Fansided

LeBron says he let Hawks back into the game with his ‘offensive nonsense’

By Stanford Crissey

May 20, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) drives against Atlanta Hawks forward Paul Millsap (4) during the fourth quarter of game one of the Eastern Conference Finals of the NBA Playoffs at Philips Arena. Cleveland won 97-89. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
May 20, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) drives against Atlanta Hawks forward Paul Millsap (4) during the fourth quarter of game one of the Eastern Conference Finals of the NBA Playoffs at Philips Arena. Cleveland won 97-89. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports /
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LeBron says he played too much iso ball in Game 1 vs. Hawks

The Cleveland Cavaliers took a 1-0 lead over the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference finals Wednesday, winning 97-89 behind LeBron James’ 31 points.

But LeBron, being the perfectionist that he is, still thinks he held the team back.

In a postgame interview with Fox Sports Ohio’s Allie Clifton, LeBron said he, “allowed them [the Hawks] back into the game with my offensive nonsense.”

LeBron elaborated further when speaking to ESPN.

"“We can’t worry about how many points we’re up or how many points we’re down; we have to continue to play our game. It starts with me. I take all the responsibility for it,” James said. “In the fourth quarter, I played way too much isolation basketball.”"

Ahem. I would now like to present my counterpoint:

If you’re playing too much iso ball, LeBron, then why is Kyle Korver running away from you?

That doesn’t look like someone who’s running too many isolation plays. It looks like he couldn’t possibly run enough of them.

That being said, the Cavs did allow Atlanta to significantly close the gap in the fourth quarter of Game 1. Cleveland stormed out to a 17-point lead, but the Hawks crept back to within two, due in part to many missed opportunities by LeBron on isolation plays.

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Now, blame shouldn’t completely fall on LeBron there. Other than JR Smith (who likely doesn’t think he did enough”offensive nonsense”), LBJ was the only Cavalier who really had anything going offensively. Though he did waste some time setting up iso plays in the fourth quarter, some of which ultimately failed.

James’ 18 isolation possessions in Game 1 were the most by any player during the 2015 playoffs, according to SportVu. This included three separate occasions in which James went iso three possessions in a row.

It’s probably the only situation where too much LeBron is a bad thing. If that’s what it looks like when LeBron is disappointed in his performance, then the Hawks should be very afraid of what could come next.

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