Despite a brilliant first quarter by LeBron James, the Cleveland Cavaliers didn't come close to making Game 1 of the NBA Finals a real dispute for the remainder of the game as Kevin Durant took over and exploited James defensively like no other player has this postseason.
Hailed by his athletic prowess, a mix of speed, length, and muscle — James was a step or two slower than Durant in most phases of the game — often seeming gassed as the rest of his team did when forced to play in the Golden State Warriors‘ track meet.
Perhaps the most valid observation is how the Cavaliers appeared hellbent on running James through the ground in his 14th NBA season, playing him a league-high 37.8 minutes per game in the regular season, which even with his eight absences can prove a lot for a pair of legs to handle.
Head coach Tyronn Lue and his staff have done it again in the postseason, keeping James' minutes second to only Paul George (who only played four games in the postseason) at 40.9 per game.
The King looked tired and justifiably so — having the ball in his hands on nearly every possession on offense and forced to guard the biggest all-around scoring threat the Warriors possess in multiple defensive sets.
James played a whopping 14 straight minutes and 23 seconds in the first half before resting for two minutes and 11 seconds and then entering the game again and playing the remainder of the quarter. As the Cavs trailed by eight points at the end of the first half, LeBron had played 21:49 of 24 minutes and been the only source of offensive firepower for the team.
By the second half, his legs were clearly shot as his jump shots consistently clanked short and he was lacking that first-step spurt that has made him a nightmare to stay in front of for more than a decade in the league.
Despite having an entire week to rest through a relatively easy Eastern Conference Finals run, James was feeling the effects of having a younger, fresher Durant who has benefitted from playing the least amount of minutes per game (33.4) of his career and rewarded with the best field goal efficiency in his 10-year career.
Here's a video showing exactly how the one-on-one matchup between James and Durant went down on Thursday night.
Durant's length, explosiveness and deadly jump shot prowess has proved to be James' kryptonite through one game in the NBA Finals, and with no other big in the roster able to keep in front of him — it could very well prove to be the Cavs' demise if coach Lue can't make the proper adjustments to defend him with better team-based schematics.
Follow Us
Subscribe