Though a few of the games made the ABC cut, and LeBron James made waves Wednesday for his comments on the Philadelphia 76ers coming off like so many orders of tea and toast, James and his Heat have somewhat fallen off of the radar as the NBA looks to other, more competitive series.
That doesn't mean James has fallen off. His play in the first round was superb, and a portion of it needs to be addressed as the Heat gear up for their second-round pairing with the Boston Celtics.
The Heat are playing the second-slowest pace of the playoffs, which hinders a player's ability to put up individual stats, but that hasn't stopped James from averaging 24.2 points, 10.6 rebounds, and over six assists per game in his five outings against Philly. All of this came against Sixers wing stopper Andre Iguodala, who as Tom Haberstroh mentioned Wednesday, held opponents to terrible Travis Outlaw-esque production as a defender during the regular season.
Better, James has significantly cut down on his turnovers. The Sixers were just ahead of the middle of the pack in causing turnovers per possession this year, but their long arms can still get in the way. Not for James' passes, though.
Before Wednesday's game, James held the lowest turnover rate among all qualified postseason players, as just 4.4 percent of his possessions ended with a giveaway, according to Basketball-Reference.com. That was less than a third of James's regular-season turnover rate, despite the fact that James was being guarded by one of the top perimeter defenders in the league (Andre Iguodala) and working against Philadelphia's formidable team defense.
The statistical outlook has changed a bit since then, as James's three turnovers in Game 5 nearly doubled his total from the first four games combined. His playoff turnover rate now stands at 6.4 percent, fourth among qualified players. Not quite as good, but considering his track record, remarkable nonetheless.
James has turned it over just seven times since the playoffs began, but the 6.4 mark is worth paying attention to because it accounts for pace, minutes, and the sheer amount of possessions that LeBron uses up. The guy has the ball in his hands a ton, and he's not giving it up.
And now, as Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski points out, James has a chance to lead his team past the more-celebrated-but-less-prone-to-celebrating Big Three his Heat were modeled after:
James needs to beat Boston. He lost to the Celtics in 2008 and 2010, and he has won only one playoff game in the Boston Garden. He didn't pick Miami to wait his turn, grind away and eventually break through in the East. Make no mistake: The Heat aren't allowed to lower expectations for themselves. The plan was never for that process to take hold in Miami, because these Celtics are living proof that a freshly minted Big Three could be a champion immediately.
The series starts on Sunday, and color everyone giddy already. This could be the start of the big wave that James so gleefully promised last summer.
Karl Malone Moses Malone Pete Maravich Kevin McHale George Mikan
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