Something looked different with LeBron James this year. You saw it while watching him. The passiveness, the lack of explosion. In the past, LeBron always looked like a different species than the players he shared the court with. This year he's looked very ... mortal.
LeBron James is terrifying again
Since returning from his two weeks off, LeBron James has been better and looked more explosive than he has all year.
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James is averaging 26 points, six rebounds and seven assists per game, but a deeper look at the numbers shows many alarming trends. He’s shooting under 50 percent for the first time since 2009. His PER is lower than it’s been since 2007. He’s committing four turnovers a game, a career high.
But it's been a different LeBron since he returned from a two-week hiatus to rehab a sore left knee and lower back. In three games since coming back, LeBron has averaged 34 points while hitting 52 percent of his shots. The Cavaliers are 2-1 over this stretch, with wins on the road over the Clippers and Lakers and a loss in Phoenix to the Suns.
“I felt better in the last three games than I have the whole season and all 30-plus games that I’ve appeared in,” James told reporters Sunday, via ESPN.
There’s been talk this year about how little LeBron is dunking, and it’s true his dunks are down. But a better indicator of how different a player LeBron has been is the 50 percent he’s shooting on drives to the basket, according to NBA.com. Last year, that number was 68 percent.
Since returning, however, LeBron has been converting his drives at a much higher rate. He’s shown the ability to go around, through and over opponents. He’s been more aggressive with the ball and more decisive with his moves.
Check out this one from the Cavaliers’ Friday win over the Clippers. The crossover, the change of direction, the ability to bounce off defenders as if their nothing more than gnats.
And there was this dunk last week against the Suns in LeBron’s first game back.
Even his misses have been more impressive.
LeBron’s shot chart shows a difference, too. This is what it looked like before he took two weeks off.
And here’s what LeBron’s shot chart has been in his three games back.
The key number to look at is his field goal percentage around the rim, which rose from 62 to 74 percent.
The Cavaliers as a whole are also scoring more efficiently since LeBron’s return. Over this three-game stretch, Cleveland is scoring 121 points per 100 possessions when James is on the court. In his first 29 games this year, that number was 109.
As is often the case, a bunch of qualifiers exist. It's just three games and James had big three-game stretches earlier this year. James has also put up good numbers against below-average defenses, which makes Cleveland's Monday night game against the Bulls a better litmus test.
And speaking of defense ... that’s an area where LeBron has not made a difference since returning to the court. In his first 29 games this season, the Cavaliers were allowing opponents to score 104 points per 100 possessions when James was on the court. Since returning, that number has jumped to 114. LeBron is jumping the occasional passing lane, but you can still frequently spot him just completely taking possessions off on that end of the court.
That kind of play is not going to fly if LeBron plans on turning these Cavaliers -- now 21-20 and in sixth place in the East -- into a championship contender.
But the return of Dominant LeBron offensively is a bigger deal than this. Maybe LeBron truly needed the time off. Maybe a crazy offseason and some lingering injuries were the reasons he looked to be slowing down. But early returns are showing that we haven’t seen the last of James at the peak of his powers.
★★★
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