LeBron James: Projecting His Stats Over the Miami Heat's First 10 Games
LeBron James will make his Miami Heat debut in less than a week.
It's going to be all eyes on James and his teammates as they try to win their first of what people expect to be multiple championships together.
With that in mind, I have gone through the Heat's first 10 games and tried to predict how he will do in each of those games.
There are sections on why he could go off, why he may be slowed down and a stat line prediction.
Any thoughts, leave them in the comments.
Boston Celtics
1 of 10
Why He Could Go Off
LeBron James is playing angry basketball right now and he's going to want to prove a whole lot in his first game in a Heat uniform. He wants to prove all the doubters wrong and it's a nationally televised game.
It seems like the perfect stage for LeBron to send a message to the rest of the league.
Why He Could Be Held In Check
Boston gave LeBron fits for most of the playoff series this past summer, and they have a lot of talented players to guard him.
Paul Pierce will have his hands full with LeBron, but with good help defense, they could slow him down a bit. Also, a lack of playing time with Dwyane Wade could slow him out of the gate.
Prediction
23 PTS 8 REB 5 AST
Philadelphia 76ers
2 of 10
Why He Could Go Off
I mean, it is the Sixers. Who can really guard him on that team?
The answer is no one. With the Sixers spread thin trying to stop Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, it's going to leave LeBron wide open to rip them apart all over the court.
It's a total mismatch. The Sixers are destined to be a lottery pick while Miami will be the top seed in the East.
Why He Could Be Held In Check
To be honest, there's no way LeBron's held in check in this game. None. He's going to destroy the Sixers and this game is going to be a total and utter blowout.
There's a reason tickets to this game are so scarce—it's because people know LeBron is going to destroy Philly.
Prediction
31 PTS 11 REB 7 AST
Orlando Magic
3 of 10
Why He Could Go Off
The Magic have made it perfectly clear that they don't like the Heat and there has been a big war of words between the two teams during the offseason.
I'm sure LeBron would love nothing more than to shut them up.
LeBron said he was taking mental notes—I'm sure the Magic are on top of the list.
Why He Could Be Held In Check
Orlando has a lot of big, lanky players who can keep LeBron in front of them and force him to shoot jumpers. James is a much better slasher than he is jump shooter, and that's the best way to slow LeBron down.
The Magic have players who can do it. It's just a matter of if they can pull it off.
Prediction
20 PTS 5 REB 4 AST
New Jersey Nets
4 of 10
Why He Could Go Off
The Nets really have no one to guard LeBron. Travis Outlaw won't get it done and LeBron will just go unchecked.
It's going to be another big game for James as the Heat should destroy the worst team in the league from last year.
It's going to be ugly for the Nets.
Why He Could Be Held In Check
I mean, theoretically, he could be slowed down by the Nets, but they really don't have the swingmen to do that. There's no one quick enough and strong enough to slow him down.
LeBron's going to be able to get to the lane at will and either draw fouls or hit dunks and layups.
Prediction
29 PTS 9 REB 8 AST
Minnesota Timberwolves
5 of 10
Why He Could Go Off
Minnesota is just a bad team. They traded away their best player in Al Jefferson for pretty much nothing (insert David Kahn joke here).
There's not anyone on that roster who can stay with LeBron and slow him down. Not that there are many players who can do that anyway but, still, it's a total circus in Minnesota.
Why He Could Be Held In Check
There's not much Minnesota really can do to stop LeBron. Miami has too many weapons, so Minnesota can't afford to double him because the rest of the Heat will kill them.
The Timberwolves will have to play them straight up, and they don't have the horses to stop James.
Prediction
32 PTS 7 REB 5 AST
New Orleans Hornets
6 of 10
Why He Could Go Off
The Hornets aren't a very good team, but if they run LeBron at the point forward, he'll be hard to stop. He'll be able to dish the ball all over the court and exploit mismatches.
The Heat are going be frightening if they run that look in every game.
Why He Could Be Held In Check
Trevor Ariza is a big, long guy and could possibly give LeBron problems. He's not the greatest defender, but he has the physical tools to get the job done.
However, if LeBron's at the point, it's going to be almost impossible to guard him.
Prediction
23 PTS 6 REB 10 AST
New Jersey Nets
7 of 10
Why He Could Go Off
As I said in the previous slide about the Nets, there's really no one on the court who can guard him and stay with him.
There is no one with LeBron's physical gifts, but there's no one who can even make it difficult for LeBron.
Why He Could Be Held In Check
Maybe after seeing Miami in person once, then getting some more tape on LeBron and the systems they run, the Nets could figure out some defensive schemes to slow him down and cause problems for him on offense.
It's unlikely, but possible.
Prediction
25 PTS 8 REB 4 AST
Utah Jazz
8 of 10
Why He Could Go Off
Utah is going to have major issues guarding Dwyane Wade in this game. If they shade to guard Wade, it's going to open LeBron up in the offense.
C.J. Miles isn't good enough to guard Wade straight up, and that's the biggest weakness of the Jazz in this matchup.
If Miles can't hang with Wade, LeBron is going to feast on Utah.
Why He Could Be Held In Check
Utah does have some players who are long enough to keep LeBron in front of them. Andrei Kirilenko will have to come up big and get physical with LeBron to try to force him to take jump shots.
He's not nearly as big enough as James, but he's going to have to try and make up for it with quickness.
Prediction
24 PTS 6 REB 7 AST
Boston Celtics
9 of 10
Why He Could Go Off
Paul Pierce has had issues in the past in trying to stop LeBron on the defensive end because of his size and strength.
LeBron is going to continue to try to erase last summer's total flop from our collective memory, and the only way to do that is to rip the Celtics apart on the court.
Why He Could Be Held In Check
The Celtics are a very deep, very big team, and they have the size and the bodies to try to slow him down.
Boston has much more depth than they did last year, and I think they can use up some fouls and keep him out of the paint.
Prediction
20 PTS 6 REB 4 AST
Toronto Raptors
10 of 10
Why He Could Go Off
It's not if LeBron could go off. He will go off.
Toronto is going to be the worst team in the league this year, and there is no one on that roster who can even stick with LeBron on his worst day. Linas Kleiza is going to stop LeBron? I don't think so.
James is going to light the stat sheet on fire.
Why He Could Be Held In Check
He won't. It's as simple as that.
The Raptors are going to get destroyed. It's going to happen a lot this year for Toronto, but this is going to be a massacre. Miami has way too much talent for the Raptors to handle.
I'd be afraid to watch if I'm a Toronto fan.
Prediction
31 PTS 11 REB 10 AST
