LeBron James’ Inefficiency Might Ultimately Doom The Cavs

LeBron James has struggled with efficiency over the last two games against the Chicago Bulls, if he doesn’t correct it history says it will doom the Cleveland Cavaliers 

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Over the course of his 166 postseason games in which LeBron James has played, in both a Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavalier jersey, he’s only had 11 worse shooting performances than the ones he just had in back-to-back games against the Chicago Bulls in Game 3 and 4.

That could be viewed one of two ways, obviously, but considering the recent circumstances he and the Cavaliers are under, this inefficiency streak that he’s created can’t simply be shrugged off by onlookers.

Not this time.

Maybe if Kyrie Irving was healthy, it would be different. He’s not. He’s fighting through a foot strain and left knee tendinitis. Kevin Love is out for the season. Iman Shumpert is playing with an injured groin. The Cavs, as a whole, are not healthy. They’re not that same team that was bulldozing through the Eastern Conference in the regular season. This is a much different team.

Including LeBron James.

After four seasons in which he built his — and the Miami Heat’s — game around efficiency, it’s almost as he’s decided to throw it all away — forcefully. During four seasons with the Miami Heat, LeBron James never shot under 47 percent shooting from the field in the playoffs.

LeBron James’ Four Year Playoff Shooting Percentages w/ Miami Heat

• 2013-14: 56 percent
• 2012-13: 49 percent
• 2011-12: 50 percent
• 2010-11: 47 percent

This season, his first since rejoining the Cleveland Cavaliers, he’s shooting 42 percent from the field, including 15 percent from three-point range in the playoffs.

Although, you can’t really fault LeBron James for his recent slump. After all, since Irving tweaked his foot in Game 2 against the Chicago Bulls, LeBron has had to take the onus of his team on his back. Irving is clearly not the same player he was in Games 1 and 2.

In Games 3 and 4, Irving is averaging 11.5 points, one assist and four rebounds on 22 percent shooting (5-23) from the field. That’s not someone LeBron can rely on right now. Thus, LeBron has to do EVERYTHING himself — bring the ball up, distribute and even score.

LeBron took 30 shot attempts in Game 4, his highest shooting volume ever in a playoff game since the 2008-09 season. When he was with the Cavaliers.

And he’s probably going to have to continue to shoot that way if the Cavs are even going to have a chance to continue to advance in these playoffs.

Nevertheless, LeBron James shot 32 percent in Game 3 and 33 percent in Game 4. Here are the instances in his career where he’s shot worse than that in the playoffs. They’re few and far in-between, though, they do have a common theme.

• 4/25/06 vs Washington — 28 percent, 26 points, Loss
• 5/12/07 vs Nets — 31 percent, 18 points, Loss
• 6/2/07 vs Pistons — 27 percent, 20 points, Win
• 6/7/07 vs Spurs — 25 percent, 14 points, Loss
• 5/10/08 vs Celtics — 31 percent, 21 points, Win
• 5/8/08 vs Celtics — 25 percent, 21 points, Loss
• 5/6/08 vs Celtics — 11 percent, 12 points, Loss
• 5/11/10 vs Celtics — 21 percent, 15 points, Loss
• 4/16/11 vs Sixers — 29 percent, 21 points, Win
• 6/7/11 vs Mavs — 27 percent, 8 points, Loss
• 5/26/14 vs Pacers — 20 percent, 7 points, Loss

During these games, LeBron James’ teams are 3-8. Not good.

Essentially, when LeBron doesn’t shoot well, his teams don’t usually fare well. Even though the Cavs are 1-1 in the two games in which LeBron has shot poorly in this series, if that trend continues you can’t expect Cleveland to keep winning.

Mind you, there’s a very real possibility that the Cavs could be 0-2 in those games, if it weren’t for the Bulls collapsing in Game 4 and a game-winning heave by LeBron as time expired.

LeBron James isn’t the player he once was with the Miami Heat, where he was willing to aggressively play in the post and punish his defenders. Part of the reasoning why he left Miami was because he didn’t want to play power forward anymore. Although, the stats point to those years as being his most efficient.

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/11/2015.

And with Kyrie hobbling around the perimeter with no offensive explosion whatsoever, and with Kevin Love sidelined for the remainder of the playoffs, perhaps LeBron has to resort to playing the opposite of the perimeter-oriented game that he’s played during the last two games.

The Cavs need that aggressive, overpowering LeBron James that we often saw in Miami. Whether he still exists is a valid question. After all, making four straight NBA Finals does take a toll on the body, but if he does he needs to exploit that for the rest of this series — and probably the rest of the playoffs.

The great players always find a way when it seems that’s there’s no way to get to the next level — LeBron learned how to do that during the last four years, when it seemed he failed to do time and time again in Cleveland.

It’s time that he shows the Cavs fans just how much he’s grown over the years. And it all starts with getting back to an efficient LeBron James.

Next: NBA Playoff Power Rankings: Are The Rockets, Warriors in trouble?