The Big Three vs LeBron (scoring wise)

[Who]

I was watching the Wizards series and I was amazed once again by LeBron James specifically (for the purposes of this thread) at how easily he outscored the Wizards scorers. So I began to think on it a bit.

Three is better than one. Three guys who've been go-to scorers, who are all all-star caliber players, two of which are all-NBA material. But by how much?

Here’s some stats: As the go-to guys on their own lottery squads the year prior the big three averaged a combined 73.8ppg. That was obviously going to drop but I wanted to point it out to show how much firepower is actually there if they managed to unleash it well. This season they averaged a combined 56ppg during the regular season. In the first round against Atlanta they averaged 55ppg. Against Cleveland during the regular season they combined for 53ppg. It’s also worth noting that the Big Three have only scored 20+ points apiece in the same game three times this whole season and not once in the playoffs. They’ve come mighty close a bunch of times but not quite there, that balance where they all score big is rare.

Fifty Five points a game isn’t that hard for LeBron to match. Think about it, LeBron’s giving you 30-35, Z is giving you another 10-15, all’s it takes is one guy to score 10 points and you’ve matched Boston’s Big Three scoring wise. That's attainable.

The Celtics Big Three has to step it up, they have to dominate this series and they have to be dominant scorers.

[Roy Hobbs]

A factor in those stats is minutes, isn't it?

If you look at "per 36 minutes" stats, Lebron is at 26.8 points per 36.  Pierce is at 19.7, KG is at 20.7, and Ray is at 17.5.  That means, per 36 minutes, the Big Three is scoring 57.9 points, or 31.1 points more than Lebron.  That gap presumably only increases as the players get more minutes.

A lot will have to do with how Doc manages his rotation, but if this is a tight series, I expect the big three to all average around 40 mpg.  In that case, I fully expect them to outscore the Cavs' top three starters, and I like Rondo matched up on Delonte, as well.

[CT34]

The one thing that I notice about the big three this season is that when the team wins and wins give all three players are about that 20 points and 36 min. range. The more minutes they play is actually a bad thing.  It means were in a close game and 1 or two of the big three aren't around that 20 point mark.  It's a strange thing but it's true.  I actually think less is more when it comes to the big three.  The Celtics aren't about the Big Three it's about the Complete 12. Every man on the team has to do their job and play there roll.  When that happens the Celtics win and win big.

[tanner]

The more I think about the Cavs, the more concerned I become.  Who's post doesn't help a bit.   

We know we can't stop Lebron.  Paul's production is likely going to be affected, him being the primary defender on Lebron and needing to expend more energy on defense (he may get into early fouls as well reducing his minutes).   

That leaves Ray and KG.  We assume Ray will go off on Wally.  But Mike Brown has other players on his roster that he can put on Ray--Pavlovic and Devin Brown.  Pavlovic is more of the concern--he's a good, big defender that could pose some problems on Ray and he can shoot and drive.  I don't know how healthy Sasha is but Mike Brown said he will be seeing more action.

Same with KG.  His good friend Joe Smith has guarded him decently over the years and he has a mid-range game and can pull KG out of the paint.

Who comes up with the better gameplan?  Mike Brown or Doc Rivers.

[CT34]

The more I think about the Cavs, the more concerned I become.  Who's post doesn't help a bit.   

We know we can't stop Lebron.  Paul's production is likely going to be affected, him being the primary defender on Lebron and needing to expend more energy on defense (he may get into early fouls as well reducing his minutes).   

That leaves Ray and KG.  We assume Ray will go off on Wally.  But Mike Brown has other players on his roster that he can put on Ray--Pavlovic and Devin Brown.  Pavlovic is more of the concern--he's a good, big defender that could pose some problems on Ray and he can shoot and drive.  I don't know how healthy Sasha is but Mike Brown said he will be seeing more action.

Same with KG.  His good friend Joe Smith has guarded him decently over the years and he has a mid-range game and can pull KG out of the paint.

Who comes up with the better gameplan?  Mike Brown or Doc Rivers.

You bring up some good points, that is why I think it going to come down to the secondary players.  I like our bench vs their bench.  I think were going to see a lot of Eddie House and Tony Allen in this series.  I think the P-Brothers (Powe, Posey, and Perk) will play big.  However the Key is this series as in any series going foward is Rajon Rondo. 

Rondo has to be our Lebron James.  What I mean by that is Rondo has to control the flow of the game. He has to be the one driving the car. He has to be the Cavs attention on the defensive end of the court.  If Rondo is able to do that this will be a quick series.

[jay_jay54]

I think its not so much as the amount of pts Lebron scores so much vs The Big Three,its what time of the game when he scores them.I rather see him score 30 in the first half,as long as we are ahead late in the 4th qts. by a decent margin.Lebron saves a lot of his game for the final surge(4th  qt.),so if the Big 3 scores in the 4th qts. at the same pace as the Cavs,we should win the scoring war(giving that everyone else contributes at a decent pace) .

[BASSTHUMPER]

i hope we had enough rest cause the cavs had plenty..i wouldnt jus worry bout lebron...stop every one else...james would need to have a 80pt game to beat us if we shut everyone else down..and the last one to do that was kobe..

[BudweiserCeltic]

i hope we had enough rest cause the cavs had plenty..i wouldnt jus worry bout lebron...stop every one else...james would need to have a 80pt game to beat us if we shut everyone else down..and the last one to do that was kobe..

Well, we didn't have to travel and we blew Atlanta out in game 7, so I don't think there's a real advantage there.