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LeBron won't throw his teammates under the bus, but they're letting him down

Joe Robbins / Getty Images Sport / Getty

LeBron James didn't take the bait in his postgame presser Friday night, when he was essentially asked if there was anything he could do to make the Cavaliers' scuffling role players perform better.

"What're you guys looking for? You guys think I'm gonna throw my teammates under the bus?" James said. "No, I'm not about that. Guys just gotta play better, including myself."

The question came after the Cavs coughed up a 17-point halftime lead to lose Game 3 to the Indiana Pacers, falling behind 2-1 in their first-round series. Before this week, James had never been a game down in the first round in his 15-year career. It's now happened twice in this series.

It's hard to pin much of the blame on James, given that he finished with 28 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists, and is the postseason's leading scorer, now averaging 32.7, 11.3, and 8.3 on .540/.375/.727 shooting through three games. The rest of the Cavs, meanwhile, have combined to shoot 40.6 percent from the field and 29.5 percent from deep.

It was more of the same Friday night, when the non-LeBron Cavs shot 6-of-25 from 3-point range and nobody outside Kevin Love provided any secondary offense. Cleveland's attack was supposed to be its saving grace, but the team ranks 15th of 16 playoff teams in offensive efficiency. Love is the only other Cavalier scoring in double digits, averaging 14.3 points a game.

There have also been stretches where James has looked passive and disengaged, and, as he pointed out, he contributed to the second-half collapse Friday night.

"I had six turnovers tonight," he said. "I was horrible in the third quarter, couldn't make a shot. If I make some better plays in the third quarter, then the lead don't slip. So, we know we all gotta play better as a collective group."

Those were the right things to say, obviously, but if you gave James truth serum, odds are he'd tell you how let down he feels. He's approaching the twilight of his career, and he's doing everything you could possibly expect from a 33-year-old with over 53,000 NBA minutes on his body. He even got his teammates matching suits! But if James is going to avoid a first-round exit for the first time in his storied career, he's going to need some help. And soon.

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