It took the Cleveland Cavaliers the full route just to get past the first round, as they needed seven games to repulse the Indiana Pacers and book a ticket to the Eastern Conference semifinals. That would not have been possible without the gargantuan effort of Cavs superstar LeBron James, who has done a spectacular job of carrying his team on his back and delivering on an almost nightly basis.
Cleveland fans and LeBron’s teammates surely are all appreciative of The King’s heroics, including sharpshooter J.R. Smith, who took to Instagram to express his admiration for the Cavs’ leader in a very J.R. Smith way.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BiM-GBNHpPl/
LeBron James has simply been phenomenal in these playoffs. In the first round, James put up 34.4 points, grabbed 10.0 rebounds, and dished out 7.7 dimes against the Pacers. Even without a single teammate scoring 20 points at any game in the series, LeBron managed to tow his team to the next round through a sheer display of grit, determination, and flat-out greatness in playing basketball.
The going gets tougher for James and company, as they are set to face the conference’s no. 1 seeds in the Toronto Raptors beginning this Tuesday in Canada.
In three meetings with the Raptors back in the regular season, James averaged 29.3 points with a 57.1 field goal shooting percentage. He also posted 6.7 rebounds and 8.0 assists and connected on 40.0 percent of his shots from behind the arc.
The Cavaliers have won all of their last six postseason games against Toronto.
Cleveland swept the Raps in the second round of last year’s playoffs.