone 43-for-107 from the floor (40.2 percent). This is not a criticism of his game; it’s an indicator that he’s not an effective high-volume shooter. With the Cavs needing to him to do so much on both ends of the floor, the Dubs have been content letting him take as many shots as he wants.

If the Warriors had been making their own shots on the other end, no one would be discussing whether they need to change their defensive strategy.

Of course, you just just as easily flip this argument with the same logic that Warriors fans are currently using to reassure themselves; if you believe that Stephen Curry/Klay Thompson/Harrison Barnes/Draymond Green will find their stroke again, you could definitely also argue that LeBron’s due for an efficient, backbreaking kind of offensive performance.

The problem with LeBron’s offense is not how efficient he’s been, but how he’s been able to slow the game down to a grind-it-out pace. The Warriors need to keep Cleveland off the glass like they did last night, but they also need to turn his misfires into fast break opportunities.

LeBron is playing a completely different style of basketball because he has to with Love and Irving out; the Dubs are playing basically the same, they’re just missing shots they normally make (the Splash Brothers in particular). As much as LeBron has dominated this series, the Warriors are one good shooting night away from overcoming his inefficient production.

In other words, I’d depend on a hot shooting performance from a good shooting team regressing to the mean over one individual who’s played a gargantuan 142 minutes — of a possible 154 minutes — in this series so far, even if that individual is LeBron James.

Next: No. 3