CLEVELAND — For four years now, LeBron James has faced brutal June math.
If the man from Akron fails to go galactic in even a single game, if he misses those fallaway jumpers that make defenders close their eyes and shake their heads, if he fails to barrel to the hoop like a B.&O. freight train, if he has trouble levitating to swat away shots, if he is merely human, the Cleveland Cavaliers lose.
Ever since Ohio’s native son wandered back from his Miami Beach idyll in 2014, he has, in the N.B.A. championship round, faced the Golden State Warriors, a team that gets more talented each year.