LeBron James has been playing some outstanding basketball during the postseason, but Sunday’s Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals was a completely different story.
James’ Cleveland Cavaliers got smacked from the start by the Boston Celtics. They trailed 36-18 after the first quarter, were down by 26 at the half, and lost Game 1 108-83.
James was 5-for-16 shooting. He missed all five of his three-pointers and turned the ball over seven times in 36 minutes. His plus-minus was an atrocious -32.
According to ESPN, LeBron’s -32 plus-minus was tied for the worst of his playoff career. The 25-point loss was the second-worst Game 1 playoff loss by a LeBron James team in his playoff career.
Despite all that, James is not concerned heading into Game 2.
“I have zero level of concern at this stage,” James said after the game. “I didn’t go to college, so it’s not March Madness. You get better throughout the series. I’ve been down 0-1, 0-2, I’ve been down before in the postseason. For me, there’s never no level of concern, no matter how bad I played tonight. Just as confident going into a series if it’s 0-0 going into a series or I’m down 0-1.”
The good news for James and the Cavs is things probably couldn’t get worse. Given the way they shot as a team in Game 1, if both sides regress more towards the mean, Game 2 is much more likely to be close.
