The Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James shrugged off any notion of slowing down after he was hit squarely in the jaw during a collision with Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum.
Tatum lunged for a steal near the sideline and collided with James, as his shoulder connected with the King, leaving him a bit dazzled for a few seconds.
“It was a tough blow, obviously incidental,” said James after suffering a 107-94 loss on Tuesday night, according to Jared Weiss of The Athletic. “His shoulder hit me square in the jaw, so I just wanted to go back and make sure everything was fine. But it didn’t affect my game after that.”
James got off to a rousing 21-point first quarter, but only mustered four points in the second, going a mere 1-of-2 from the field and 2-of-4 from the foul line.
He scored seven points in the third, despite playing the entire quarter, as the Celtics started to find some separation, taking a seven-point lead into the fourth quarter.
James had the legendary bounce-back game that was expected of him but ironically resulted in a 107-94 loss, putting his team in a 0-2 hole before going back home to Quicken Loans Arena.
Oddly enough, James is now 1-2 in 40-point triple-doubles in the postseason. The other two were against the Indiana Pacers on April 20 last year, which he won; and the other against the Golden State Warriors on June 14, 2015, which he lost.