LeBron James was held to 31% from the floor, shooting 5-16 from the field with a healthy, balanced defensive attack by the Boston Celtics. They also forced him into his own playoff-high in turnovers (7).
There's quite a few misses that he'll for sure make as the series progresses but if the Celtics proved anything, they're definitely going to make LeBron ascend to even greater heights than previous rounds on the offensive end. In the first quarter he received looks from 5 different defenders of different sizes and stances; the constant theme with each new defender was intensity.
“Coach [Brad Stevens] was talking about making him feel us,” said Semi Ojeleye, “Trying to make him uncomfortable. I think when he’s comfortable, he picks guys apart. That’s the way he wants. It’s a tough matchup, so we just tried to take him out of rhythm.”
This time around, there were no heroics, no sweeping fadeaways from every single spot on the court, no winking at the crowd.
James certainly seemed out of rhythm but it doesn't bode well for this Cavs team if the supporting cast doesn't step up because even if LeBron drops 40+, he'll still need help. If this defensive gameplan is sustained by Boston, it's going to be a very ugly exit for LeBron on the Cavs.
Only six of Lebron's sixteen shot attempts came from within 10 feet and this was the closest to a concerted-effort post-up attempt; Morris bit on the spin but he recovered well and forced a tough layup.
Stellar defense by Horford in the corner, just terrific smothering defense by the big man who forces LeBron into a tough fall-away long two in the corner.
LeBron is originally flanked by Horford, then Morris puts on his best defensive stance in the high-post and forces LeBron away from the basket into yet ANOTHER fall-away jumpshot.
LeBron tries to hit Brown with a Toronto Game 3 special midway through the 3rd quarter but throws up a huge brick; very uninspired offense at this point as the Cavs cleared the whole left side of the floor for him but he bailed out the defense with this one.
After a Thompson screen, LeBron veered left with a predetermined pull-up; even if he attempted to drive, Horford was lurking on the switch in great position with Smart sliding over to protect the paint with a staggered front.
Thompson thinks he's on the Browns and sets a RB screen for LeBron who sees Baynes on the switch but decides to pull up in the midrange...although falling away again.
Look at the mini-wall Boston creates featuring Horford and Morris, daring LeBron to pull up but emphatically stating he's not driving on (or through) them on this play. However, this is a shot LeBron can knock down and when it's falling, it'll force Morris to make sharper decisions on how far up to come.
Normally LeBron is on the other end of this drive-and-kick situation but this time he's squared up in the corner for a wide open bounce-around miss. Another one of those shots that'll probably start falling later in the series.