LeBron James has entered uncharted waters.
He has been to the NBA playoffs in 15 of his 18 NBA seasons, and
has never missed the second round — a streak that is now very much
in doubt. James and the Los Angeles Lakers trail their first-round
series against Phoenix 3-2, with Game 6 in Los Angeles on
Thursday.
Game 7, if necessary, is back in Phoenix on Saturday.
James’ 14-0 record in first-round series — counting his times in
Cleveland, his four-year run in Miami and now his Lakers’ stint —
is almost beyond compare in NBA history. Robert Horry and Derek
Fisher both played in the first round 16 times; their teams went
16-0 in those series. They are the only players who have enjoyed
more first-round success than James.
Now, he’s on the brink of something he’s never experienced. The
approach, from here, is simple.
“You shoot all the bullets you’ve got and throw the gun too,”
James said. “I look forward to the environment. Obviously, our
Laker faithful are going to give us a lot of energy. I look forward
to the moment. I look forward to the challenge and see if it brings
out the best in me and my teammates.”
This marks the first time that James has been on a team that is
trailing after five games of a first-round series. He has played
one elimination game in a first round, that being three years ago
when Indiana took Cleveland to a Game 7.
Yet there are numbers, particularly in Phoenix’s Game 5 romp,
the likes of which that James has never previously had to deal
with.
His Lakers lost the second quarter of Game 5 by 22 points, the
most lopsided quarter James has been on the wrong end of during a
playoff game. They were down by 30 at halftime, another first in
his career.
A look, by the numbers, at this unprecedented moment in James’
career:
0 — The number of times, before this series, that a team with
James lost consecutive first-round games. Entering these playoffs,
a team with James had been 11-0 in first-round games immediately
following losses. The Lakers are 1-2 after losses in this
series.
1 — James has faced an elimination game in the first round of
the playoffs only one other time, that being Game 7 of the 2018
opening round between Cleveland and Indiana. James scored 45 points
and the Cavaliers won 105-101.
2 — The number of players with a better series record in
first-round matchups than James. Robert Horry and Derek Fisher were
both 16-0 in opening rounds. For comparison’s sake, Karl Malone and
John Stockton were both 10-9, Michael Jordan was 10-3 and Kobe
Bryant was 13-2.
14-10 — James’ record in elimination games. His Cleveland teams
were 9-8 when facing elimination, his Miami teams were 5-2 and this
is the first time he’s faced elimination as a member of the
Lakers.
21 — James’ teams once won 21 consecutive first-round games, a
stint spanning 2012 through the start of the 2018 playoffs with
Miami and Cleveland.
22.2 — James’ scoring average in this series against Phoenix so
far. That is his lowest average in 15 career first-round matchups.
He’s had a lower average in only two of his 49 previous playoff
series; he averaged 22.0 points in Cleveland’s 2007 NBA Finals loss
to San Antonio and 17.8 points in Miami’s 2011 NBA Finals loss to
Dallas.
128 — The number of players who, in the NBA’s 16-team playoff
format since 1984, have appeared in at least 44 first-round games.
(The number becomes 129 when Jae Crowder plays for Phoenix in Game
6.) None of them have a better record in those games than James
does; his teams have gone 58-14, a winning percentage of .806.
Jordan’s first-round winning percentage was .674 (with a 1-9
start), Bryant’s was .676, Fisher’s was .740 and Horry’s was .750.
Malone (44-42) was barely over .500 in first-round games and
Stockton (43-43) was exactly .500.
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