LeBron James’ 17 assists vs. the Raptors, ranked by ridiculousness

LeBron James had an incredible 17 assists and zero turnovers against the Raptors Wednesday evening. In a game where the Cavaliers found themselves down 15 at halftime to a fantastic Raptors squad, it was the will of James that led Cleveland to a 132-129 win. It wasn’t just any regular-season win for the Cavs either. It was a struggling James team up against the current clear No. 1 seed in the East. James may tell you it was just another game, but he was ready to put his stamp on the game and remind the Eastern Conference who is King.

James ended with a stat line of 34 points, 17 assists, seven rebounds, and zero turnovers. Only 15 times in NBA history has a player had more than 17 assists without turning the ball over.

Let’s take a look at each assist from reasonable to ridiculous.

These were all good, solid passes James used to set up his teammates. In fact, a good portion of these came in the first quarter, which he ended up with seven assists after 12 minutes. They weren’t all flashy, but they all set his teammates up for a game where every Cavs starter scored in double figures.

James gets this pass ahead to Smith, not only in a tight space against the out of bounds line but also in perfect position for Smith to catch and shoot. Smith lets it fly to get the Cavaliers within one during the fourth quarter.

In transition, with James running full speed, calmly gets the ball right back to Smith without hesitation to set him up for an easy three-pointer.

Only James has the ability to draw defenders while going away from the basket. But that’s exactly what he did and then dumped it to Hill for a bucket. Hill is always money from the corner.

As Jamescontinued to put his stamp all over this game against the Raptors, it also included this pass that gets around his own defender and through two others. Assist No. 16. I’m still not totally sure how this got through.

James is completely in the air here before firing an absolute laser to Love, right on target too. We’re getting into ridiculous territory.

As our own Tim Cato says, nobody makes this pass as well or as immediately as James does. The speed and the accuracy here is so good that no Raptors player can recover. James makes the one pass away rule pretty difficult. Make sure to watch how perfectly, again, it’s placed for Smith to catch and shoot.

Sure, it’s not technically the greatest pass he’s ever made but the timing and the fact this lands in a perfect spot for Love to immediately catch and release with confidence makes it No. 1. This pass gets the Cavs up four with less than 30 seconds remaining and just watch the reaction from the rest of his team. This pass is the full James experience.

Here’s another look to also take in the pure athleticism of this guy. The pass is right in the shooter’s pocket. Gorgeous.

Seventeen assists and zero turnovers. We’re truly are so lucky to watch this guy play basketball.