LeBron James had himself another good Sunday in Game 2 of the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors. He finished with 29 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds — almost yet another triple-double for the best player in the NBA.
The important to look at there is his assists. He actually could have had a lot more, per Mike Zavagno of Fear the Sword.
Per Zavagno, James had the potential to amass 27 assists in Game 2.
Thirteen assists is nothing to sneeze at, of course. Neither is 21 assists over two games. James is again averaging very close to a triple-double for a series.
But the number of potential assists for James over the first two games of the Finals is significant. It shows, as Zavagno outlines, that James’ teammates are just not getting it done.
Game 1 was a great example of that. James scored 51 points and the Cavaliers still lost. In Game 2, James had better contributions from his teammates, but there were still plenty of times James passed to someone who was open and they missed.
The reason for missing open shots always escapes the minds of the fans. In their minds, players should make 100 percent of the open shots they take.
That’s unrealistic, but it is fair to say that open shots should go in at a higher clip than even moderately contested ones. So the fact that James is creating those shots for the rest of the Cavaliers but they are not going in is a problem for the team.