With more than 2025 minutes of game play under his belt, LeBron James was due for a break, but the Cleveland Cavaliers thought otherwise and not just played him for 40 minutes against second-placed Celtics but also brought in Deron Williams for 24 minutes on his debut. Williams was set to play a quarter at the most but came in to take the pressure off James who scored his seventh Triple Double for the season. James didn’t look jaded at all, but the Cleveland Cavaliers will need him to remain in top shape and reproduce the form he showed in this closely-fought game in the tough matches ahead.
A three-pointer miss by Williams just five seconds before regulation time did not seem to have upset the team management who probably tried him to allow 32-year-old James play freely without pressure.
Cavaliers General Manager David Griffin does the balancing act
Fully aware that LeBron James will be their match winner for the play-offs and finals, fans will be looking up to Griffin to help the Cavaliers perform as well as they did in 2013-14 when the team posted a 17-16 winning record for the final 33 games under his charge. This loss to a top contender like Celtics does put the onus on Griffin to ensure his star players including James are fully fit and peak just before the finals. Winning is definitely a habit, and the team’s excellent showing this season suggests this close match was needed to arrive at a winning formula for the pressure matches ahead.
James has been on court for more time than most other players in the League and is all set to enter the NBA record books as No. 7 on its all-time scoring list. According to Kyrie Irving, the Cavaliers General Manager is unbelievably efficient in the way he improves the roster and goes about communicating with his players. David Griffin will definitely like to be on the winning side this season as well, and it all boils down to how well LeBron James performs on the big stage.
Team roster formidable enough for LeBron James to feel less pressure
His performance in Wednesday’s game is just what the fans expected going into the play-offs. For LeBron, it was one of those days when he could pass and score easily. He thought it was a tough game and that his team played very well, though he would probably have felt better had Williams converted that last shot.
If he manages to play this freely, the pressure will be off him, and he will be able to take steer the team to its third successive NBA Finals without getting tired during those crucial playoff games.
The fans will expect David Griffin to get his strategies right for the games ahead. He needs to come up with the right team combination. Deron Williams must score more than the four points he mustered against the Boston Celtics even if he comes in as a backup point guard, and if he does, we can expect LeBron James to come up with the goods and probably end the season as NBA's most valuable player for the fifth time.
