Anyone who’s watched the Cleveland Cavaliers for more than a few minutes at any point recently could tell you this team is going nowhere without LeBron James.
That’s kind of a given. On Sunday he played 43 minutes, scoring 45 points while the next-best scorer managed just 15. That’s hardly unusual, either, as the team’s offense has far too often been LeBron or bust.
Now here’s a crazy stat that shows just how true this is.
For the first time in his career, LeBron won a playoff series without any teammate scoring 20 points in any of the games. #SCFacts pic.twitter.com/6GjcSqb9J6
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 29, 2018
No wonder he’s tired and just wants to go home after Sunday’s Game 7 win.
“I’m burnt right now … I’m ready to go home. I’m tired. I wanna go home.” – LeBron 😂pic.twitter.com/u4VEuP8stL
— SB Nation (@SBNation) April 29, 2018
During the seven-game series between the Cavs and Indiana Pacers, James averaged 41 minutes per game, and that includes just 31 minutes in the Game 6 blowout loss. In those games, he’s averaged 34.4 points, 10.1 rebounds, 7.7 assists 1.0 blocks and 1.4 steals per game.
It’s hard to imagine King James will be able to keep up this pace. He’s going to break down eventually.
Needless to say, his teammates really need to step up their games in the scoring department. Otherwise, Sunday’s victory will ring rather hollow in the long run, and then it might be the end of LeBron James in Cleveland.