LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers may enjoy winning inefficiently in the East now, but it won’t cut it against the Warriors in the NBA Finals
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LeBron James is the best basketball player the NBA. He’s the best basketball player in the world right now. Heck, he might even be the greatest basketball player to ever play. If nothing else, he at least deserves a seat at the table.
But the success he’s been feasting over in the Eastern Conference is fool’s gold. LeBron James, in all his recent glory and mildly inefficient habits, has not idea what awaits him on the West Coast — in the way of a 6-3, 190 pound silhouette of excellence.
And that’s just their point guard.
It’s easy to get sucked into watching LeBron James play basketball. It’s beautiful, at times powerful and often successful. LeBron is one of the best winners we’ve seen in NBA history. He’s been to the Finals four straight years (soon to be five) and a total of five times (soon to be six). LeBron James has been the captain of the ship that has been powerfully speeding through the Eastern Conference waters.
Despite injuries to its second and third best players, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, the Cleveland Cavaliers haven’t missed a beat — mostly thanks to LeBron James.
He’s been inefficient at times during this playoff run, but that doesn’t matter, right? After all, who else is going to take the shots without Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love available. That’s a fair point.
May 24, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) reacts after a 114-111 win over the Atlanta Hawks in game three of the Eastern Conference Finals of the NBA Playoffs at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
So as LeBron falls to his knees in exhaustion, relief and, potential, disbelief after a 37-point, 18 rebound and 13 assist game — the first player to achieve such numbers since Charles Barkley — it doesn’t matter that it took him 37 shots to reach such mark. The Cavs won and that’s all that matters.
Which is so true. For now.
On the other hand, one night before LeBron’s epic performance in Game 3 against the Atlanta Hawks, Stephen Curry, that Western Conference’s silhouette of excellence, dropped 40 points on 19 shots en route to taking a 3-0 series lead over the Houston Rockets — and he made it look easy.
Both won, in completely different ways. The end result was the same. But it won’t be for long.
These two NBA superstars — one from the East and one from the West — are expected to begin a war against one another for the NBA’s most coveted award — the NBA Championship — in the matter of two weeks. Two completely different paths that — fair or not — led to the exact same spot.
Both have done it with winning. And that’s all that matters.
Nevertheless, despite the fact that the Cavs and Warriors will both meet in the NBA Finals with 12 wins apiece, it’s going to be Golden State that will have the upper hand — and a significant one.
For the argument that states efficiency doesn’t matter. The end result is all that matters. That is 100 percent true. Efficiency takes a backseat where the end result is a win, no matter how it’s achieved. The only problem with playing that vintage early-2000’s inefficient, iso-heavy basketball style is that it’s all good and fun until you realize you’re holding a knife in a gun fight.
And that’s exactly what the Cavs will learn as soon as they get knee deep in their series against the Golden State Warriors. Only, they’ll have a swiss army knife, because LeBron James is really, really good. Still no gun, though.
Think of what the Miami Heat went through in last year’s Finals against the San Antonio Spurs. Yep.
While the Cavs have maneuvered through the injury-plauged and, quite frankly, less talented Eastern Conference, the Golden State Warriors have dominated the Western Conference, one of the best collected conferences that we’ve seen in years.
The Western Conference was a collective 76 games over .500 against the Eastern Conference during the regular season. Context: Cleveland, the East’s 2nd seed, finished with a 53-29 record. New Orleans, the West’s 8th seed, finished with a 45-37. The 8th seed in the East, Brooklyn, finished with a 38-44 record.
Golden State is plowing through this historically great Western Conference field. They’ve lost two games, both against the Memphis Grizzlies, and look as strong as ever in the Western Conference Finals against the Houston Rockets.
The Warriors are shooting a higher field goal percentage (47%) and a higher three-point percentage (38%) during the playoffs on a higher volume of shots than the Cleveland Cavaliers. They also have a two-point edge in plus/minus, against stiffer competition.
Golden State also averages seven more assists than the Cavs, while playing at a higher pace. Not to mention that Stephen Curry is shooting a blistering 61 percent from the field and 58 percent from three-point range, on 36 points and six assists per game in the Western Conference Finals. Not too shabby.
On top of that, nearly every statistical category, with the exception of rebounding, gives the edge to the Warriors. Except one other.
The fact that the Warriors don’t have LeBron James.
Problem is, this isn’t the same LeBron that was averaging nearly 60 percent shooting from the field and playing almost strictly out of the post on the offensive end. This is a much different LeBron, almost by necessity.
| Season | Tm | G | FG | FGA | FG% | 3P% | eFG% | TRB | AST | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005-06 | CLE | 13 | 11.2 | 23.6 | .476 | .333 | .510 | 8.1 | 5.8 | 30.8 |
| 2006-07 | CLE | 20 | 8.3 | 20.0 | .416 | .280 | .442 | 8.1 | 8.0 | 25.1 |
| 2007-08 | CLE | 13 | 8.7 | 21.2 | .411 | .257 | .444 | 7.8 | 7.6 | 28.2 |
| 2008-09 | CLE | 14 | 11.4 | 22.3 | .510 | .333 | .553 | 9.1 | 7.3 | 35.3 |
| 2009-10 | CLE | 11 | 9.6 | 19.2 | .502 | .400 | .550 | 9.3 | 7.6 | 29.1 |
| 2010-11 | MIA | 21 | 8.3 | 17.8 | .466 | .353 | .507 | 8.4 | 5.9 | 23.7 |
| 2011-12 ❍ | MIA | 23 | 10.9 | 21.8 | .500 | .259 | .522 | 9.7 | 5.6 | 30.3 |
| 2012-13 ❍ | MIA | 23 | 9.2 | 18.8 | .491 | .375 | .532 | 8.4 | 6.6 | 25.9 |
| 2013-14 | MIA | 20 | 9.6 | 17.0 | .565 | .407 | .616 | 7.1 | 4.8 | 27.4 |
| 2014-15 | CLE | 12 | 10.4 | 24.3 | .430 | .161 | .445 | 9.9 | 8.0 | 27.2 |
| Career | 170 | 9.7 | 20.2 | .478 | .320 | .512 | 8.5 | 6.6 | 27.9 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/25/2015.
LeBron James is doing whatever his team needs, including the off night that may include 37 points on 37 shots. But that’s not going to cut it against the Warriors. It will against the offensively-challenged Chicago Bulls and shell-of-themselves Atlanta Hawks, but not against the Warriors.
Not against a team that has the best offense in basketball and against a team that has the horses to match up with LeBron James on the defensive end.
LeBron James and the Cavs have no idea what awaits them in the NBA Finals out West. And if Kyrie Irving, who is battling multiple injuries including knee tendinitis, doesn’t heal quickly, the Cavs don’t have much of a chance against the NBA MVP and the Warriors.
That’s not a knock on LeBron James and how great of a player he is. That’s just a testament to the Golden State Warriors, their conference and how tough it is to win the NBA Finals without the proper firepower.
LeBron James is the best player, but the Golden State Warriors are the best team. And it’s not even close.