The Cavaliers may be down in their NBA finals rematch with the Warriors, but LeBron James is far from out.
“Do I look tired?” the Cleveland superstar said at his team’s shootaround Wednesday ahead of Game 3 against the Warriors. “I feel great. I’m averaging a triple-double in the finals. I’m pretty good, I would think.”
James is averaging 28.5 points, 13.0 rebounds and 11.0 assists, but he’s been outshone by defensive assignment Kevin Durant, who’s averaged 35.5 points and 11.0 rebounds as the Warriors have taken the first two games of the best-of-seven championship series by a combined 41 points.
“They’re playing well,” James said. “They are playing exceptionally well, and I don’t get involved in what’s going on in the summertime or things of that nature. I’m too far removed from those talks and communications and all the things that go on. So at the end of the day, I want to win just as bad as they do.”
Cleveland was in a very similar spot a year ago, when the Cavs lost the first two games by 48 points, won Game 3 and then overcame a three-games-to-one deficit to win their first title.
In addition to all he does on offense, James has also been assigned to cover Durant. It’s unlikely Cavs coach Tyronn Lue will change the matchup at the start of Game 3, but he did use guard Iman Shumpert on Durant for portions of Game 2.
According to ESPN’s research, the first two games of the series were played at a faster pace – possessions per minutes – than any of James’ previous 212 playoff games. The three-time champion stopped driving to the basket in the second half of Game 2 and he looked spent on the bench when he took a break during the third quarter.
The Warriors are a perfect 14-0 so far in the postseason, and they seem intent on revenge after giving up a 3-1 lead to the Cavs in last year’s finals.
James, however, also rejected any notion that the Warriors are any hungrier than he and his teammates.
“I want to win just as bad as they do and obviously they probably got a bad taste in their mouth after what happened last year and we had one in our mouth last year from what happened the year before,” James said. “I’ve had a few bad tastes in my mouth from what happened in the finals, so and I’ve always had that feeling so it never changed for me.”
