Why has Lebron not been called out?

[ctrey]

Now I freely admit that the Cavs may win this this series but I am shocked that Lebron is not being called a choker this morning. The media is simply praising the Celtic's "Adjustments" on D. If any star prior to the "lebron and Wade are brilliant so keep your trap shut or else" era had scored 23 in the first half, then had a chance to finish off the C's in the second half but put up TWO POINTS in the crucial third quarter while the C's won the game would be getting killed today. Bron blew it big time, he could have finished this series and he spit the bit. period.

[Tommy Gun]

Lets put the nail in the coffin...then worry about people being called out

[fairweatherfan]

I agree though - Doc was right in saying we didn't make any adjustments on LeBron in the 2nd half as far as I could tell.  Defense was overall much tighter on him, but there were stretches in the 2nd half where I forgot he was on the floor.  Very much unlike Games 1 and 2 where we defended him very well but he still dominated the ball and took a lot of shots.  That shouldn't happen to a superstar.

...but I'm much happier to have the W.

[Roy Hobbs]

Lebron had 35 points, and 10 points in the fourth quarter, so I'm not going to sell him too short.  That's a pretty good performance, by any stretch of the imagination.

As for in general, the past two seasons, Lebron has been amazingly clutch. He carried his team to the Finals last year, and this year he led the league in fourth quarter scoring (and was third in fourth quarter assists), and also led in scoring in "clutch" and "super clutch" situations as defined by 82games.com. The only player to even come close to him in all-around game in tight situations was Manu Ginobli.

I understand that a lot of people don't like Lebron, but he's been coming up huge for the Cavs all year long.  To fault him for one less than stellar quarter seems a little over the top.

(It's pretty clear his shot hasn't been falling this series, mostly due to our defense but also due in part to a slump on Lebron's part.  However, he's still finding ways to contribute, mostly by getting to the line, and setting up his teammates for easy looks.  That's what great players do when they're struggling.)

[Chief]

I agree though - Doc was right in saying we didn't make any adjustments on LeBron in the 2nd half as far as I could tell.  Defense was overall much tighter on him, but there were stretches in the 2nd half where I forgot he was on the floor.  Very much unlike Games 1 and 2 where we defended him very well but he still dominated the ball and took a lot of shots.  That shouldn't happen to a superstar.

...but I'm much happier to have the W.

I thought Doc almost blew it with his small ball lineup in the last 5 minutes. That lineup is a free pass for Lebron to get easy layups or dunks.