LeBron James did seemingly everything he could in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, scoring 44 points on 38 shots, while grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out six assists.
Yet, with Kyrie Irving out for the remainder of the series with a knee injury, might James have to do more to give his Cavaliers a shot at victory in these Finals?
He’s not sure it’s even possible.
“Well, if I get more aggressive than 36 shots (laughing), I might have about 58 of them things tomorrow night,” James said at Saturday’s media availability. “I don’t know how much more aggressive you want me to get at this point.”
LeBron actually tallied 38 shots in Game 1, and had he hit the one at the end of regulation that could have potentially given his team the win, the conversation surrounding his effort would be very different two days later.
But now that the Cavaliers are trailing 1-0 in the series, and James has lost his most reliable offensive threat when not counting himself, it’s worth wondering if there is in fact anything else he’s able to do to will his team to wins -- or, if Cleveland is simply too depleted at this point from a personnel standpoint to be able to compete with these Warriors.
