LeBron James has been in this position before. Sixteen times, to be exact.
So as he stepped to the podium following the Cleveland Cavaliers' 108-83 loss to the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals -- the 17th Game 1 defeat of his postseason career -- perhaps it should hardly come as a surprise that the 3-time NBA champion remained unfazed.
"Game 1 has always been a feel out game, for me, if you've ever followed my history," James said in Boston on Sunday.
He isn't lying.
Even throwing out his first 12 postseason runs, which has included NBA Finals appearances in each of the last seven years, James has especially used Game 1s to "feel out" his opponent throughout the 2018 playoffs.
In Game 1 of the Cavs' opening-round series against the Indiana Pacers, the 4-time MVP totaled a triple-double, but did so on an uninspired 7-of-17 shooting performance in a 98-80 Cleveland loss. A round later, James shot 12-for-30 from the field -- and yet still managed to record a triple-double -- as the Cavs overcame a double-digit second-half deficit to beat the Toronto Raptors in overtime of their Game 1 battle.
"It was probably one of my worst games of the season," James said of his performance, in which he shot 3-of-15 after halftime.
Admittedly, this Game 1 loss against Boston was much worse, as the 14-time All-Star totaled just 15 points on 5-of-16 shooting to go along with 9 assists, 7 rebounds and 7 turnovers. The blowout nature of the Cavs defeat, however, likely played a hand in his unimpressive stat line, as Cleveland surrendered a 17-0 first-quarter run and never inched back any closer than 14 points for the remainder of the game.
Boston's game plan of forcing James' teammates to beat them obviously played a big part in that. But rather than throwing a counterpunch, James seemed content to take the Celtics' best shot, while simultaneously scouting their approach for a multi-round fight.
"I got a good sense of the way they played me today," James said, "and you know, how I'll play going into Game 2."
It also didn't help that James' teammates failed to take advantage of the Celtics' gameplan, particularly from 3-point range. The Cavs -- who consider the long ball a part of their "DNA" -- shot just 4-for-26 from long distance, with James being responsible for five of those misses.
Despite his and his teammates' lackluster showing, James remains plenty confident heading into Game 2. After all, while an 0-1 deficit is hardly anything new to him, you'd have to go all the way back to 2008 to find the last time he fell behind 0-2 in an Eastern Conference series.
“I have zero level of concern at this stage,” James said. “I didn’t go to college, so it’s not March Madness. You get better throughout the series. You see ways you can get better throughout the series, but I’ve been down 0-1."
