There’s no secret behind it: The Eastern Conference has solely belonged to LeBron James in the past seven years. No matter the team he’s on or the competition he faces, James has wreaked havoc on each team that’s stood in front of him in every postseason since 2010 — Boston, Chicago and Indiana — to name a few.
Each of those three teams, after falling to James’s Cavaliers or Heat in their respective series, would drastically shake-up their roster in the days following their elimination.
Next up on the list for James: The Toronto Raptors, who already fell to James during last year’s conference finals. These Toronto Raptors, led by Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, have been unable to gain any ground on James. Despite trading for defensive stoppers Serge Ibaka and P.J. Tucker and seemingly creating a roster that some believed could challenge Cleveland, the Cavaliers currently hold a commanding 3-0 lead over the Raptors behind some stellar play from No. 23.
“They’ve got LeBron James,” Lowry told The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Friday night. “Nobody’s closing the gap on him. I mean, that’s it right there: They’ve got LeBron James and nobody’s closing the gap on him.”
James is playing some of the best basketball of his postseason career during these playoffs, averaging a ridiculous 34.3 points, nine rebounds and 7.3 assists per game. His Cavaliers are an Eastern Conference best 7-0 so far.
“I don’t know when his prime is going to stop,” Lowry told The Vertical. “I don’t think it’s going to stop anytime soon. I think he’ll be able to continue what he’s doing for a long time. But that’s basketball. You’ve got to find a way to beat the best.”
With Kyle Lowry nursing an ankle injury and missing Game 3, the Raptors’ chances at coming back in the series are minuscule at best. DeMar DeRozan is being asked to carry the offensive load against a well-oiled machine in the Cleveland Cavaliers, which unquestionably won’t end well for the Raptors (as seen in Game 3). To beat the Cavaliers, to beat LeBron James, it’ll require your team being a well-oiled machine as well — and then some.
Should Lowry not play Sunday in Game 4 — which he currently doubts he’ll be able to — it’s quite possible that last week’s Game 2 was the final time we see Kyle Lowry in a Toronto Raptors jersey. Lowry has a $12 million player option for next season that he’ll surely decline to pick up, which would allow him to become a free agent on July 1.
If Lowry chooses to leave Toronto in July, it would only add to LeBron James’s collection of team’s that were forced to break up because of his dominance. It was done by Michael Jordan in the 90’s, and continues to happen today from James.
“Michael Jordan, the same way,” Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue told The Vertical on Friday night. “There’s a reason why guys like Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing and Reggie Miller don’t have championships, because of Michael Jordan. And now, in this era, because of LeBron James.”
