LeBron James | Pace and Space

Breakfast Special: Cleveland Cadavers

January 12, 2018January 12, 2018 - by Fox Doucette

Just when you thought the Cleveland Cavaliers couldn’t get any worse after that ritual slaughter they endured in Minnesota Monday night, they came out and lost 133-99 to the Toronto Raptors. They’ve lost their previous two games by a combined 260-198, dropping their season-long point differential all the way to plus-1.1 in 96 minutes of basketball. Put another way, they dropped from a fringe contender to a team that would expect to go 44-38 over the course of a full season. Meanwhile, Toronto, with the big win, extended their own differential to plus-8.3, the second-best mark in all of basketball …

Highlights

Breakfast Special: Chef Curry, Extra Spicy

January 9, 2018January 9, 2018 - by Fox Doucette

The Denver Nuggets had four players with at least 20 points in Oakland Monday night. They shot 49.5 percent from the field and racked up 114 points. Trouble is, Stephen Curry exploded for 32 points, the Warriors shot 56.5 percent as a team, and the Nugs, who seem to only win on Friday and Saturday, lost another game during the week to the tune of 124-114. For Curry, it was another fantastic display of efficiency. 9-of-17 from the field. 5-of-10 for three. 9-of-10 from the line. Just a .529/.500/.900 line because he clearly got upgraded to MVP caliber again during …

Highlights

NBA Breakfast Special: LeBronzo

December 15, 2017 - by Fox Doucette

Lonzo Ball got a chance to showcase his skills in front of someone who, if the rumors are true, will be his teammate next year. Against LeBron James, Ball had 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting, dished 11 assists, and grabbed eight rebounds, but a near-triple-double was no match for an actual triple-double; LeBron had 25 points, 12 boards, and 12 dimes. Kyle Kuzma continues to stand as the Lakers’ best rookie; he had 20 points off the bench on 8-of-16. It was a curious game from long range for Cleveland. LeBron was 1-of-7; Jae Crowder was 1-of-6. The rest of …

Highlights

NBA Breakfast Special: LeBron James Vs. The World

December 1, 2017November 30, 2017 - by Fox Doucette

LeBron James is still savage after all these years… .@KingJames is out here trying to end careers… 😳 pic.twitter.com/dqWGXpaT8I — NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) December 1, 2017 And as if that weren’t enough, he’s doing Dikembe’s finger wave in front of Hawks fans in Atlanta… .@KingJames gives Atlanta the finger-wave after another HUGE block! ☝️ pic.twitter.com/DDqzLZVg9D — NBA TV (@NBATV) December 1, 2017 Bron had 24 points on 8-of-11 shooting, Kevin Love added 25 points and 16 rebounds, and the Cleveland Cavaliers, behind a 40-29 rebounding advantage and 18 three-pointers made in 39 tries (46.2 percent!), beat Atlanta 121-114 to …

Analysis

NBA Breakfast Special: Black Friday Observations

November 24, 2017November 24, 2017 - by Fox Doucette

Rather than do highlights on this Black Friday edition of the Breakfast Special, we’re going to instead take a look at the things in the NBA that make the least sense, the “something weird is going to happen before Christmas” predictions that you can take to the bank. Why? Because I’m as turkeyed out as the rest of you lot; I took yesterday off, and who really wants to see highlights of two-day-old games? Let’s begin with… The Oklahoma City Thunder, A Third-Place Team With an Eighth-Place Record Oklahoma City is 8-9 through 17 games, and that just makes no …

Highlights

NBA Breakfast Special: Le Morte d’Arthur Memes

November 14, 2017November 14, 2017 - by Fox Doucette

Man, the Cleveland Cavaliers just make no sense at all anymore, huh? One night they’re left for dead, the next LeBron James is back in 2007 and singlehandedly willing a G-League team toward the playoffs. But what really mattered in their come-from-23-points-behind win over the Knicks? Arthur memes, that’s what. How many Cavs players posted Arthur memes after they beat the Knicks? Not one, not two, not three… https://t.co/emzJglL4id — Sports Illustrated (@SInow) November 14, 2017 This is the first display of true team unity we’ve seen from Cleveland, and it all started when, early in the third quarter, Tyronn …

Analysis

Larry Bird vs. LeBron James At Age 30: Who Was Really Better?

November 8, 2017November 8, 2017 - by Fox Doucette

This graphic has been making the rounds on Facebook. It’s a collection of cherry-picked counting stats without context about Larry Bird and LeBron James. In case that’s not showing up in detail on your mobile device: Bird: 28.1 pts/9.2 reb/7.6 ast/52.2 FG%/26.4 PER. LeBron: 25.3 pts/6.0 reb/7.4 ast/48.8 FG%/25.8 PER. The moral of the story, such as it seems to be, is that Bird soundly beats LeBron, and if you go by counting stats, at age 30 that’s absolutely the case. Things fall apart in a hurry when you start into Advanced Stats 101. We begin by breaking down those …

Highlights

NBA Breakfast Special: Clippermania

October 25, 2017 - by Fox Doucette

by Fox Doucette The Los Angeles Clippers are sixth in the NBA in Offensive Rating and the best in Defensive Rating. As much fun as small sample sizes are, a +25.3 point differential is fiendishly difficult to ignore. And sure enough, Steve Ballmer’s plaything went out and stomped the Utah Jazz, owners of the league’s ninth-best defense and slowest pace, scoring 102 points on a squad that plays at a 94.1 pace like nobody told them it’s not 1997 anymore. Note the score here in this clip with two minutes left. Then consider the final score was 102-84: Big Shot …