How does LeBron fare in Game 2s after Game 1 losses?
LeBron James and his teams have lost Game 1 of a playoff series 17 times over his career, the most recent of which was a throttling of James and his Cavs by the Celtics.
Now down 1-0 in the Eastern Conference finals, James, who took a seat with more than 7 minutes left Sunday and didn’t return, said he has “zero level of concern at this stage.’’
“For me, Game 1 has always been a feel-out game,’’ he said after Sunday’s loss.
With Tuesday’s Game 2 in Boston, we took at look at how James has performed in Game 2s after Game 1 losses over his career and how his teams ultimately fared in those series.
On a micro level, not too much jumps in terms of James’s individual performances from Game 1 losses to Game 2s. In those Game 1 losses, his shooting percentage, points, 3-point percentage, and free throw attempts all dipped compared to his career playoff averages while his turnovers increased slightly.
In Game 2s after Game 1 losses, his production bends back toward his career playoff average.
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Seven times in those Game 1 losses James was held to fewer than 20 points, including Sunday when he scored just 15 points while making just 31.3 percent of his shots. (James has played 229 playoff games. His shooting percentage Sunday ranks 216th.)
Coincidently, in those seven losses, he shot 31.3 percent.
After Game 1 losses in which James failed to score at least 20 points, he took a step toward his usual playoff form in subsequent Game 2s. His shooting percentage jumped about 10 points.
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Ultimately, James’s teams went 3-3 in those Game 2s, although he is 3-0 in those Games 2 since 2011.
After suffering the only opening-round Game 1 loss of his career against Indiana, in which James scored 24 points on 7-of-17 shooting, he came back in Game 2 to pour in 46 points on 17-of-24 shooting (70.8 percent) and Cleveland went on to win in seven games.
Once previously the Celtics handed James & Co. losses in Games 1 and 2: In the 2008 conference semifinals en route to the Celtics’ NBA title that season. James scored 12 points in Game 1, making just 2 of 18 shots, before putting up 21 points in Game 2 on 6-of-24 shooting.
On a macro level, James and his teams have gone on to win 10 of 16 Game 2s after losing Game 1, and came out victorious in nine of those 16 series, including eight of 11 series since 2011.
Just three of those series since 2011 went seven games, with James’s squad winning all three, beating the Spurs in the 2013 Finals, topping the Warriors in the 2016 Finals, and getting by the Pacers in the opening round this year. All three of those series losses since 2011 were in the Finals: 2014 to San Antonio (five games), 2015 to Golden State (six games), 2017 to Golden State (5 games).
Of his previous 16 Game 1 losses, seven were in the Finals, four in the conference finals, four in the conference semifinals, and one in the opening round.
Overall, James is 32-11 in Game 2s and has won 26 of 30 series since 2011 with all four series losses coming in the Finals.
