LeBron James has now helped his team finish off the Indiana Pacers in the first round, defeating them 4 games to zero after the 106-102 victory in game four. This marked the 10th time in NBA history LeBron has led his team to a sweep. That's an NBA record. And now another record falls into the hands of King James as he passes magic johnson for the most consecutive first round games won. LeBron had been chasing this milestone since entering the playoffs this year. He entered with 17 straight first round games won in a row, which had him 7th, but game by game, win by win he clawed his way up the list, passing NBA legends, and now he sits alone at the very peak.
LeBron James moves past Magic in playoff milestone
LeBron James led Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love and the rest of the team to a 4-0 sweep over the Indiana Pacers this year. Those four straight wins may be impressive, but what's more impressive? King James now has 21 consecutive first round games won, dating back to a first round series against the New York Knicks in 2012. He has just passed Magic Johnson, who previously held the record with 20 straight first round game victories in a row along with teammates James Worthy and Michael Cooper.
The only other player to rack up as many first round victories in a row is LeBron's running man, James Jones. Although the statistic doesn't exactly count for Jones because he has a DNP besides his name in many of those consecutive games.
That leaves LeBron James standing alone at the top of the rankings for the crazy statistic. Here's how the list ranks:
Most consecutive games won in the first round:
1. LeBron James (21)
2. Magic Johnson (20)
3. James Worthy (20)
4. Michael Cooper (20)
5. Byron Scott (19)
It's been too easy for LeBron
The first round has been nothing more than a piece of cake for King James in recent memory.
As mentioned earlier, the last time LeBron James lost a first round game... yes, not a series, but a game, was back in 2012. It was against Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire's New York Knicks. In fact, the last time LBJ had lost in a first round game, he was ringless. Maybe winning a championship gave him a huge confidence boost in the opening series, and he hasn't looked back.
A huge reason for his recent first round success would be mostly due to the regular season performance, leading his team to a top 3 seed in the Eastern Conference. Therefore LeBron and the Cavs/Heat would need to play a team that finished in 6th, 7th or 8th spot. This would presumably make it easier for LeBron, but he's had to go through some tough challenges, and Paul George's Pacer team proved to be another hard one.
