LeBron James can’t afford to leave anything to chance

LeBron James bulldozed to the rim for a third straight lay-up, and all Bojan Bogdanovic could do was sigh. Peering into the middle distance, shoulders slumped, not knowing what to do, while the rest of his team rode the run, Bogdanovic endured the unique task of guarding the best player in the world on a mission to erase a deficit. He dealt with it, in vain, all series.

Those of us watching from the cheap seats could relate to the confusion. LeBron, barrelling to the rim, felt inevitable. But fifteen seasons and many more battle scars in, how much longer could he keep doing it? It was a signature performance marked by both reluctance and dominance.

LeBron’s ceiling has only ever been as high as he’s been forced to reach. He delivered his best offensive season this year at 33 years old, in large part because he had to. The Cavs’ mid-season trades exchanged dynamism and shot-creation for floor-spacers and rollers, leaving LeBron as the sole creator and master surveyor. In the first round, he probably would have liked to rely on his ability to facilitate, saving the stuff he doesn’t like to do for later rounds.  But there he was, starting at point guard, turning the offense into a one-man lay-up line, attacking switches, pounding inside the post, too determined to let a ricocheting jumper settle his fate.

Read More: The Thunder’s flameout was an apt end to a disappointing season

Early in the first quarter of Game 5, before LeBron put his stamp on the game by blocking (ahem, goaltending) Victor Oladipo’s attempted game-winner and hitting a 3 at the buzzer, he stood by on the weak-side as Oladipo snaked through the paint for a lay-up. A silhouette of Oladipo’s blocked attempt developed in transition a few plays later, but LeBron just contested it. He only went for the block when the game depended on it, when he couldn’t afford to leave anything to chance.

Playoff LeBron’s sheer will can supercede the other nine guys on the court. He’s that good. The East runs through him, regardless of roster or regular season success. He has a way of making you believe, right before the rest of the roster pulls the rug out from underneath you. The 13-0 start in Game 2, the game-winner in Game 5, the 26-point half in Game 7 are all underscored by the brief moments he took his foot of the gas-pedal, just to see what would happen.

What usually happened was a Pacers run, right up until the fourth quarter of Game 7, when LeBron started cramping up and the question of whether anyone on Cleveland could carry water without him reached its critical juncture. George Hill and Kevin Love answered the bell, pick-and-popping the Pacers to death, while Larry Nance and Tristan Thompson cleaned up their misses, offering a possible blueprint for the rest of the playoffs.

While it’s fun to rag on LeBron’s supporting cast, they were uncharacteristically cold throughout Round 1, and if Thompson can play half as well as he did in Game 7, they may have stumbled into a reliable starting unit. As they prepare to take on the No. 1 seed Raptors, anxiety about LeBron’s ability to continue assaulting the rim should be tempered by the fact that he likely won’t have to put on another one-man show again.

If LeBron can get some help and catch the appropriate breather, his problems — the fifteen years of wear-and-tear, seven straight long battles to get to the Finals — cease to be problems at all. The only add to his photographic memory of every play diagram, and can be utilized if he can put enough faith into his teammates to deliver.

LeBron wounded the Pacers by ramming his way to the hoop. He broke them when he beat them every other way. They threw multiple looks at LeBron — at one point making it incredibly easy by leaving Kevin Love open a pass away — and he picked them apart immediately.  He set up shop at the post with full command of his gravitational force, finding cutters the moment the defense peaked away, skip-passing to shooters and sending the Pacers’ closeouts into a frenzy. When he lost his head of steam in Game 7, he didn’t just settle for jumpers. He flipped tight pocket-passes to Thompson, who despite all his inconsistencies, has a knack for finishing inside.

Next: It doesn't matter who wins 76ers-Celtics, this is about the future

LeBron has read the game better than anybody else for years now. He is beyond suggestions. Prior to a big game, analysts no longer implore him to be aggressive or to get his teammates going. All LeBron needs to do is be LeBron. We merely sit and wait, wondering how he’ll decide to skin the cat this time. He is now as intellectually captivating as he is athletically staggering, like an artist at the height of his technical powers, but before he’s too old to ‘get it’ anymore.

It’s no wonder that LeBron is aging better than his favorite wine. Consider the fact that his basketball IQ grows faster than his athleticism wanes, and not only does it makes sense that LeBron had his best offensive season fifteen years into his career. His best days might be ahead of him.