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Cavs star has history of turning it up a notch after suffering a bad game
By Patrick McManamon
Beacon Journal columnist
Published on Thursday, May 08, 2008
BOSTON: LeBron James peeled back his upper lip.
''Want me to show you?'' he said to a Cavs PR representative who had asked (at my request) where he was hit on Boston Celtics guard Sam Cassell's flagrant foul Tuesday night.
James then revealed the cut that he received inside his mouth as he drove to the basket.
''People think I'm diving,'' he scoffed. ''Maybe I need to get my eye poked out for people to know I'm getting hit.''
Clearly, James hears the crowd and the comments, comments that state he overreacts and draws foul calls with Shakespearean antics.
The cut was proof otherwise.
James does get hit, and when he does, he reacts. The crowd doesn't like it because the game is fast and the hits are hard to see live.
In Washington, he got poked in the eye and reacted; the crowd howled, but he had to call timeout to flush out his eye.
In Boston, he got hit on the upper lip, drawing blood. It was hard to see on a replay, let alone live, and the crowd hooted and jeered again.
The proof was in the cut.
Thing is, though, James has bigger concerns.
Like winning Game 2 tonight against the Celtics. He knew he had a poor shooting night in the loss in Game 1, and because of it, he was the object of much media attention after the game and Wednesday.
Things are usually relative with James and these ''off'' nights, though.
It's rare that he does not do something to help his team win, even if his shots are not going in.
Which is what he did Tuesday.
Even with poor shooting, he had nine rebounds and nine assists. Add on the 10 turnovers and he almost had a quadruple double, though it's not the kind most would want.
To expect him to continue to struggle is akin to expecting the Loch Ness monster to swim up the Charles River. It just won't happen.
''I know what I can do,'' James said. ''It's never been a confidence issue with me. If I have a bad game or a bad two games, it's not like I'm soul searching or anything like that.
''I know I can bounce back.''
The record proves it.
It's not a lengthy record, because James does not have many off nights. This season, for example, he had four bad games in the regular season.
In the opener against the Dallas Mavericks, he shot 2-for-11 and scored 10 points.
The next game, he put up 45 (with seven assists and seven rebounds) against the New York Knicks.
In a loss to the Detroit Pistons, he scored 13.
The next game against the Philadelphia 76ers, he had 26, nine and nine.
In an ugly win over the Miami Heat, he had 13.
The next game, he scored 27 in a win against the 76ers.
So he averaged 33 points after these three bad games in the regular season.
Then there was Game 5 of the first-round series against the Washington Wizards, when James didn't finish well and took the blame for the loss.
In Game 6, he was nearly perfect, with 27 points, 13 assists, 13 rebounds and one turnover.
A year ago, let's say he had five bad games (less than 20 points, less than 50 percent shooting).
He scored 19, 34, 30, 30 and 32 in the games immediately after.
A year ago, he had consecutive games when he scored eight and 19 points. In the next seven games, he had 34, 34, 28, 30, 23, 30 and 32.
In the Eastern Conference Finals last season, he scored 10 and 19 points the first two games against the Pistons. The next three games, he had 32, 25 and 48.
Will he bounce back?
Cavs guard Daniel Gibson got a cat-ate-the-canary grin when asked that question.
As Cavs coach Mike Brown said when asked why he thinks James will bounce back, ''He is who he is; simple as that.''
''He had a tough night, but he hasn't had many tough nights in a row,'' Brown said.
The individual stats speak loudly to that reality.
But there's a team statistic that says more.
The past two years against the Eastern Conference in the playoffs, the Cavs are 5-1 after a loss. The only time they did not follow a loss with a win came in Detroit last year, when James missed a basket with a chance to tie in the final minute, and the Cavs are adamant he was fouled on that shot.
James will need help tonight.
The Cavs will have to shoot better, move the ball better and move without the ball better.
The only sure things in life are death, taxes and increasing gas prices — or so they ''say'' — but there's one other statement that might be included on the list.
And that is that James will play very, very well in the game after he struggles.
Expect it tonight in Game 2.
Patrick McManamon can be reached at pmcmanamon@thebeaconjournal.com. Read his blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/mcmanamon/
BOSTON: LeBron James peeled back his upper lip.
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