It isn't just that LeBron James overruled coach David Blatt before his game-winning shot to beat the Bulls, it's that he told the whole world about it after the game.

"To be honest, the play that was drawn up, I scratched it. I just told coach, 'Give me the ball,'"LeBron said after the game. "I was supposed to take the ball out. I told coach, 'There's no way I'm taking the ball out, unless I can shoot it over the backboard and it goes in.' I told him, 'Have somebody else take the ball out, give me the ball, and everybody get out of the way.'"

If you've followed the Cavs this season, you know this sort of thing is normal. All year long LeBron has openly contradicted his coach and generally presented himself as an authority figure in the Cavs locker room that operates independently from the head coach.

Brian Windhorst of ESPN, the best LeBron reporter in the world, called their relationship"one giant game of passive-aggressive theater."

Here's a quick rundown of LeBron-Blatt awkwardness:

• LeBron and Blatt didn't meet until six weeks after he signed with the team, Windhorst reports.
• The team abandoned the Princeton offense that Blatt tried to install before the season. Now, LeBron calls the plays and Blatt signals those calls back to the rest of the team.
• Two months into the season LeBron decided he was going to play point guard. When asked by reporter Chris Haynes if he asked Blatt before making the change, he said, "Nah, I can do it on my own. I'm past those days where I have to ask."
• At the team's first practice, LeBron stopped everything and had a 30-minute players-only meeting where he told everyone what he expected of them.
• After an opening-night loss to the Knicks, Blatt reportedly ripped the team for how they played. A few days later a reporter asked LeBron about it and he said, "I think pep talks and things of that nature get overblown."
• In the team's third game of the year, LeBron was weirdly disinterested in a game against the Portland Trail Blazers. After the game, Windhorst reported that LeBron was letting his team fail on purpose to teach them a lesson.  
• In January Windhorst reported that assistant coach Tyronn Lue was calling timeouts behind Blatt's back and the team looked to him in huddles instead of Blatt.
• This:

• LeBron routinely refers to Blatt as a "rookie" head coach in interviews. According to Windhorst, Blatt hates when people use the word "rookie" to describe him because he coached in Europe for decades.

And now, we have LeBron basically saying "nope" to Blatt and calling his own number on the most crucial possession of the season.

This stuff comes off like a quirk when things are going well for Cleveland, as they have been over the last three months. It's easy to dismiss the LeBron-Blatt weirdness with a laugh and a mumbled, "These two." The way they've been playing since the trade deadline, you could even argue that this is a highly productive (if unusual) working relationship that ought not be tinkered with.

But there's a fine line between quirkiness and dysfunction. When things aren't going so well, these same anecdotes suddenly take on a greater weight.

Even now, there's evidence that LeBron's latest overhaul of the Cavs' offense hasn't been the best thing for the team. ESPN's Tom Haberstroh wrote an article pointing out that LeBron is relying more heavily on isolation plays than he ever has. With Kevin Love out and Kyrie Irving hobbled, LeBron has decided he needs to win games by himself. And while his "give me the ball" plan may have worked on at the end of Game 4, it's hard to see that strategy carrying them to the title.

Injuries derailed this Cavs team just as they were becoming the juggernaut we all thought they'd be. In one sense, the pressure is off both LeBron and Blatt. No one expects them to win a title without a healthy Love and Irving. But in another sense, the fact that the Cavs now have to make significant adjustments on the fly is the ultimate test of their working relationship. They have to figure out how to play without Love and Irving, which forces them to confront the same issues of responsibility and decision-making power that they've grappled with all year.

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At his Monday press conference, Cleveland Cavaliers coach David Blatt discussed the wild final 20 seconds of Sunday's Game 4 win over the Chicago Bulls.

Blatt said the idea that LeBron James unilaterally vetoed his original play call on the final possession of the game is a bit misleading.

LeBron said after Game 4 that Blatt originally called for him to make the inbounds pass, meaning he wouldn't take the final shot. LeBron "scratched" that idea, he said, and took the shot himself.

Blatt said on Monday that the play that led to the game-winning shot was ultimately still his decision, but it came after LeBron strongly lobbied for the ball.

Blatt says he went with "what LeBron felt was the best option:"

"We thought about a couple of different things and then honestly it just came down to what LeBron felt was the best option based on his feeling of how he was being guarded and the position of the floor where the ball was, and we went with that. And he made a great shot."

On whether LeBron vetoed the play:

"He didn't veto the play. He just felt strongly about what a better situation would be, and as it turned out that was the right thing. It could have been the right thing the other way too. I said last night, and I'll say it again, generally the guy who wants the check gets it. He really felt confident and sure of what that situation would bring about."

He added, "Sometimes you go with your player’s feeling because you believe in what he can do. That at the end of the day was my decision to go with what he felt."

One of the big questions after the game was why Blatt would have had LeBron throwing the inbounds pass to begin with. Here's his explanation for that:

"He's our biggest and best passer. He's a guy who can make the right pass in that situation. But he's also a guy who can, because of his size and length, catch-and-receive and get the shot up. That was the discussion and ultimately that was the decision and the way to go with it, and good it was."

At his postgame press conference on Sunday night, Blatt didn't mention that the play was originally drawn up for someone else.

LeBron's explanation made it seem like it was all his decision:

"I was supposed to take the ball out. I told coach there's no way I'm taking the ball out, unless I can shoot it over the backboard and it goes in. I told him, 'Have somebody else take the ball out, give me the ball, and everybody get out of the way.'"

J.R. Smith's account, via ESPN's Dave McMenamin, makes it sound like it was more of a discussion, as Blatt suggested:

"It was doubt at first because at first, Coach had LeBron taking the ball out. I'm like, 'Are you sure?' Then he went, 'No, no, no, no, Bron, you get it.' I'm like, 'OK, we need to switch it up.' Once we figured out who was definitely taking the ball out, I was like, 'OK, now I'm sure he's going to get it.'"

LeBron and Blatt continue to have a really an awkward relationship.

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In a crucial Game 5 on Tuesday night, LeBron James put up 38 points, 12 rebounds, six assists, three steals, and three blocks in a Cavaliers win over the Chicago Bulls. He arguably had the biggest play of the game when he swatted Derrick Rose's game-tying layup attempt out of bounds with 48 seconds to play and the score 101-99 Cavs.

David Richard of USA Today Sports got a fantastic picture of the block that highlights LeBron's incredible athleticism:

At that point, the Bulls were on a 17-4 run, closing a double-digit deficit to just two points. Rose's layup looked like it was going to tie the game until LeBron came flying in:

James was lurking the entire time:

This season has been the first where the 30-year-old LeBron has played more under the rim than above it. Though he's still undoubtedly one of the best players and finishers in the NBA, he's shown a noticeable lack of explosion compared to his earlier, high-flying days.

Nonetheless, when he needs to, LeBron can still get up. 

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World-class athletes including LeBron James and Cristiano Ronaldo use cryotherapy to help their muscles recover and to heighten their alertness. Self-help guru Tony Robbins also told us he used the treatment on a daily basis. We decided to try it for ourselves.

We went to KryoLife, the only cryotherapy treatment center in New York City that is available to the public. Each three-minute treatment costs $90, and it exposes the subject's entire body to temperatures as low as minus 264 degrees Fahrenheit.

Produced by Graham Flanagan with camera by Justin Gmoser

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Four months after the New York Knicks traded him to the Cleveland Cavaliers as a tax on Iman Shumpert, J.R. Smith scored 28 points in a 97-89 Game 1 win over the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference finals.

With Kevin Love hurt and Kyrie Irving playing on roughly 0.75 legs, Smith became Cleveland's only viable scoring option other than LeBron James. He delivered in Game 1, draining eight three-pointers, three of which came during a two-minute stretch at the beginning of the fourth quarter that saw Cleveland extent its lead to 18 points. 

He was scorching:

At this point, it's hard to view the Smith/Shumpert trade as anything other than a no-brainer. In light of what Smith did to the Hawks in Game 1, the idea that there was risk in giving up nothing for Smith feels absurd.

But there were risks. Smith has had a litany on- and off-court issues in his time in the NBA, and his tenure with the Knicks had gotten so bad that they were willing to give up Shumpert just to get Smith off the team. As ESPN's Brian Windhorst wrote in a great article after Game 1, the decision to trade for Smith was a torturous one for the Cavs, and it even necessitated a cosign from LeBron himself.

Windhorst reports that the team's front office spoke to LeBron about taking Smith from the Knicks before pulling the trigger on the trade, and LeBron reassured them that he was on board.

"Get him here, and I'll take care of it," LeBron said he told the Cavs before the trade.

Windhorst gave some insight into LeBron's thinking:

"To James, the character issues weren't just secondary, they didn't matter. He saw a chance to grab the type of shooter he loves to play with, one with a quick release and endless confidence. James has been striving to get guys like this as teammates for a decade or so now. The Cavs needed talent at that position and Smith was a talent and a contemporary whom James felt he could relate."

LeBron said of the move (via ASAP Sports):

"For me, as a leader of a team, you always just want to try to give someone an opportunity. With the talent this guy presents, I knew the man he was, and I didn't really care about what everybody else thought about him. Obviously, our front office, they have the last say so, and for me, they have the last say so, but when they made it and said they were going to do it, I was definitely all for it. I felt like, for me, we were getting a great piece, not only on the floor, but off the floor, as well, because I'd known him before he even got to this point."

Windhorst reports that the Cavs even got permission from the Knicks to talk to Smith before the trade and explain that he couldn't mess up on or off the court in Cleveland.

The trades for Shumpert, Smith, and Mozgov saved Cleveland's season and turned them into an offensive juggernaut in March and April. The Cavs were 19-16 when they made the trade, and finished the regular season 34-13 before making a run to the Eastern Conference finals. And while the Cavs never thought they'd need another scorer back in January, the injuries to Love and Irving have made Smith more important than anyone could have expected.

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After building an 18-point lead early in the fourth quarter, the Cleveland Cavaliers nearly blew their Game 1 win over the Atlanta Hawks.

While the Hawks are one of the best defensive teams in the NBA and put the clamps on the Cavs' offense in the midst of J.R. Smith's explosion from three-point range, a big part of the Cavs' problems was LeBron James' stagnant offense.

This has been a theme throughout the playoffs: With Kevin Love out for the season and Kyrie Irving hobbled, LeBron is forcing isolations — one-on-one plays with no ball movement — and it's crippling Cleveland's offense.

After Cleveland got off to a red-hot start to the fourth quarter, scoring 11 points in two minutes thanks to Smith, LeBron took over and not for the better. Over the final 10 minutes of the game, the Cavs scored 14 points, four of which were free throws in the final seconds when the Hawks were forced to foul.

During that span, James went three-for-nine from the field, had one turnover, and nobody on the Cavs, including James, registered an assist.

Part of this was the Hawks' defense, with forward Paul Millsap pressing James at half-court, baiting him into going one-on-one and eating up precious seconds off the clock. Years ago, this would be a nightmare for Atlanta — James would be too quick for the 6'9" Millsap, able to blow by him and attack the basket himself or set up other shooters. 

However, at 30 years old, LeBron has lost a step, and several fourth-quarter possessions went like this:

Or this, where James eats up more than half the shot clock without a pass:

And while he's gifted enough to score on this play, nobody would count this as a good possession:

Worse yet are possessions like this, where James uses the entire shot clock and then dumps the ball off on a teammate who has to create something out of nothing with the clock running down:

James knows this is a problem. After the game, he told reporters:

"In fourth quarter, I played way too much isolation basketball, one‑on‑one basketball, a lot of defenses set, and I was letting the clock run down way too much. I just had to take the shot or I was giving it to my guys late in the shot clock, and they couldn't do nothing with it besides shoot it or turn the ball over. So I will do a better job. I'll probably watch the game over again tonight, as I try to get my body ready for Game 2. So it starts with me."

While it's encouraging that James is aware that he played one-on-one too much, this wasn't a one-game problem. According to NBA.com/Stats, James is leading all players in isolations in the playoffs. He has a league-high 102 isolation possessions, eight more than the second-closest player, James Harden, and 58 more than the third-closest player, Jamal Crawford. Nearly one-third (32%) of James' possessions have been isolations.

And LeBron hasn't been efficient in these plays. He's averaging just 0.77 points per possession on isolations, ranking him in the 19th percentile of all players. His field-goal percentage is down to 33%, and his effective-field-goal percentage, which weights three-pointers versus two-pointers, is 34.5%. 

Another indication that James is going one-on-one too often is the number of dribbles he's taking before a shot. According to NBA.com/Stats, 30% of LeBron's shots come after seven or more dribbles. 

Earlier in the playoffs, Tom Haberstroh wrote an ESPN Insider article about LeBron's tendency to isolate. He discussed it with Bill Simmons on the "B.S. Report," saying:

"[LeBron's] averaging 11.2 isolations per game, according to Synergy Sports video tracking, which is more than every other player in the NBA by far ... And the problem, Bill, here is he's not athletic enough to do that. He might've been able to pull that off in Cleveland five years ago, but this 30-year-old LeBron doesn't have the athleticism to just power through guys, turn that corner, and get up. So, it's inefficient, and it's just bad to watch, and if you're a teammate, standing in the corner and watching LeBron go one-against-three, like he did against Chicago, that's gotta be kind of deflating."

In LeBron's defense, the options are limited. The Cavs lost their most important floor-spacer in Love, and Irving looks like he shouldn't even be playing. Wednesday night, Irving clearly had no lift on his jump shot, leading his open looks to end up like this:

So with no Love and a hobbled Irving, the Cavs' next best option is J.R. Smith, which is an uncomfortable notion for any team competing for a championship.

This puts a ton on LeBron's shoulders. So naturally, he'll feel that at times that he has to carry the team. This is where LeBron's awkward relationship with David Blatt comes into play. Blatt could attempt to run more creative, fluid plays, but LeBron has shown that he has the power to overrule his coach when it comes to play calling. 

James could rely on a number of different plays that are more efficient than his isolations. For instance, he's averaging 0.80 points per possession and 44% shooting on post-up plays. Against a small Hawks team, James would be wise to post up and try to overpower Atlanta's defenders, much like he did against Chicago. He's also been slightly more efficient as a pick-and-roll ball-handler, averaging 0.73 points per possession with a 41.2% effective-field-goal percentage.

The Cavs are limited in what they can run without a fully healthy squad, but relying on James to take on an entire defense by himself isn't the answer. 

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ATLANTA (AP) — LeBron James scored 30 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers took total command of the Eastern Conference final even without injured star Kyrie Irving, routing the Atlanta Hawks 94-82 on Friday night for a 2-0 lead with the series heading to Ohio.

The Cavaliers made it a blowout with a dominating third quarter. James scored 11 points, the Hawks shot just 32 percent (7 of 22), and Cleveland led by as many as 20 before settling for an 84-66 lead heading to the final period.

Irving was scratched before the game because of an ailing left knee. He wasn't missed a bit.

James assumed many of the ball-handling duties, taking advantage of DeMarre Carroll clearly not being at 100 percent after he went down with a knee injury late in Game 1. Carroll started after being carried off the court just two nights earlier but hardly looked like the "Junkyard Dog."

He wasn't the only one struggling. The Hawks looked totally outclassed for one of the few times all season.

The Cavaliers can wrap up the best-of-seven series simply by winning at home. The next two are in Cleveland, beginning with Game 3 on Sunday night.

Tristan Thompson led another dominating performance for the Cavaliers on the boards. He had 16 rebounds and Cleveland finished with a 47-39 advantage.

When Thompson dunked off a pass from James with just under 5 minutes remaining, the Cavaliers had a 93-74 lead and many Atlanta fans began heading for the exits, perhaps knowing they had seen their team for the last time in this most unexpected season. Atlanta won a franchise-record 60 games to claim the top seed in the East, but the Hawks were picked apart by the best player in the world. 

Forget the Big Three

The Big One was plenty of the Cavaliers, who are two wins away from returning the NBA Finals and taking another crack at their first championship.

This is why James returned to his de facto hometown after spending four years in Miami, leading the Heat to a pair of titles. The Cavaliers assembled a Miami-like trio with James, Irving and Kevin Love, but the King is doing just fine on his own with Irving hobbled and Love out with a season-ending injury.

The Hawks had hoped that Carroll's appearance would provide an emotional boost. An injury that looked much more serious when he helped off the court in Game 1 turned out to be only a sprain, and he drew a big cheer from the crowd when he did his customary sprint across the court during the opening introductions.

But at less than full speed, Carroll had no chance trying to guard James, who made 10 of 22 shots including a pair of 3-pointers. When the Hawks began collapsing toward the lane, trying to give Carroll help, James always seemed to fine the open man — often lurking behind the 3-point arc.

James had 11 assists, and the Cavaliers finished 12 of 30 beyond the arc. The King just missed a triple-double, grabbing nine rebounds.

Dennis Schroder led the Hawks with just 13 points. Carroll managed only six points in just under 34 minutes.

Carroll wasn't the only one hurting. Kyle Korver got his right ankle rolled going for a loose ball late in the third quarter and didn't return. Al Horford banged his knee early in the fourth and hobbled to the bench, though he was able to finish out the game.

It didn't really matter.

By the end, the Hawks had cleared their bench. 

Tip ins

Cavaliers: Cleveland has outrebounded the Hawks 96-76 over the first two games. ... Iman Shumpert hit four 3-pointers and finished with 16 points. ... Matthew Dellavedova started at point guard in place of Irving and had 11 points, six rebounds and four assists.

Hawks: Made only 42 percent from the field, including 6 of 26 from 3-point range. ... The starters combined for just 46 points, led by Horford, Korver and Jeff Teague with 12 apiece. ... Paul Millsap managed only four points on 2-of-8 shooting.

The king's milestones

James had the 74th 30-point game in the playoffs, tying him with Jerry West for fourth on the career list.

The only players with more are Michael Jordan (109), Kobe Bryant (88) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (75).

James also had his 53rd playoff game with at least 30 points, five rebounds and five assists, extending his record for most in NBA history. He broke a tie with Jordan in that category in Game 1.

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Tristan Thompson has emerged as a vital player for the Cleveland Cavaliers this postseason.

Following Kevin Love's season-ending injury, Thompson's minutes have jumped to 39 per game, and he's averaging nine points, 10 rebounds, and one block on 57% shooting.

Because of the Cavs' lack of depth, Thompson is hugely important, and he's producing in his big minutes. With Thompson on the floor, the Cavs are outscoring opponent by 10 points per 100 possessions, and their offensive rating improves from 107.6 to 109.8.

However, Cleveland will be in an awkward position this summer when Thompson becomes a restricted free agent. Early in the season, the Cavs attempted to retain Thompson long term by offering him a four-year, $52 million extension. Amazingly, Thompson turned it down.

This kind of move has worked for players in the past. Jimmy Butler looks like a genius for turning down a $40 million extension in October since he'll receive a max contract this summer. However, Butler is one of the best two-way players in the NBA. Thompson is a serviceable big man, a rebounding savant who's limited on the offensive end and decent on defense. For as well-paid as big men in the NBA are, committing any more than $13 million a season to Thompson is pushing the boundaries on what he's worth.

As a restricted free agent, the Cavs can match any offer Thompson receives. However, the Cavaliers are in a tough spot because Iman Shumpert will also be a restricted free agent, and J.R. Smith and Kevin Love both have player options this summer, which they can choose to take or become free agents (however, they'd both be smart to opt in and become free agents in 2016 when the salary cap jumps when the NBA's new TV deal kicks in).

If the Cavs retain all of these players at market value (along with LeBron James and Kyrie Irving on max deals), their payroll will skyrocket into luxury tax territory, resulting in harsh financial penalties from the NBA and little flexibility to make roster improvements in free agency.

Making matters more awkward, LeBron is already campaigning for Thompson, according to ESPN's Dave McMenamin. James told reporters:

"Tristan should probably be a Cavalier for his whole career... There's no reason why he shouldn't... This guy is 24 years old. He's played in 340-plus straight games, and he's gotten better every single season. It's almost like what more can you ask out of a guy, even though we ask for more out of him."

James added:

"He plays his heart out every single night, and he has zero sense of entitlement in this league. All he cares about is coming into work. Whatever is given to him, he relishes the opportunity, and he's a great teammate. So he'll be here for a long time."

James wields an unprecedented amount of power with the Cavaliers, and is basically putting the onus on the Cavs to re-sign Thompson. Additionally, LeBron is represented by agent and friend Rich Paul of Klutch Sports Group, which also represents Thompson. In October, Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Thompson "has a decided advantage as a James underling to negotiate a better-than-market value deal with the Cavaliers."

Cleveland would obviously love to re-sign Thompson, as noted by their big offer before the season, but doing so will either require a big financial commitment to their current core of players or letting go of one of Shumpert, Smith, or Love.

Even with the huge salary cap jump down the road, the Cavs risk overpaying Thompson if they try to re-sign him before other teams come calling this summer. The ideal situation for the Cavs may be to let Thompson dangle in free agency, wait until a team offers him a contract, and then match it.

Though a team might intentionally offer Thompson a bloated contract to try and lure him from the Cavs, it likely wouldn't be much higher than the $13 million per season he was offered at the beginning of the year. The most an opposing team could offer Thompson is about four years, $71 million, and that's assuming any team would want to give a somewhat limited role player a max contract.

The bigger problem for Cleveland is that they're now under pressure from James to re-sign Thompson, and they may be forced to implicate their long-term financial flexibility to do so.

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CLEVELAND (AP) — The championship LeBron James craves more than any other, the one he came back home to get, is four wins away.

The Cavaliers are in the NBA Finals.

James scored 23 points, Kyrie Irving returned after missing two games and Cleveland reserved a spot in the finals with a 118-88 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night to win the Eastern Conference title.

By sweeping the top-seeded Hawks, the Cavs earned their second trip to the finals, where they will face either Golden State or Houston.

It will be the fifth straight visit to the league's showcase event for the inimitable James, who returned to Cleveland after four years in Miami to try and end this city's championship drought dating to 1964.

If he can, James will have a title that would put him in a class by himself. Other players have won more championships, but none has ever done it for his ring-starved home region.

"We have everything it takes to win," James said after the Cavs were presented with the conference trophy.

However, they've got their eyes on another one.

"Cleveland," owner Dan Gilbert said, addressing the crowd, "We're not settling for this."

Jeff Teague scored 17 and Paul Millsap 16 for Atlanta, which won a team-record 60 games during the regular season and made the conference finals for the first time since 1970. But the Hawks were no match for the Cavaliers and had no answer for James, who nearly averaged a triple-double in the four games.

J.R. Smith added 18 points and Tristan Thompson had 16 points and 11 rebounds.

It was a tough way for the Hawks to end a remarkable season. They survived a tumultuous offseason, and their young roster gelled in January when they became the first franchise to go 17-0 in a calendar month. They went on to win 19 straight, improved their record by 22 wins over last season and beat Brooklyn and Washington to make their first conference finals since 1994.

But an injury to starting forward Thabo Sefolosha in April was followed by DeMarre Carroll injuring his knee in the series opener, before Kyle Korver's season ended in Game 2 with an ankle injury.

Those all hurt, but it was James who inflicted the most pain.

James carried the Cavs to their first finals appearance in 2007, when they were swept by San Antonio. Cleveland was a heavy underdog then and it was assumed the Cavs would get back again. But James left in 2010 to join the Heat, a move that dropped the Cavaliers from relevance and into the draft lottery four straight years. But those days are over — Cleveland and King James reign supreme in the East.

The Cavs got through the last two rounds without forward Kevin Love, who sustained a season-ending shoulder injury. His arrival last summer, joining James and Irving to form a Big 3, made Cleveland the team to beat in the East.

It didn't go exactly as planned under first-year coach David Blatt.

"Were in Cleveland," Blatt cracked. "Nothing is easy here."

The Cavs lost center Anderson Varejao to a season-ending Achilles injury in December and they were 19-20 before trading for Smith, Iman Shumpert and Timofey Mozgov, a trio that transformed Cleveland.

Irving, who missed Cleveland's previous two games with tendinitis in his left knee, scored 16 and the All-Star point guard looked better than he has in weeks.

Unlike Game 3, when he missed his first 10 shots, James started much better and scored 15 in the first half as the Cavs opened a 17-point halftime lead. They pushed it to 20 early in the third, withstood a brief rally by the Hawks and spent the fourth quarter playing their reserves and getting ready for a party and some time off before the finals.

This was Cleveland's night from the start.

Following pregame introductions, James slapped hands with members of Gilbert's family and then with his boss. The two mended their broken relationship last summer, paving the way for James to re-sign with Cavs and try to deliver the title he couldn't during his first stint.

James had a bounce in his step and it wasn't long before he delivered one of his patented windmill dunks, prompting the Hawks to call a timeout while James ran the length of the baseline screaming at Cleveland fans to "Get up!"

Moments later, Irving showed he could get up after being knocked down.

He drove to the basket for a layup and was fouled hard. Irving, though, quickly popped to his feet and James, who was on the bench at the time, walked several feet onto the floor to salute his teammate.

The Cavs know they'll need a healthy Irving to take the next step — the one to the top.

Tip-ins

Hawks: Among Atlanta's other notable accomplishments this season: a 12-game road winning streak, a 12-game run against Western Conference teams, a franchise record 13-game streak against Eastern teams.

Cavaliers: James said he underwent treatment "around the clock" on his body since Game 3, when he cramped up in the fourth quarter and overtime. He joked that there's enough medical equipment at his Bath, Ohio, mansion to rehab most of the Cavs. "If multiple guys wanted to join and get some treatment, they wouldn't stop me from getting mine." ... James isn't the only Cleveland player heading to his fifth straight finals. So is swingman James Jones, who played four seasons with James in Miami. ... Cleveland is 26-2 at home since Jan. 19.

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The Cleveland Cavaliers are in the NBA Finals for the first time since 2007 after sweeping the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference Finals.

While it's been eight years since the Cavs made it, it's LeBron James' fifth-straight trip to the Finals and his sixth overall.

A part of the NBA world believes LeBron only has a few peak years left. Some believe he's already on the backend of his career.

James didn't win MVP this year, yet still averaged 25 points, six rebounds, and seven assists per game while shooting 49% from the field and 35% from three-point range in a "down season." 

The LeBron James effect is this: He's a walking 50-win season. The Miami Heat won 18 more games than the previous season when he signed there in 2010, and the Cavs won 20 more games this year than last year. Even if his championship count isn't as high as some people would like, he's now 24-17 in Eastern Conference Finals games with career averages of 31 points, six rebounds, six assists per game, ESPN's Brian Windhorst notes. Windhorst adds that LeBron has now won 15-straight Eastern Conference playoff series. He's the first Eastern Conference player to make five-straight Finals appearances since the 1960s Boston Celtics.

This postseason, the Cavs lost Kevin Love to a season-ending shoulder injury after four games, and they lost Kyrie Irving to a knee injury for two games while he played injured for six others. James carried the team, nonetheless, particularly in the conference finals, where he averaged 30 points, 11 rebounds, and 9.3 assists per game.

The Cavs also ran into some injury luck — the Bulls lost Pau Gasol for some of the second round, and the Hawks fought trough injuries to DeMarre Carroll, Kyle Korver, Paul Millsap, and a Game 3 ejection to Al Horford. But in fairness to the Cavaliers, all of those injuries were equally as devastating as losing Love and Irving.

And despite the monstrous statistics, LeBron hasn't been all that efficient. His jumper has mysteriously disappeared. He's shooting just 31.7% from 8-16 feet away from the basket, 33.8% from 16-24 feet from the basket, and just 18% from three in the postseason.

He's scrapping the Cavs' offense with isolations— inefficient one-on-one plays that have him averaging just .68 points per possession and 32.5% shooting, despite going to them 22 more times than second-closest player in the playoffs, James Harden, and 89 more times than the third, Stephen Curry.

Despite this ill-timed slump, James is still finding ways to will the Cavs to wins. In a pivotal Game 5 against the Bulls, James overpowered defenders in the post en route to 38 points, 12 rebounds, six assists, three steals, and three blocks:

In a Game 3 overtime victory over the Hawks, James finished with 37 points, 18 rebounds, and 13 assists. The one caveat was his poor shooting, 14-37, but if you ignore his 0-10 start to the game, he went 14-27 the rest of the way, better than 50%. 

Even as a one-man attack on offense, he was doing what he wants:

Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer, who was an assistant with the Spurs in 2013 when they lost to the Heat in the Finals, says he can see a difference in James (via USA Today's Jeff Zillgitt):

"His confidence has gone to another level. Having watched and prepared — watching how he orchestrates and has a great command for where he wants his teammates and what's important in the moment and the confidence that he has in himself to make the right play, whether it's making a shot, making the pass. As a leader, he's grown. His confidence has grown."

If James and the Cavs play the Warriors in the Finals (assuming the Houston Rockets don't become the first team to ever overcome a 3-0 deficit in the playoffs), it'll likely be the first time this postseason where the Cavs won't be the favorites. Without a healthy team, Cleveland doesn't seem suited to match the Warriors' depth.

However, that's still not enough to rule them out. Grantland's Zach Lowe noted in his podcast "The Lowe Post" that the LeBron effect is enough to keep you from ever doubting him, saying:

"If Cleveland is playing this way, and they're playing this way with a seven-man team, they shouldn't be good enough to challenge Golden State. They just shouldn't be. Golden State is too good and too deep and too polished, but [the Cavs] have LeBron. And you always wanna say you can't dismiss a team that has LeBron... LeBron is LeBron, and it's scary to just say, 'His team is going to get rolled in the Finals.' It's just, it's too scary."

James is the only player that can find so many ways to leverage his strength over an opponent's. In the midst of this postseason, in which he's playing below par in so many areas, particularly on offense, he's still the focal point of every matchup.

Debating his all-time place is in the NBA is a fruitless task because such comparisons rely on too many variables. For now, LeBron is the most dominant player in the NBA and until he's no longer capable of the performances we've seen this postseason, he's still the biggest deciding factor in the NBA's balance of power.

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LeBron James has been to the NBA Finals six times, and more often than not he's done it despite a sub-par supporting cast.

FiveThirtyEight's Neil Paine ran the numbers on the supporting casts for all 62 NBA Finals teams since 1985. The takeaway: LeBron is so good that he has dragged some really questionable teams to the Finals.

Here are LeBron's six finals teams ranked by teammate strength (since 1985):

• 2011 Miami Heat (ranked 10th out of 62 teams that made the Finals)
• 2012 Miami Heat (ranked 21st out of 62)
• 2013 Miami Heat (ranked 39th out of 62)
• 2014 Miami Heat (ranked 55th out of 62)
• 2015 Cleveland Cavaliers (ranked 60th out of 62)
• 2007 Cleveland Cavaliers (ranked 61st out of 62)

Two of the three worst Finals supporting casts of the last 30 years were LeBron teams. Of LeBron's six Finals teams, one was really good (2011), one was above-average (2012), one was below-average (2013), and three were relatively poor (2014, 2015, 2007).

For comparison, three of the six best supporting casts of the last 30 years were Michael Jordan Bulls teams from the 1990s.

Also note the chronology here. Not only has LeBron made a historic five-straight Finals appearance, he has done it with increasingly little help. LeBron has made the Finals every year since 2011. Each successive year, though, his supporting cast has gotten worse. Even though he's aging, he's still managing to get worse-and-worse teams into the Finals. Obviously some of this has to do with how bad the Eastern Conference has been since 2011. But he still won the title in 2012 and 2013 with just okay supporting casts, and making the Finals five-straight years is incredible, no matter the circumstances.

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After a long break, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors will tip off Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night.

Both teams have cruised through the playoffs with relative ease, with the Warriors going 12-3 on their way to the Finals and the Cavaliers going 12-2.

Much of the NBA world considers the Warriors the favorites in the finals. Though Cleveland has been just as good in the second half of the season, many people feel the Cavs rode an easier path through a weak, battered Eastern Conference than the Warriors, who, statistically, rank among the NBA's all-time great teams.

It figures to be a competitive series, but the Cavaliers will have their hands full on both ends of the court. Here's how they could pull off an upset as the underdogs:

1. LeBron James dominates

James is clearly the biggest advantage for the Cavs. He remains the best player in the NBA, the ultimate deciding factor in any game.

LeBron recently said he's playing the best basketball of his career. While statistics don't necessarily bear that out, he's undoubtedly the driving force for the Cavs.

Everything the Cavs do on offense will have to depend on LeBron. As a ball handler, he's going to have to use his speed to get into the lane, suck in defenders, and try to find open teammates. If he's not on the perimeter, expect LeBron to go to the post, where he can overpower smaller players. He brutalized the Bulls forward Jimmy Butler this way:

The Warriors could use Harrison Barnes and Andre Iguodala to defend LeBron, opting for speed and length to try to contain him. If they do so, LeBron will have to force the mismatch in the post. If the Warriors put the bigger Draymond Green on LeBron, he'll have to use his speed to blow by him.

James hasn't been efficient in one-on-one plays in the playoffs, so he's going to have to use a smarter approach and find ways to create mismatches. If Kyrie Irving is still hobbled, James will have to be the engine of the offense, and he'll have to use all of his smarts and physical tools to beat the best defense in the NBA.

2. The Cavs win the rebounding battle

Cleveland's chances of winning become a lot greater if they stop the Warriors' explosive offense from getting second chances all while giving themselves extra possessions on the other end.

The Cavs have been the best rebounding team in the playoffs while Warriors rank third. This isn't a huge advantage for Cleveland, but winning the rebounding battle has been a big part of Cleveland's run to the finals.

Against the Atlanta Hawks, the Cavs collected 57% of all rebounds, grabbing 30% of their own misses and 85% of Atlanta's misses. The Cavs were getting offensive rebounds on nearly one-third of their shots while Atlanta was getting offensive rebounds on about one-sixth of their shots. Allowing a team with LeBron extra chances to score is simply too dangerous.

This could be key for the Cavaliers against Golden State. Their offense can't go possession-for-possession with the Warriors, and while Golden State is actually an even better defensive team than they are an offensive one, the Cavs could exploit that defense simply by grabbing offensive rebounds and getting extra chances. Additionally, easier shots tend to come after offensive rebounds, either at the rim or on the perimeter where defenders have already left their assignments.

As Grantland's Zach Lowe also noted on his podcast "The Lowe Post," some of these rebounding scrums could be a chance for the Cavs to get the Warriors into foul trouble.

3. Kyrie Irving is healthy

Irving is what ultimately separates this Cavs team from being a one-man show with James, or being something closer to his Big Three Miami Heat teams.

As mentioned, Irving says he still isn't 100% healthy, but if he can be close to 100%, it changes the whole dynamic of the Cavs' team.

LeBron was able to take down the Hawks twice without Irving, but the Warriors are a far superior defensive team that boasts both perimeter and interior defenders to make James' life harder. LeBron can suck in defenders and kick it out to shooters like Smith and Shumpert, but there's a common belief that the Warriors may experiment with letting LeBron run rampant while shutting down his other options. LeBron can will a team to a victory by himself, but can he do it four times in seven games against the best team in the NBA?

If Irving is healthy, he gives LeBron a far more versatile second option than anyone else on Cleveland. He can break down any defense with his ball handling, get into the lane and score at the rim (58% in the restricted area in the regular season) or find shooters. If Irving is handling the ball while James waits on the perimeter, James' gravity is such that Golden State can't send an extra defender to stop Irving's drives. Add Shumpert and Smith to that equation, and it allows Irving even more space to operate while the Warriors are attached to their defensive assignments.

Here, a simple pick-and-roll allows Irving to slither to the basket for an easy layup:

This is the basic principle of spread pick-and-roll offense. Keep the defense honest with shooters on the perimeter and give the ball handler and roll man room to operate inside of the perimeter.

And though Irving is arguably the worst defender in the Cavs' regular rotation, his health will be crucial on that end, too. He doesn't have a prayer of sticking with Stephen Curry. (Who does?) But being healthy and nimble enough will at least give Irving the speed to keep up with Curry.

For the Cavs, there's nowhere to hide weak defenders in Golden State's starting lineup. Curry is unguardable, and Klay Thompson is in perpetual motion off the ball and can post up Irving, as can any other member of the Warriors' starting lineup. Until Golden State goes to their bench, Irving will be mismatched on defense. The best Cleveland can hope for is that he'll at least be healthy, fast, and strong enough to physically keep up with whomever he's guarding.

On paper, the Cavs seem outmatched by the Warriors. However, there is a blueprint to beating Golden State, and if the Cavs can pull off a perfect series with all three of the above factors, they have a shot at winning it all.

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When the Cleveland Cavaliers face the Golden State Warriors tonight, LeBron James will be playing in his fifth-straight NBA Finals and the sixth Finals of his already-storied career.

With the level of success James has enjoyed comes an incredible amount of mileage placed on his body in terms of games played. Over the last five seasons, James has averaged 94 games played per season including the playoffs and has started 464 games, 29 more than any other NBA player.

LeBron also tends to play a lot of minutes each night. Since the start of the 2010-11 season, James has played 17,860 total minutes, more than 2,000 more than the next highest total.

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David Blatt arrived in Cleveland with a certain swagger. While he'd never coached in the NBA before, he'd won most of the major European trophies you can win over the course of two decades overseas. Once he came to the NBA, it quickly became clear that Blatt thought of himself as an established coach with a proven track record of success, not as a "rookie," and he wanted everyone to know it.

When Grantland's Zach Lowe asked him whether he'd use LeBron James as a "stretch 4" in one of his first interviews as Cavs coach, Blatt responded, "Stretch 4s became popular in the United States because of Europe. If anyone knows that style of play, it’s probably me."

Stretch 4, you say? Well let me teach you a little something about the stretch 4.

But it was another quote from that same interview that would prove more prophetic.

"There are coaches that have their system, and they are gonna use that regardless of what the team makeup is,"he told Lowe. "And there are coaches that are adaptive, and take their roster, and play according to their skill set.

"I’m more from the adaptive school, with a few principles that are consistent throughout my career. But we have to see what the team looks like before I can tell you exactly how we’re gonna play."

No coach — or player or executive, for that matter — has had to compromise more this year than Blatt. The things he has had to give up, willingly or not, are fundamental to his job. He has scrapped his offense and allowed LeBron to take extraordinary power over the on-court direction of the team. He has endured the indignity of an assistant literally calling timeouts behind his back, and a player changing his play call on the most crucial possession of the season.

Blatt said he would see what his team looked like and then adapt, but he couldn't have imagined he'd have to give up this much.

The offense that Blatt was forced to scrap (largely, it's assumed, because LeBron and others wouldn't buy into it) was actually getting rave reviews in the preseason. Mike Miller called it "borderline genius," LeBron famously mastered it immediately, and veteran Brandon Haywood paid Blatt the ultimate compliment by calling the offense "Spurs-esque."

"There’s great ball movement, which is very key in the game of basketball," Haywood explained. "There isn’t as much of one-on-one."

Nine months later, that offense is gone and the Cavs are basically a one-on-one team.

Cleveland ran more isolation plays than any other team in the NBA during the regular season. Things have only gotten worse in the playoffs, where injuries to Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving have forced LeBron James to try to win games by himself. During the regular season, 11.4% of Cavs possessions ended in isolations — that number has jumped to 16.5% in the playoffs.

It's ugly and horribly inefficient at times, but the Cavaliers have been able to win with it thanks to offensive rebounding and some weak competition in the Eastern Conference.

David Blatt knows it's not ideal. In a new interview with Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today, Blatt said, "What you learn in coaching is — and I knew this before, but it's a lot truer here than it is over there — what you learn is that you have to do in the short-term what works, not what you want to do necessarily."

In the same interview Blatt admitted that the learning curve in coming to the NBA was steeper than he thought.

"I know I said many times the game is the game. Well, it's not. It's different. It's different in many, many ways," he said.

The LeBron-Blatt relationship has been generally awkward this year. Beyond the simple abandonment of the planned offensive system, there was LeBron inserting himself at point guard without asking permission, LeBron taking play-calling duties, and LeBron telling the team to run a different play at the end of a playoff game. When Blatt says NBA basketball is different from basketball in general, this is part of what he's talking about.

Blatt is doing what works. And now (unfortunately for him and the way he's perceived) what works is letting LeBron James largely run the show.

This is an admittedly kind interpretation of the job Blatt has done this year. You could argue that any offense is better than the offense the Cavs are running right now, and that letting LeBron dribble around the perimeter before driving to into a double team and chucking up a shot every time is coaching malpractice.

But no matter how bad the East is, you don't get to the NBA Finals just by showing up. You don't seamlessly incorporate three key pieces into your team halfway through the year without some coaching. And you don't quietly build a playoff-best defense on the fly if your coach is really just an empty suit.

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OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Stephen Curry had 26 points and eight assists, and the Golden State Warriors held off LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers for a thrilling 108-100 overtime victory in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night.

In the finals for the first time in 40 years, the Warriors gave their long-suffering fans quite a treat.

They rallied from an early 14-point deficit, absorbed a finals-best 44 points from James and shut down Cleveland in the extra session.

James shot 18 of 38 from the field and had eight rebounds and six assists in 46 minutes. But the four-time MVP missed a long jumper at the end of regulation, and Cleveland missed its first eight shots of overtime.

Adding to the Cavs' frustration, point guard Kyrie Irving limped to the locker room after aggravating his troublesome left leg in overtime. He did not return.

There were 13 lead changes and 11 ties in a game tightly contested across the board. There was little edge in shooting (Warriors 44.3 percent, Cavaliers 41.5 percent), rebounding (Warriors 48, Cavaliers 45) or assists (Warriors 24, Cavaliers 19).

In the end, it came down to the NBA's top teams and biggest stars making plays — or not.

James and Curry carried their clubs through the fourth quarter, trading scores and assists in a back-and-forth duel that had a sellout crowd of 19,596 — most wearing those blinding, golden yellow shirts. Both also had a chance to win the game in regulation.

Curry, the current MVP, beat Irving off the dribble and moved in for the go-ahead layup. Instead, Irving blocked Curry from behind, J.R. Smith came up with the rebound and the Cavs called a timeout with 24.1 seconds left.

James dribbled down the clock and missed a contested jumper over Andre Iguodala just inside the left arc, and Iman Shumpert's desperation shot nearly rimmed in at the buzzer, sending a collective sigh through the crowd.

The Cavs never came so close again.

Curry drew two deep shooting fouls at the start of overtime and made all four free throws, and Harrison Barnes hit a corner 3 just in front of the Cavs bench to give Golden State a 105-98 lead with 2:02 to play and sent the crowd screaming at full throat.

Irving limped to the bench trying to shake off his troublesome left leg after the play. He was replaced by Matthew Dellavedova.

The Warriors went ahead 108-98 on free throws with 1:16 to play. James' layup with 8.9 seconds left accounted for Cleveland's only points in overtime.

James, who missed three shots and had two turnovers in overtime, walked off the court in frustration as time expired.

Both teams got through their early jitters and both stars were in full force.

James swished shots inside and out, looking calm and cool on basketball's biggest stage to guide the Cavaliers to a 29-15 lead late in the first quarter.

But the Cavs scored just two points in 4 minutes without James to start the second quarter as the Warriors came rolling back behind Marreese Speights and their second unit.

Curry returned and connected on his first 3-pointer with 4:21 remaining in the quarter, a quick-trigger release over James Jones in the left corner to even the score at 36-all.

Curry stopped and stared at the crowd, giving a high-five to a fan in the front row, and followed with a series of scintillating shots.

But Smith turned in the final highlight of the half. His third 3-pointer — from 29 feet — in the final seconds put Cleveland up 51-48.

James carried Cleveland through a thrilling third quarter, but neither team could pull away. Iguodala's emphatic dunk tied the score at 73-all heading to the fourth, and 48 minutes turned out not to be enough to settle this one.

Tip-ins

Cavaliers: Cleveland is still seeking its first victory in the NBA Finals in franchise history. The Cavs were swept by San Antonio in their only previous appearance in 2007. ... The Cavs had been 7-0 this postseason when James scores at least 30 points.

Warriors: Golden State is 47-3 at home this season, including 8-1 in the playoffs. ... Curry has hit multiple 3s in 21 straight playoff games, tying Ray Allen's NBA playoff record.

Getting a jump

The Game 1 winner of the NBA Finals has a 48-20 series record. James' teams are 18-2 in playoff series when winning the opener and 7-5 when losing Game 1. Curry's Warriors are 3-1 in playoff series when winning the opening game and 1-1 when losing Game 1.

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The Golden State Warriors survived a classic LeBron James performance and beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 108-100 in overtime of Game 1 of the NBA Finals. It's a win that feels much more significant than the 1-0 series lead indicates.

The Cavs followed the blueprint for upsetting the Warriors to the letter through 50 minutes. They got 44 points out of LeBron, grabbed offensive rebounds in bundles early, and had the supposedly injured Kyrie Irving looking downright spry.

But in the last three minutes of overtime the Warriors stole the game, and it came after coach Steve Kerr made a gutsy decision to finally pull out the small-ball lineup he hadn't used all night.

All year the Warriors have been devastating teams by playing a super-small team of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Harrison Barnes, and Draymond Green. Green, at 6-foot-7, is the nominal center. This lineup destroys people on offense because all five guys can shoot threes and attack off the dribble, and it's good enough defensively to hold its own because all five guys can switch on screens and guard multiple positions.

Kerr didn't use it at all in through the 48 minutes of regulation and the first two minutes of overtime, probably because he feared the Cavs would destroy his team on the offensive boards. But when the game was on the line late, Kerr went small, and it paid off.

The Warriors led 100-98 when they went small with 3:16 left. In their next five possessions they scored eight points to push the lead to 108-98 and put the game away.

The maddening thing about this lineup for opponents is that since everyone can shoot, one defensive lapse leads to a wide-open three-pointer — like the one Harrison Barnes drained to make it 105-98 with two minutes left:

To combat this lineup, the Cavs tried to go small(ish) themselves by bringing in James Jones and playing LeBron at the 4. But with Tristan Thompson forced to chase Draymond Green around the court, there was no one home to protect the rim. Once Iguodala gets by J.R. Smith here, only Jones is between him and the basket. If Andrew Bogut is in the game for the Warriors, the Cavs can park at big man at the rim and take away these sorts of drives:

Golden State got some luck as well during this period. Irving left the game with a leg injury and LeBron, who'd been otherworldly all night, couldn't drain a couple of threes to narrow the gap. But it was a devastating stretch for the Cavs, not just because they lost a game they could have easily won and wasted LeBron's 44 points, but because it showed how tough it's going to be for Cleveland to matchup with this lineup.

After the game, Kerr told reporters he went small to try to disrupt LeBron.

"You have to kind of try to keep doing some different things with LeBron because he's, I mean, he's just so talented and can score in so many ways,"he said. "So we just decided to change the look a little bit. Whether that worked or not, I mean, it worked on the scoreboard. He may have missed a couple shots that he had been hitting earlier, but it was just something we did."

Offensive rebounding has been central to the Cavs' success in the playoffs. If they are suddenly forced to go small to match up with the Warriors, that means Timofey Mozgov and Tristan Thompson aren't on the floor at the same time, and the extra possessions Cleveland gets with offensive boards go away. And if Irving is out, what exactly is this small Cavs lineup going to look like?

It'll be fascinating to see if Kerr goes back to this extensively in Game 2, or if he tries to keep it traditional. There's a reason, after all, he refused to use it all night long — over a larger sample size, maybe the big Cavs lineup really would destroy the little Warriors on the boards. But at the very least, both teams now know this wild card is on the table if things are going against Golden State.

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The Warriors overcame a dominant 44-point performance from LeBron James to beat the Cavaliers in Game 1 of the NBA Finals Thursday night.

Facing the Warriors' top-ranked defense, LeBron took over for large portions of the game, willing his team through four quarters before the Cavs eventually crumbled in overtime.

And while James' dominance nearly won the game for the Cavs, the Warriors are willing to live with him scoring 44 points on 38 shots, so long as his teammates aren't getting in on the action.

As ESPN's Ethan Sherwood Strauss wrote, this is part of the Warriors plan: let LeBron dominate and shut down his teammates. Make LeBron win a game by himself. Strauss wrote, "They want a game in which James shoots 38 times, with only four of those tries coming in the restricted area... If LeBron beats Golden State with floaters and step-back jumpers, those are the breaks."

Warriors center Andrew Bogut clarified the philosophy, saying, "He made a lot of tough jumpers that were contested and we'll live with him shooting a lot of shots and scoring 40 because we feel like a lot of guys who are key to them winning a series don't get touches and don't get going."

While James hasn't been efficient in isolations this postseason, scoring just 0.68 points per possession and shooting 32.5% on shots out of isolation, he still powered to 20 points on isolations Thursday night, according to SportVU.

Despite putting talented defenders like Harrison Barnes, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala, and Klay Thompson on him, LeBron bullied and tumbled his way to the basket, tossing up a variety of tough floaters and fadeaways:

The Warriors will concede this tough move from LeBron, because they're denying the rest of the Cavs:

Eventually, James wore down, missing five of his final six shots, and as Bogut suggested, the rest of his teammates were out-of-sync on offense. The Cavs missed 12 consecutive shots in a stretch from the fourth quarter to overtime, with J.R. Smith missing his final four shots in that stretch and Timofey Mozgov missing his final two shots.

Worsening matters for Cleveland is that James will have to carry an even heavier load after his best supporting cast member, Kyrie Irving, left the game early with a knee injury. Irving had 23 points on 10-22 shooting last night and can make James' life easier as a playmaker or spot-up shooter. 

The Warriors' philosophy of letting LeBron just dominate could bite them at some point. LeBron nearly carried the Cavs to a win in Game 1, and he's certainly done it on his own in the past. However, the Warriors are hedging a bet that James doesn't have enough 40-point explosions in him to beat them four times, and it paid off in Game 1.

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LeBron James was not surrounded by All-Stars during his first tenure in Cleveland.

Until he got to Miami, the best players he ever played with were Larry Hughes, Mo Williams, and Carlos Boozer (for one year).

Now that he's back in Cleveland, we took a look at what some of his very best former Cavs teammates are up to today.

A few are still in the NBA, a few are in broadcasting, one is in Lebanon, and one is living the dream life in rural Kansas.

Delonte West played with LeBron from 2007 to 2010.

He now plays alongside Michael Beasley for the Shanghai Sharks, which are owned by Yao Ming.

Source: CBS

Kevin Ollie played with LeBron in his rookie year in 2003.