LeBron James Getting Exactly What He Needs out of Cavaliers Sidekicks
LeBron James has everything he needs to win an NBA title with the Cleveland Cavaliers this season.
This is to say James has everyone he needs.
If there's anything to take away from the Cavaliers' 103-95 Game 3 victory over the host Boston Celtics Thursday night, it's that—and, of course, the fact that the Celtics themselves are feisty. Mostly, though, it's that James' supporting cast is offering him the opportunity to carry Cleveland toward a championship immediately.
Yes, James is still carrying these Cavaliers. That's not going to change, nor is it supposed to change. James is still the best basketball player alive. It should come as no surprise that he went for 31 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, four steals and two blocks while attempting 26 shots in Game 3.
Shouldering heavy workloads is his business. ESPN Stats & Info further outlined this:
But James' teammates are ensuring that the burden he bears isn't too heavy. Not one of them specifically.
All of them.
After attempting just eight shots in Game 2, Kevin Love torched the Celtics from beyond the arc in Game 3, using a 6-of-10 clip from long range to tally 23 points and, as Basketball Insiders' Tommy Beer observed, disprove social-media truthers everywhere:
The Cavaliers went to Love early and often, even letting him work from the inside out on certain half-court sets. He responded with a lively effort, crashing the glass (nine rebounds) and, inevitably, drilling a game-clinching dagger from deep.
Head coach David Blatt gave him his own shoutout afterward:
J.R. Smith came up big, too. Despite shooting just 6-of-21 through the first two tilts, he kept firing away because, well, firing away is his business. And on this night, business was booming. He finished with 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting, scoring within the flow of Cleveland's offense.
Blatt felt compelled to give him a shoutout as well—an unprompted shoutout, per WEEI.com's Ben Rohrbach:
Not one for being left out, Tristan Thompson lent an enormous helping hand as well.
Though he often defended like his feet were bound together (five fouls), Thompson's 12 points, seven boards and two blocks proved vital to staving off a scrappy Celtics outfit. He grabbed a key offensive rebound late in the game, keeping in theme with what has become a familiar first-round sight, as Adam Jones of 98.5 The Sports Hub dutifully points out:
Lost in Cleveland's success by committee—at least on the scoreboard—was Kyrie Irving's rocky night. The Celtics chased him off the three-point line, steering him into traffic, forcing him to defer or settle for low-percetange and highly contested looks. He mustered just 13 points, his series low, on 3-of-11 shooting.
Not that his off night matters. It doesn't.
And that's the point.
Unlike James' Cavaliers teams from years past, this season's version doesn't need all of its best players to be at their best every night. James needs to be at his best, sure. But that's expected because it's demanded from a player of his ilk.
Everyone else can get by with a substandard game here or there, even in the playoffs. That's the luxury of Cleveland's depth.
When Love and Smith weren't playing up to snuff in Game 1, Irving partnered with James to combine for 50 of the Cavaliers' 113 points. When both Love and Smith struggled once more in Game 2, it was Irving and Timofey Mozgov, in addition to James, who led the way.
Irving weathered a so-so shooting night in that one (8-of-18) in collecting 26 points to go along with six assists. Mozgov went full beast himself, totaling 16 points and five blocks in seemingly effortless fashion before fouling out.
This next-man-up dynamic behind James should serve the Cavaliers well in later rounds. Given the opponents they'll have to go through, that's huge.
With the Chicago Bulls now up 3-0 on the Milwaukee Bucks, the highly anticipated second-round matchup between Chicago and Cleveland is pretty much set. And Chicago poses a legitimate threat.
The Bulls are as healthy as they've been in a while and are playing their best basketball of the season. Including their Game 3 victory on Thursday night, they're now 19-5 when running with their preferred starting five of Derrick Rose, Jimmy Butler, Mike Dunleavy, Pau Gasol and Joakim Noah.
In the event the Cavaliers get through them, they'll likely have the Atlanta Hawks (up 2-0 on the Brooklyn Nets) or the Washington Wizards (up 2-0 on the Toronto Raptors) on tap. Their road to the NBA Finals, then, is only going to get harder.
Things won't get any easier if they make it there, either. The Western Conference is brimming with contenders, each as dangerous as the next. From the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs, to the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Clippers, there is no potential pushover.
Which, again, is fine.
Cleveland is prepared.
The Celtics aren't the Bulls, or the Hawks, or the Warriors, or the Spurs. The Cavaliers haven't run away with all three of their playoff victories. James is still logging 40-plus minutes every night, bearing a cross he alone can carry.
This is all true.
What the Cavaliers have, though, is still good enough to get into the second round, through to the Eastern Conference Finals, into the NBA Finals and within reach of James' third championship ring.
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