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Kevin Love isn’t the only one who didn’t show up for Game 3 Sunday night. LeBron James was 0 for 9 through the first 12 minutes, the worst opening quarter of any playoff game in his career. Earlier in the season, he claimed he would come off the bench if it would help his team. While not as outlandish a statement as K-Love saying he would sweep the floor, perhaps it’s time to start making these superstars put their money with their mouths are.
Midway through the second quarter, James was a dismal minus 13. Down by as many as nine early in the game, the Cleveland Cavaliers were beginning to make a run with him sitting on the bench, even tying it at 24. Enter LeBron. The Hawks ballooned their lead again. It wasn’t just his shooting that was crippling the team. Twice at the beginning of the second quarter, he threw the ball away — ostensibly on passes, though there were no Cavs anywhere in sight.
Somewhere around the three-minute mark, he apparently deactivated chill mode by stealing a pass — an actual pass (one that was headed toward an actual person) — and converted it to a layup. In an odd move for members of the media, TNT commentators Chris Webber and Reggie Miller acknowledged that James was having an off night — usually the media just blames his poor play on somebody else. Nonetheless, they credited him for contributing in other ways.
It’s possible. At just about the point that Al Horford tried to pull a Kelly Olynyk with Matthew Dellavedova, LeBron had raised his plus/minus to minus 6. With the Hawks big man ejected for a Flagrant 2, the King doesn’t have anyone who could balance his (normal) level of scoring and defense. Perhaps it’s time for him to sit.
