Game 5 Bazooka Point: Judgment Day

Not for a moment between the end of game 4 and the beginning of game 5 did I think this was the post I was going to be writing tonight.

Not only are the Cavs now officially on the brink of watching another season crumble to ash, they’re here because they were outperformed in every conceivable category en route to the worst home playoff loss in franchise history, a 32-point skull-fucking by the Celtics.

If you want a picture of how bad it was, check any part of the box score you want. But I’d say this sums it up as well as anything else: the only things separating LeBron from “Just Glen” Davis tonight in the three main statistical categories were 2 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 made FG, and 7 shot attempts. “Just Glen” shot 4-7 for 57% FG; Bron shot 3-14 for 21% FG. Both ended the night with 15 points.

From the standpoint of analysis, the time between right now and the beginning of game 6 is overflowing with story possibilities. I’ve already heard and read takes from a lot of people pointing the finger in several different directions. Some are utterly absurd. Take, for instance, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley’s assertion that the Cavs can’t win unless Mo and Jamison “accept the challenge” of guarding Rondo and Garnett, two players that have absolutely torched their Cavs’ counterparts for years. It’s a little like the “effort” issue I wrote about after Sunday’s loss. Will / desire is one thing. Physical and skill limitations are entirely another. To paraphrase a friend of mine, I would love to sleep with Angelina Jolie tonight, but the barrier separating me from that goal is not that I just haven’t “accepted the challenge.” There are a whole set of tangible, factual problems with the goal. Similarly, I don’t think Mo and Jamison don’t want to shut down Rondo and Garnett. It’s that they’re simply not capable of doing it.

The core problem, the only thing that you can point to at the end of the day, was LeBron. From a pure statistical standpoint, his numbers were far below par. He denied in his press conference that he’s been passive the past two games. I would contest that notion. On the season, Bron averaged just shy of 7 shot attempts “at the rim” per game, along with another 1.5 inside of 10’. Sunday, he took 9 shots in the paint. Tonight he took a grand total of 3. Admittedly, that’s not entirely reflective of his offensive play because he also had 12 FTAs. But it’s also clearly below average.

As much as I value statistics, though, this is one case where the numbers alone don’t do the story justice. I could live with my team’s superstar having an off-night if he was still making an honest attempt to lead the team, to sculpt the attitude of the supporting cast, to make them play like the game meant something. I saw very little of that tonight, and I know I’m not alone in that assessment. Plain and simple, it looked to me like Bron absentee balloted the most important Cavs’ game of the 2010 playoffs.

Anyone who wants to point in another direction, consider this: without Bron, the rest of the Cavs’ team shot 46.2%, including 45% 3FG, and scored 73 points. Obviously, that’s an oversimplification. The Celtics shot 55% FG, went +10 REB, +5 AST, -7 TO, and on and on. But if I were to strictly tell you those first team offensive stats, would you have guessed that the Cavs won or lost that game?

As for the defensive aspect, I’ve now watched over 175 Cavs games in the past two seasons alone. I’ve seen Bron rally the defense. I’ve seen him tell the team to get their act together, get their heads in the game, and follow his lead. I know what that looks like, and I know how the team responds. None of that happened tonight, or in game 4, or game 2, for that matter. Yes, it takes a team effort to win. But it also takes a team leader to steer the ship. The Cavs did not have that leader tonight or in much of this series—and I’m not the only one who noticed.

If this was indeed LeBron’s final home game in a Cavs uniform, it would be an understatement to say he will leave behind a tainted legacy. As Mike tweeted tonight, the 48-point performance that willed the 2007 Cavs past a Pistons team with superior talent on their own home floor is a distant memory. In its place is tonight’s game, a lackluster 3-14 sleepwalk when his team and his franchise needed him the most.

That said, we all have to attempt to maintain some perspective here. While the highest form of that statement would probably involve asking ourselves why we all stake a part of our personal happiness on the performance of 12 men we have never before met playing a game over which we have no influence whatsoever, all that I really mean for now is that the series still isn’t over. Technically. To say that I hold out a great deal of hope for game 6 would be a bold lie. Unlikely as it may feel, though, the reality is that the Cavs only have to win two games in a row to escape the flood that’s now up to their chins and lurch on to the Eastern Conference Finals. 

Whether or not they do this, though, will be entirely dependent on LeBron, the man the team and the franchise has looked to for direction each of the past 7 years. It’s not about Coldstone’s strategic adjustments, Mo’s shooting percentage, Shaq’s minutes, or anything else we can dream up. It starts and ends with LeBron. Is this the point where he truly follows Jordan’s lead, looks at his team and says, “There is no way in hell I’m going to allow us to lose these next two games. Follow my lead.” Or is it the point where he folds and silently blames the front office, his supporting cast, fate, or anything else he can think of for a loss that most squarely rests on his own shoulders? We’ll find out Thursday.

If he gives in, though, it’s not unfair to say that the sports storytellers of the world have to take a step back and consider who LeBron James really is as a player. Is he the guy who pushed a team of misfits into the 2007 Finals through sheer fire and determination, or the guy who couldn’t outduel Paul Pierce in the 2008 Semis and completely no showed in the 2010 Semis when he was the leader of (record-wise) the best team in basketball?  To put it in terms of very recent NBA history, is he in the same conversation as Dwyane Wade, who only needed one serious post presence and a team of role players to win a title? Or is he Dirk Nowitzki, the captain who got a very talented team to the Finals once, melted down, and never got them close again? In short, how much does he really need around him to win at the highest level?

These are all questions that can be considered at length, but not before LeBron has one (and possibly two) more chances to rise above it. Make no mistake, his answer to this turmoil will determine the fate of the 2010 Cavs.

As for the repercussions beyond this playoff run, that’s a column for another day. Hopefully that day isn’t Thursday. 

-T