• The NBA, in that secret room on that hidden floor high up in Olympic Tower in Manhattan where it writes the scripts for certain high-profile playoff series, had to do a rush job in the wake of sweeps in the other three conference semifinals. In order to fill up a week of attention with just two teams and two games, a quick rewrite was faxed to the Cavaliers but James, throttling back without a rehearsal, didn't look very convincing.
That last one actually popped into my head ever so briefly based on a moment way back in the first round, after the Cavaliers had eliminated the Chicago Bulls in five games. James had had a monster Game 4 in Chicago (37 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists), compelling in its own right, but then had added to the chatter by shooting a late-game free throw lefthanded, thereby introducing his sore right elbow into these playoffs. Almost immediately, LeBron's Elbow went upper-case, becoming a stand-alone topic on SportsCenter and getting its own Twitter account.
So after the series clincher in Cleveland, a Chicago writer asked James about his "flair toward the dramatic, one way or the other." Basically, it was the equivalent of asking James if he is a diva and a headline hound. But the phrasing was nicer and, besides, James never is rude or even curt in those interview-room situation. So he answered.
"Uhm, for me, first, I do my job. I show up for work and I try to do my job at a high level individually," the Cavs star said. "And then I try to be the leader that I am. That's all I am off the court. As far as the dramatics, things like that, I guess that comes with how I do my job at a high level.
What I do know is that I have seen James and the Cavaliers, up close and personal, play 10 games in a span of four weeks and I have seen only one featuring what would be considered a legendary LeBron performance. What I saw against Chicago looked, yes, maybe like a trial run or a feeling-out process, James probing, prodding and plumbing his Cleveland teammates to see where they were at, physically and mentally, for this title run. Since then, however, his energy and intensity have seemed to be dialed no higher than 8, and sometimes several notches lower.
He has stayed on the perimeter. He has settled for jumpers. He has drifted to the weak side. He has handed off both the ball and responsibility. He has been caught watching on defense. He has looked distant in huddles or on the bench. He had done this all, mind you, variously and in small doses until Tuesday, when he did all of the above and compounded it by missing 11 of 14 shots.
Let's not overlook the legitimate basketball reasons for this funk. Everyone, prior to this series, assessed the Cavaliers and the Celtics according to their regular seasons, but those aren't the teams before us now. Cleveland has felt compelled to work Shaquille O'Neal back into the rotation after playing so well for two months without him, which has caused Brown to neglect J.J. Hickson and his team's quicker gears. Boston is healthier than it has been (especially Kevin Garnett) and locked in mentally the way veteran players get for the playoffs.
Then there was the way the Cavaliers set themselves up for this letdown in their overreaction to Rajon Rondo. First it did what their fans had feared, allowing Paul Pierce to finally get rolling. Another big reason not to use James to defend the Celtics' point guard was the risk of demoralization: If The King couldn't stop him, or at least contain Rondo enough to win Tuesday, then what? The Cavs might feel they have nowhere left to turn.
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