LeBron had a very solid game, as he finished with 33 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists (how crazy is that this is now referred to as a solid game for LeBron rather than a great game?).  The big problem though was that 30 of LeBron’s points came in the first three quarters.  LeBron only scored 3 points on 1-5 shooting (0-2 from three), and committed 2 turnovers.

Mike Brown is a little at fault for LeBron’s poor fourth quarter.  Normally, coaches sit their starters towards the end of the third (with like 3 minutes left) and into the start of the fourth, usually getting them back in there with about 10 minutes left in the game.  The reason they sit them towards the end of the third is because you can steal a few minutes rest for your guy at the quarter break.  However, yesterday Mike Brown played the entire third quarter, and he then sat for the first 4 minutes in the fourth quarter, leaving him with only 8 minutes to work with.

LeBron actually entered the game with the Cavs leading by 2.  So I guess you can say that Mike Brown was justified in sitting LeBron for that long, and in a certain sense, that is right.  However, the longer LeBron sat, the longer it would take for LeBron to get into the flow of the game, and that is the issue here.  You can’t have your best player in a funk, during the most important part of the game (the fourth quarter).

Once we get into the game-action, this is all on LeBron.  There were a few reasons why he struggled in the final quarter yesterday.

Passive LeBron

LeBron is a great passer and totally trusts his teammates.  There isn’t anything wrong with that at all, especially with the way that he approaches it.  He gets his teammates involved early and tries to take over late.  For a player like LeBron, that is the perfect way to approach it, and this is another reason I would have liked to see LeBron get in the game a little sooner.  LeBron usually takes the first two to four minutes he enters the ballgame to try to get his teammates involved, and since he entered the game 2 minutes later then he usually does.  This leaves him with less time to get into attack mode.

Look at this possession.  It’s LeBron’s third of the fourth quarter (following a turnover and an assist to Shaq):

On this possession, LeBron gets it on the wing (on a very well designed play), and heads straight towards the rim.  Now, I have seen LeBron take that ball and put it in the hoop plenty of times from that spot, but this team he kicks it out to Mo Williams, who clanks a three pointer.

Content LeBron

LeBron took 5 shots in the fourth quarter.  Two of them were in the paint (a blocked lay-up and a made lay-up late) and three of them were from the outside.  The fact that LeBron tends to settle late is probably his biggest fault (in fact Kelly Dwyer did a great article on this subject today).

On this first shot, after two pick and pops, the Cavs finally get the ball into LeBron’s hands.  Now yes, there are about 6 seconds left on the shot clock so you can understand the jumper, but he stands there for 4 seconds with the ball in his hands, jab-stepping.  I think if LeBron attacks the basket right after the catch, he could have probably gotten a better look.  Also, this is LeBron’s first shot of the quarter, if I was a Cleveland fan, I would rather LeBron’s first shot after sitting out for a while be in the paint, instead of on the outside.

The second shot:

To LeBron’s credit, right before this possession, LeBron attacked the basket and was probably fouled by Dwight Howard.  They didn’t call it, and it was Cleveland’s ball coming out.  First, the inbounds play is pretty terrible.  LeBron starts at half court, and gets a half-assed screen, and he doesn’t get open.  The Cavs have to rush it in, the ball gets deflected, and it finally winds up in LeBron’s hands with like 10 seconds left.  He still has enough time to attack here, but instead, he just pounds the ball into the floor 6 times and pulls up for a three.  When LeBron is going to shoot a pull up three, you can almost tell.  He either starts a real high dribble, or he does this where he takes a ton of wasted dribbles.  Wasted dribbles are dribbles you don’t really need to take.  A LeBron James determined to get it to the basket doesn’t need 6 dribbles to get from the circle to the three point line.

Shot three:

Both of the first two shots come with the Cavs leading (almost making it worse), but with under 1 minute left, and the Cavs down 2, LeBron pulls another three pointer.  He inbounded the ball, got it right back, and pulled a 30 footer with 40 seconds left.  Now you are down 4 under 1 minute here, but you don’t necessarily need a three pointer.  If you get a two point shot off quick enough, you don’t even need to foul here.  This shot LeBron takes almost feels like he is rushing against the clock, when there is no need.  A better plan of attack here could have lead to a different ending for the game.