LeBron James had one of his worst playoff performances of his career that played a factor in the Cleveland Cavaliers‘ disappointing loss in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals where the Boston Celtics overcame a 21-point deficit.
This immediately had many wondering why James experienced such a big dip in his play after breezing through the first 10 games of the playoffs. That said, his teammate Richard Jefferson has confirmed that the four-time league MVP was sick heading into that contest.
“I know he won’t talk about it, so I’ll give my big guy a shout,” Jefferson told Fox Sports Ohio. “Deron Williams missed shootaround this morning because he had like a little bug, really lethargic, had no energy. And I think that’s what ‘Bron had. And sometimes these little bugs can go around. And [James] was like, dude when Deron didn’t show up to shootaround, it kind of started clicking in his head. Because for him it was more of like, ‘I don’t know why I was so lethargic, why I had no energy, I had nothing.’
James also admitted at Thursday morning shootaround that he is still dealing with the illness but didn’t entertain the idea of possibly sitting out Game 5 at TD Garden. It is arguably the biggest game of the season with a chance for the Cavaliers to reach a third straight NBA Finals.
Although James may still be sick, it should be an afterthought following his stellar performance in the 112-99 win in Game 4 scoring 34 points on 15-of-27 shooting with six assists and five rebounds in the 112-99 win. He was able to overcome early foul trouble to score 24 points in the second half with 15 coming in the fourth quarter alone.
If James struggles for any reason, his health will likely be a talking point. However, that shouldn’t be the case as he has a well-documented history of having strong outings in close-out playoff games.