CLEVELAND — The love that became hate is love again. LeBron James is carrying Cleveland on his back, injecting more fire into Quicken Loans Arena with a patchwork team than the pre-game pyrotechnics in an unfamiliar way no one could have predicted before the season began, much less the NBA Finals. Cavaliers fans have responded to him rapping lyrics in pregame warmups, his slow motion claps and mimed bow-and-arrow celebrations as if James is responsible for the invention of flames.
CLEVELAND — The love that became hate is love again. LeBron James is carrying Cleveland on his back, injecting more fire into Quicken Loans Arena with a patchwork team than the pre-game pyrotechnics in an unfamiliar way no one could have predicted before the season began, much less the NBA Finals. Cavaliers fans have responded to him rapping lyrics in pregame warmups, his slow motion claps and mimed bow-and-arrow celebrations as if James is responsible for the invention of flames.
James went to Miami for a four-year championship fling but might have returned for a longer, more passionate love affair; a marriage of choice not convenience. Cavaliers fans immediately accepted James back as if “The Decision” and the departure never happened — coming back with that well-crafted letter was really all it took. James has no need to remember the boos or burned jerseys. Neither side sought forgiveness and James’s pushing the Cavaliers the closest to a title they have ever been has only strengthened their odd, conditional connection.
“I think time heals all,” James said Wednesday. “It was a bitter moment when I left the first time, but it’s a sweet moment here now that I’m back. Both sides had an opportunity to kind of miss each other, and they say if it’s worth having and it’s supposed to be there, then it will always come back.”
Miami was able to get James at his physical prime and the height of his efficiency, but Cleveland is now experiencing the beauty of a more determined version whose mental approach to the game has reached sublime levels. James has mastered the next move and counter move of the opposition, can provide direction and belief for his teammates, and isn’t afraid of the sometimes gruesome statistical results of being overly aggressive. Winning two championships in Miami has given James the confidence to understand the galactic reach of his talents and leadership — and now he has the Cavaliers up 2-1 against the Golden State Warriors with Game 4 on Thursday at Quicken Loans Arena.
The only help James really needs is from within and his limited teammates can feed off the swagger and aura he exudes. What remains of the Cavaliers’ roster doesn’t have to do much more than play hard because James is playing harder. At the conclusion of Game 3, James hunched over and wrapped his hands around the basketball like a football long-snapper, energy zapped after playing all but two minutes. James has played 142 of a possible 154 minutes this series and has no time to hide nor rest when on the hardwood. James’s usage percentage — a measure of how often the team’s offense runs through him — is a whopping 44 percent, up from 32.3 in the regular season, when he had Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love around. Three of the four highest usage rates in James’s career have all come in the past three rounds of this postseason against Chicago, Atlanta and Golden State, with the only other performance to crack the list being the 2009 conference finals against Orlando in his previous jaunt with the Cavaliers.
“Everyone knows in this room he’s an efficient guy, and he has that attitude going in,” Irving said. “But for us to be successful, we just need him to continue what he’s doing and have that killer mindset. Destroy anyone and everyone that’s in front of him.”
The Cavaliers are making the most of James dictating the offense, with him scoring or assisting on 200 of the Cavaliers’ 291 points. James has taken 117 shots to score 123 points in the first three games this series. He is the first player with multiple 40-point Finals games since his former teammate, Dwyane Wade, had two in 2006. Jerry West and Michael Jordan share the record with four 40-point Finals games in 1969 and 1993, respectively, and James might need to match that or set a new mark to deliver a championship that would arrive must faster than he anticipated.
“No one expected us to be where we’re at right now — and it’s because of LeBron James that we’re here,” teammate Mike Miller said. “He understands the situation, which is what makes him so special. He’s so smart. What makes him a great player is he adapts to his surroundings.”
James’s powers seem to increase the more the Cavaliers’ roster is decimated, as if he assumes the powers of his lost teammates. Love has his left shoulder yanked out, James becomes a more ferocious rebounder and occasional power forward. Kyrie Irving breaks his left knee cap, James becomes more of a playmaker, gets to the rim a little easier and even borrows his Uncle Drew costume. After Iman Shumpert hurt his shoulder and returned, James said, “We just can’t afford any injuries right now. We’re already depleted.” But losing Shumpert might not be the death knell for the Cavaliers, since James would just add more energy to slow down Klay Thompson or Steph Curry — and regain the ability to grow a high-top fade.
James is the most unlikely underdog, since he has spent so much time in Miami as the most dominant force on an unfairly talented team that featured two perennial all-stars, including a former Finals MVP. Now he is leading a team that is missing two all-stars and features an undrafted second-year point guard (Matthew Dellavedova), two rejects from the New York Knicks (J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert), a former third-string center from Denver (Timofey Mozgov) and player who got little run in the regular season (James Jones).
“It’s been a difficult challenge, a tough challenge, but I knew that,” James said. “Being the sole leader of a team and a franchise, it’s taxing, but I accept the challenge. I accept it all, and I’m okay with it.”
When Irving went down, Cleveland was expected to provide the same resistance for the Warriors as brushes at a car wash, the final shine on a pristine season. But the Cavaliers have taken on a grittier identity that James readily admits is “not cute.”
What the Cavaliers have become, and what James has been forced to become over the course of this season, has made a beleaguered fan base in a 51-year title chase more appreciative of its prodigal son.
“I’m happy to be back,” James said. “I know the fans are excited and exuberant about me being back. Not only just about me, this team, putting this team back in the position where they can compete and have something to talk about from our side, the basketball side. And it’s been pretty cool so far.”