These were the words LeBron James used to describe his effort during the playoffs after Cleveland’s Game 7 victory in Boston in the Conference Finals. Well, LeBron, keep squeezing, because Golden State is up 2-0 and they’re four (Curry, Durant, Thompson, Green), while you’re one.
These are LeBron James’ stats in the Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics:
Game 1 @ BOS: 15 PTS, 7 REB, 9 AST (108-83 L)
Game 2 @ BOS: 42 PTS, 10 REB, 12 AST (107-94 L)
Game 3 @ CLE: 27 PTS, 5 REB, 12 AST (116-86 W)
Game 4 @ CLE: 44 PTS, 5 REB, 3 AST (111-102 W)
Game 5 @ BOS: 26 PTS, 10 REB, 5 AST (96-83 L)
Game 6 @ CLE: 46 PTS, 11 REB, 9 AST (109-99 W)
Game 7 @ BOS: 35 PTS, 15 REB, 9 AST (87-79 W)
LeBron has led his team in scoring in every single game this postseason, averaging 34.0 PTS, 9.2 REB and 8.8 AST per contest before the Finals. The postseason has included a Game 5 buzzer-beater against the Indiana Pacers in Cleveland and a Game 3 buzzer-beater at Toronto. He also surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for second on the all-time playoff scoring list. Michael Jordan tops it. At age 33, LeBron James is by far and away the best basketball player to walk on planet Earth right now and one of the best players to ever step on a basketball court. Yet, that might not be enough to stop Golden State from winning its third straight NBA title and the fourth one in the last five years (LeBron and Kyrie stole one from the Warriors in 2016).
Source: twitter.com/warriors/
A 51-point performance in Game 1 almost gave the Cavs a 1-0 lead in the series. A 29 points, 9 rebounds, 13 assists performance in Game 2 wasn’t good enough. What that tells us is that “The King” is fighting an entire army on his own. The bar he has set for himself is one of the highest we’ve ever seen. Yet, it’s still not high enough. Not high enough to divide Golden State’s four musketeers. LeBron James does not need to be good, great, excellent, amazing, fantastic or even extraordinary. He needs to be epic. He needs to provide displays of historic proportions for his team to even stand a chance at coming back and winning these Finals. That 51-point Game 1 is the new bar. That’s how high he needs to jump. It would take a superhero type of an effort to do that. Impossible? Probably. But, if anyone can do that, LeBron can. And if he does, it will not only be the best individual achievement in NBA Finals history. It will entrench him as the best player in NBA history.
So, keep squeezing LeBron, keep squeezing… until there’s no more juice left.