LeBron James nearly posted a monster triple double in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Game 1 loss to the red-hot Chicago Bulls: 19 points, 15 rebounds, and nine assists. If only we could all have an “off game” like that. That’s precisely how LeBron characterized his play. Via Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com:
“I did have an off game,” James said. “If I have a great game my numbers will be a lot different. For me that’s an off game just from the standpoint [that] I’m a very efficient player as far as my shooting and to be 9-of-22, that’s unacceptable. What everybody else says, I don’t really care what everybody else thinks.”
But even his shooting woes don’t tell the whole story. He added six turnovers and scored just seven total points in the second half on 3-for-11 shooting. Jimmy Butler deserves a good deal of credit here as LeBron went just 5-for-12 when Butler was on him. To make matters worse, LeBron also got off to a slow start; he attempted only two shots during the first ten minutes of action. This looks more like pre-midseason-sabbatical LeBron than the LeBron who led the Cavs’ charge to the second seed in the Eastern Conference.
It doesn’t help matters that Cleveland is missing a key cog in Kevin Love, who was lost for the rest of the post-season after sustaining a shoulder injury at the end of round one against the Celtics. It also didn’t help that J.R. Smith got himself suspended for the first two games of the Eastern Conference Semifinals for taking a cheap shot at Jae Crowder.
Derrick Rose and the Bulls, on the other hand, are feeling healthy and are firing on all cylinders. The Cavs were unable to stymie the three-headed monster of Rose, Butler, and Pau Gasol, who all scored at least 20 points. The Bulls also ratcheted up on defense, causing the Cavs to shoot just 7-for-26 from downtown. Part of this has to do with the lineup issues caused by Smith and Love’s absence, which is something they’ll need to address prior to Game 2 Wednesday back in the Q at 7 PM ET on TNT.
