Way down, not out: LeBron, Cavaliers know they can come back from 2-0 deficit because they did it last season
NorthCoastNOW
INDEPENDENCE — As Game 2 against the Boston Celtics was ending Thursday night at TD Banknorth Garden, LeBron James made it a point to walk along the Cavaliers bench and extend a hand to many teammates and coaches.
Some, he helped off the bench. Others, he patted on the shoulder. A few more got an encouraging word.
The message?
Though the Cavaliers are down 2-0 in the best-of-seven, second-round series — and though only 13 teams in NBA history have come back to win after facing such a deficit — they are not done.
“Me being the leader, I can’t look like I’m down on the series or down on my play or down on my teammates’ play,” the 23-year-old said. “We’ve got to continue to be positive.”
That will be easier said than done following a 76-72 loss in Game 1 and an 89-73 defeat in Game 2, but the Cavaliers can take some solace in the fact Game 3 will be at Quicken Loans Arena tonight at 8.
Perhaps more importantly, they know they came back from a 2-0 deficit to beat the Detroit Pistons four straight times last year in the Eastern Conference finals.
“It helps,” James said. “To have been in that situation before, you know how to adjust. This is a very similar team to Detroit. They have so many weapons and defensively they’re a very good team, but we found a way to win in Game 5 in Detroit last year. Home court has been a good place for us this year. We’ve got to approach it that way.”
All true, but it won’t matter if James doesn’t get untracked offensively. He’s 8-of-42 from the field (.190) over the first two games, including 0-of-10 on 3-pointers, averaging just 16.5 points — the fifth-year pro led the NBA in scoring in the regular season at 30.0 a game — and has committed a whopping 17 turnovers.
“He’s got to be frustrated,” teammate Wally Szczerbiak said. “He’s such a good player and he has so much on his shoulders that sometimes it’s really tough on him.
“Teams create a game plan to stop him. It’s our job to make his job a little bit easier, and he’ll figure it out. He has a great attitude and he never stops playing. He plays his heart out every minute he’s out there on the floor, and he’s going to come up with a big effort in Game 3.”
That’s what just about everyone thought was going to happen after James went 2-of-18 from the field in Game 1, but he came back and went just 6-of-24 while scoring 21 points in Game 2.
Whether Paul Pierce, Ray Allen or James Posey has been the primary defender, the Celtics have crowded the paint, made it difficult for James to drive and forced him to attempt to beat them from the perimeter.
So far, the strategy has worked to perfection, as James has made just one jump shot in the entire series — a 19-footer from the top of the circle with five minutes to go in the third period of Game 2.
“If LeBron is open, I want him to shoot,” Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said. “From inside the 3-point line or from outside, he needs to step in and knock it down. He’s done it plenty of times before.
“I feel confident in LeBron’s ability to continue to make plays for us and knock down shots.”
Even the Celtics are prepared for James to play much better at home, so their goal will continue to be to make the 6-foot-8, 250-pounder work as hard as possible.
“I’m a little shocked he’s 8-of-42, but that’s what we work on,” Pierce said. “It puts him in a position where he has to try to force things. That’s what we try to do.”
It’s worked, because outside of center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who is averaging 20.5 points on 17-of-30 shooting, the Cavaliers are just 32-of-118 from the floor (.271) in the series. Delonte West is 3-of-15 (.200), Daniel Gibson is 2-of-8 (.250), Joe Smith is 3-of-9 (.333) and Szczerbiak is 9-of-25 (.360).
Cleveland had great success early in Game 2 — it made seven of its first 10 shots — by having James and Szczerbiak cut through the lane and curl off picks, which ultimately freed Ilgauskas for a lot of open jumpers. The 7-3 center made five straight shots in the first nine minutes, but the Cavaliers got away from what they were doing soon after, which resulted in a lot of standing around.
“We’re just going to do some soul-searching as a team and stay together, which I know we will,” James said. “We are going to need multiple guys to step up.”
It all starts with No. 23, however. James knows it, his teammates know it and the Celtics know it.
“LeBron’s missing some shots that he would normally make, and we understand that,” Boston coach Doc Rivers said. “We also understand there are going to be times when he makes shots when we’re playing defense the way we want to play it. What we can’t do is overreact to that.
“He’s great. He’s going to be great. Great players have bad nights, sometimes multiple bad nights. He’s still great. He’s still LeBron James and he’s going home.”
Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4061 or rickn@ohio.net.
TONIGHT
WHO: Cleveland vs. Boston
WHAT: Game 3; Boston leads series, 2-0
TIME: 8 o’clock
WHERE: The Q
TV/RADIO: Channel 5; WEOL 930-AM, WTAM 1100-AM
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Filed by NorthCoastNOW May 10th, 2008 in Sports.
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