During his 13-year career, LeBron James has often had to carry his teams. That was especially true early in his time with the Cleveland Cavaliers, when he had little help. But that's not the case in this playoff run, and head coach Tyronn Lue says the Cavs aren't asking James to shoulder so much of the burden.
"LeBron is letting the game come to him," Lue told ESPN after Saturday. "When he wants to be aggressive and he sees fit to be aggressive when the teams have a good run or whatever they may have, then he just takes over the game ... And with Kyrie [Irving] and Kevin [Love] playing at a high level, he can take a lot of mileage off of his body, reduce his [usage] rate and just kind of seeing and figuring out the flow of the game."
James is averaging 23.5 points per game this postseason, the lowest of his career. He doesn't even lead the Cavs in scoring, as Irving is putting up over 24 points per game. But James has been more efficient this year, and is averaging 8.8 rebounds and 7.3 assists. James also hasn't needed to be on the court quite as often this postseason, as the Cavs have swept both their series.
Lue says James hasn't been in this type of position before. And that includes his time with the Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade on the Miami Heat.
"I don't think he's been in this position before where he can just sit back and see the flow of the game, see where he has to take over the game and it's been great for him," Lue said. "I mean, to average 23 points or 24 points and sweep both series is big for us because now our other guys are stepping up, they're playing well and we know LeBron always can play well."
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