LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers took care of the Indiana Pacers and Paul George in the 10th playoff sweep of James’ career. It was a hard-fought series, but the Cavs and The King were just too much for the Pacers to handle, and the world champs earned an entire week off as their then-potential opponents Milwaukee Bucks and Toronto Raptors were battling it out in a slug-fest that went six games.
With the Cavs resting up and turning their focus to the next round, James opened up about playing on the road during the playoffs in comparison to in front of his home fans. James has won a playoff game on the road in 27 series throughout his career, the most in NBA history, and the four-time MVP revealed he loves playing on the road more so than at home during the playoffs, via Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com.
“I just like the adversity of the road,” James said on Friday.
“Home cooking is great, love the home fans for 14 years. But I love playing out on the road more than I love playing at home. It’s just a weird thing.”
“I love the adversity, I love the, ‘Tonight is not the night’ LeBron slogans,” James said. “I love the ‘You’re overrated’ and all those things. I like all that. I don’t know man. It’s the bunker mentality of knowing it’s 15 guys plus the coaching staff and whoever there that’s traveled with us against the whole state and the whole city.”
James is not your usual NBA star. He embraces all the hate and challenges instead of running from them. The Raptors are familiar foes, and despite his record setting road wins, he understands he might not need to this series as the Cavs hold home court advantage.
“No built-in advantage,” he said. “Doesn’t mean I’m going to be able to win a road game in this series. Just play the game. For me I just go out and try to win every game and do whatever it takes to help our team be successful. Going to a hostile building in Game 3 and Game 4 and we know that. Their fans are unbelievable.”
The Cavs face the Raptors in Game 1 on Monday night inside Quicken Loans Arena.
