If Lebron rests tonight, the Cavs will lose

[edrick]

James has done it all with little help from his teammates. Remarkably, Kyrie Irving still rates as Cleveland's second-best player by WARP in this series (0.3) despite not playing since Game 1. How important has James been? In the 22 minutes he's spent on the bench in the series, the Cavaliers have been outscored by 13 points -- or 39.2 per 100 possessions, according to NBA.com/Stats. When James has rested, Cleveland has averaged 54.6 points per 100 possessions, barely half of its 97.2 offensive rating with James on the court.

http://espn.go.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/13081897/nba-finals-lebron-james-finals-mvp-win-lose


Cleveland's O in the 22 minutes LBJ hasn't played in Finals: 18.2 FG%, 00.0 3pt%

https://twitter.com/danmccarneySAEN/status/610329927183765504

[ISHGoat]

I think we all knew lebron was heavily carrying this cavs team, but a differential of -39.2/100 when he sits is just mindblowing

[Prometheus]

When he rests, their offense is just hilarious.

"Hey, J.R.'s got it! Think he'll shoot the step-back?"
"He's shooting the step-back!"

*CLANK*

[Trollsmasher]

When he rests, their offense is just hilarious.

"Hey, J.R.'s got it! Think he'll shoot the step-back?"
"He's shooting the step-back!"

*CLANK*
most of time it is a success if they even manage to get JR the ball

I swear half of those no-Bron possessions end up with Delly throwing up that patented floater/lob to nowhere of his

[Take Your Lumps]

I'm gonna go with the team that isn't starting JR Smith.

Like JVG said: dumb gets you beat.

[Bernkastel]

Thanks for the analysis, Cowherd.