LeBron needs his supporting cast to step up in Game 7
CLEVELAND - On Friday after a Game 6 victory, LeBron James was looking forward to the challenge of winning a game on the road against the Boston Celtics, with a chance to advance to the NBA Finals for an eighth consecutive season. He called Game 7 the best two words in all of sports.
Plenty of cliches can be applied to winner-takes-all games in sports, but the one that will matter most for the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday will be "all hands on deck."
Throughout this series, the Cavs have been a much better team at home than on the road. They've yet to find a formula to win at TD Garden in Boston.
In Game 2, James scored 42 points, but his teammates shot 5-for-20 from three, and the Cavs lost by 13. In Game 5, James finished with 26 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists, but only one other player - Kevin Love - scored in double figures. The Cavs again lost by 13.
On the road in this series, the Cavaliers are averaging just 86.7 points per game and making 25.3 percent of their threes. The other Cavaliers haven’t gotten it done. So, how will Cleveland turn it around Sunday? "We've been talking about it for a while now, but we have the blueprint," coach Tyronn Lue said after Game 6.
The blueprint needs to involve someone not named LeBron James stepping up, especially with Love ruled out for Game 7 with a concussion he suffered in Friday's game.
The narrative in this series has centered on James and his quest for another Finals appearance, but Cleveland's roster is full of players who have taken a much longer road to get here.
George Hill started the season in Sacramento. The trade-deadline move to Cleveland rescued him from NBA obscurity and placed him right in the pressure cooker of a team trying to win a championship. In Game 6, he responded with 20 points.
Cleveland's 2018 playoff slogan is "Whatever it Takes," another cliche that applies to a Game 7. For Hill, whatever it takes Sunday means a lucky pregame meal. In all three wins at home in this series, he's had his usual order at Chipotle beforehand - an order of regular tacos with barbacoa and guacamole. "I'm for sure going to find a Chipotle in Boston, I'll tell you that," Hill said.
Larry Nance Jr. and Jordan Clarkson started the season with the Lakers, and, like Hill, found themselves thrust into the spotlight after a midseason trade. Clarkson is shooting 31.5 percent from the field in the playoffs, while Nance has been more of a positive on the floor, providing some key energy minutes for the Cavs in this series.
Whether it's Hill, Clarkson, Nance, Kyle Korver, or Jeff Green, the Cavs need a second player to step up Sunday. Two holdovers from the 2016 championship team might provide the spark the Cavs need: Tristan Thompson and J.R. Smith both have signature Game 7 performances on their resumes.
Thompson had a 15-point, 10-rebound performance in the team's Game 7 victory over the Pacers in the first round. Smith played a pivotal part in the Cavs' comeback against the Warriors in Game 7 of the 2016 Finals.
Another player who might have an impact on Sunday's game probably won't see a minute on the floor. Kendrick Perkins was waived by the Cavaliers in the preseason and spent time in the G League before rejoining the team for its playoff run.
Perkins has yet to play in the postseason, but he's been a vocal presence on the bench and has been delivering messages to his teammates throughout the playoffs in hopes that it might make a difference for a game like Sunday's.
"One thing I try to preach is to never take possessions off," Perkins told theScore. "During close games, everybody looks at big plays that happen in the fourth, but nobody looks at the big plays in the first quarter. Say a team loses by one, nobody says we gave up this play in the first quarter. I try to hold everybody accountable each possession."
Perkins has the longest, most winding road of any Cavaliers player this season in getting to this Game 7 with a chance to get back to The Finals. His entire season provides an example of what Sunday's opportunity means.
"It was one of the best experiences that I've ever gone through," Perkins said of his G League stint. "It was humbling. You learn what not to take for granted. It makes you have a different appreciation for this. All the guys down there, they're competing and putting it all on the line. A lot of them will probably never get a chance in the NBA."
So this is it. A season that started with the question of whether Isaiah Thomas could replace Kyrie Irving ends with James leading an entirely new cast of characters, without Love, with a chance to make another NBA Finals - an appearance that would be his most improbable of all given everything that’s happened since training camp started in late September.
"We're going into a Game 7 with the baddest dude on the planet on our team," Nance said. "I like our chances."
He's not wrong. But even James knows he'll need something more from his teammates than they've provided on the road in this series.
"You've got to be poised," James said. "You've got to be able to handle a punch or two. And you've got to be able to combat that and be just as solid and just as aggressive on the offensive end. We know it's challenging. ... But if you love challenges, then this is a great opportunity."