LeBron James' level of play in the 2014 NBA Finals

[3ball]

Thru 4 games of the 2016 Finals, lebron averaged 24 ppg with 6 TO's - the series was "unwinnable" just like the 14' Finals...

But then he added 12 points to his average for the last 3 games, which increased his average to 36 with 3 TO's (Jordan's averages in 91-93' Finals) - this scoring increase (rebs and assists remained the same) was sufficient to turn around a previously "unwinnable" series, so he has no excuse in 2014.

Of course, we already know that poor fits with Wade and Bosh prevented those Heat teams from being as good as the Spurs (and their core of fossils).

[Shogon]

Damn, man. Glad you cleared that up. It's been a daily topic around these parts for years. Thanks!

[ELITEpower23]

1-9

[3ball]

Damn, man. Glad you cleared that up. It's been a daily topic around these parts for years. Thanks!

When the sidekick destroys the opponent's best player, people normally think the sidekick team will win.

aka if everyone knew before the 93' Finals that KJ would destroy Jordan, then they'd predict an easy Suns' victory and first ring for Barkley... Similarly, if everyone knew before the 16' Finals that Curry would get destroyed by Kyrie, no one would expect the Warriors to win... People would expect an easy Cavs win except Lebron stunk it up for the first 4 games (24 and 6 TO's).. otherwise, lebron's 36 ppg destroyed the warriors from games 5-7, especially with Kyrie outplaying their best player.. so the Cavs would've won much easier if lebron was getting 36 ppg from the start.. the win is overrated and would've been easier for other stars that don't choke the first 4 games away.

aka if KJ outplayed MJ, no one would say Barkley had the goat accomplishment by winning that series.. or if Rik Smits outplayed Shaq in the 00' Finals, no one would say that Miller had the goat accomplishment... or if Kenyon outplayed 03' Duncan, no one would say Kidd had a goat accomplishment... etc, etc, etc

So when Kyrie destroys Curry, no one should say Lebron had the goat accomplishment by winning that series.. especially since Lebron's poor play thru 4 games caused the series to go 7.

Ultimately, Lebron nearly choked the series away by playing horribly for 4 games and led 5 arbitrary categories like many other greats have done..

[3ball]

^^^ TLDR: the Cavs would've been big favorites if we knew in advance that Kyrie would destroy Curry - but that favorite status assumes lebron gets 36 ppg from the start, instead of waiting until games 5-7 (and stinking up 1-4, aka nearly choking series away)... so the win is overrated and would've been easier for other stars that don't choke the first 4 games away.

aka if KJ outplayed MJ, no one would say Barkley had the goat accomplishment by winning that series.. or if Rik Smits outplayed Shaq in the 00' Finals, no one would say that Miller had the goat accomplishment... or if Kenyon outplayed 03' Duncan, no one would say Kidd had a goat accomplishment... etc, etc, etc

So when Kyrie destroys Curry, no one should say Lebron had the goat accomplishment by winning that series.. especially since Lebron's poor play thru 4 games caused the series to go 7, instead of an easy victory with his sidekick playing so well (and curry choking)

[kuniva_dAMiGhTy]

Jordan's not winning in that series either. Miami got backdoor swept and Bron played as good/better than second-3-peat Jordan.

28/7/4 on 57%FG and 68%TS. Overall averaged a 12 BPM. Matter of fact a "12 BPM" would tie '91 Jordan statistically.

What I'm trying to say is, put the crack pipe down.

[tpols]

Not only did kyrie destroy curry that year, he destroyed klay as well. And the dubs still only lost by the thinnest possible sliver of a margin you could possibly lose by ~ 1 shot in a game 7. That is how big the teamwork gap was... A 2nd option outplayed their 1st and 2nd option, and along with other devious circumstances they still barely won.

[Vino24]

LeBron won with no other all stars. LeBron won with a glorified Marbury

[ImKobe]

Jordan's not winning in that series either. Miami got backdoor swept and Bron played as good/better than second-3-peat Jordan.

28/7/4 on 57%FG and 68%TS. Overall averaged a 12 BPM. Matter of fact a "12 BPM" would tie '91 Jordan statistically.

What I'm trying to say is, put the crack pipe down.

No he didn't. He had two good games(Games 1-2). Garbage time points . Bron couldn't finish Game 1 due to cramps and got outplayed by Kawhi from games 3-5.

[aj1987]

No he didn't. He had two good games(Games 1-2). Garbage time points . Bron couldn't finish Game 1 due to cramps and got outplayed by Kawhi from games 3-5.

No he didn't. LeBron averaged like 3 PPG in the 4th Q's of those Finals. Scored 25 PPG on over 60% in the first 3. I know you Brick turds are a bit slow, but this shouldn't be difficult for even you morons.

[ImKobe]

No he didn't. LeBron averaged like 3 PPG in the 4th Q's of those Finals. Scored 25 PPG on over 60% in the first 3. I know you Brick turds are a bit slow, but this shouldn't be difficult for even you morons.

They were down 15-25 points in the 3rd when he cherry-picked layups/open 3s. Spurs build a huge lead and then he adds to his numbers.

Game 4 - he has 9 points on 3/7 shooting in the first half with the Heat down 55 - 36, he starts attacking when they're down 21 points in the quarter, then the Spurs build the lead to 24 points up 73 - 49 with 3 minutes left in the 3rd and he quickly statpads 8 points. 19 of his 28 down 15+ points, not so efficient when the Spurs were building their lead in the first half.

Game 5 - Spurs are up 47 - 40 at the half with Lebron scoring 20 on 6/12FG, Lebron doesn't score a point in the 2nd half before the Spurs go up 65 - 44 with 5 minutes left in the quarter. Then Lebron statpads his 11 points to round out his averages.

I mean, are you really defending the guy who went out of his way to statpad at the end of the 2017 Finals?

[Roundball_Rock]

One of the most lopsided finals ever is being compared to a 7 game finals.

If you go by game score the best players in the series were (in order): LeBron, Kawhi, Duncan, Parker, Ginobili, Bosh, Diaw, Mills. Anyone notice a problem here?

[ImKobe]

One of the most lopsided finals ever is being compared to a 7 game finals.

If you go by game score the best players in the series were (in order): LeBron, Kawhi, Duncan, Parker, Ginobili, Bosh, Diaw, Mills. Anyone notice a problem here?

That's Lebron Ball vs. an actual team. Lebron was useless off the ball in that series, just stood at the top of the key, no movement whatsoever.

[tpols]

One of the most lopsided finals ever is being compared to a 7 game finals.

If you go by game score the best players in the series were (in order): LeBron, Kawhi, Duncan, Parker, Ginobili, Bosh, Diaw, Mills. Anyone notice a problem here?

Yup...he killed wades game. Years later Dwayne would still be leading teams to and through the playoffs without him or bosh.

[3ball]