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Oakland, Calif. • The past nine times LeBron James has lost the opening game of a playoff series, his team has responded with a win.
After his Cleveland Cavaliers were beaten handily, 104-89, on Thursday night in Game 1 of the NBA Finals by the Golden State Warriors, James will need to run that streak to 10 in Game 2 of this best-of-seven series Sunday night if he and the Cavaliers want to have a realistic chance of making this a competitive matchup.
"I don't know," James said Friday afternoon. "My team has always been able to recalibrate, look at the mistakes that we had in Game 1, I guess, and come up with a better game plan in Game 2 and be able to execute it.
"So I've been part of some resilient teams that've bounced back from a Game 1 loss either at home or on the road."
The reason James has been part of such resilient teams has been, in large part, because of his own resilience. His statistics in those nine games - 29 points, 8.4 rebounds and 6.2 assists - are right in line with his career averages in the postseason, a sign that he isn't impacted by the heightened pressure that comes in those situations.
Whether the same can be said for the rest of this Cavaliers team, however, is another story. Kevin Love had never played past the first round of the playoffs before this season, and Kyrie Irving played only in Game 1 of last year's Finals before being lost for the rest of the series with a knee injury. The pair received significant criticism for the way they played in Games 3 and 4 of the Eastern Conference finals in Toronto, with some wondering if the pressure of the moment would be overwhelming.
But while Irving (26 points) and Love (17 points and 13 rebounds) produced in Game 1, Cleveland's bench got outscored 45-10 by Golden State. Rather than shifting away from what has worked for the Cavaliers until now, though, James said he and his teammates have to rely on each other as opposed to him shouldering a bigger load.
"Oh, absolutely," James said. "I mean, from one game you don't just throw everything out.
"It was after Game 4 in the Toronto series, you guys asked me about taking the series over or whatever the case may be because Kyrie and Kevin had struggled a bit. But we got to this point because our bench has been so productive. We got to that point in the Toronto series because Kyrie and Kevin carried us along that way.
"So you don't just throw everything away over one game. Our bench has been so productive for us. They know they're going to have to have a great series for us to win it."
One surprising message coming from the Cavaliers on Friday was a desire to increase the tempo in Game 2. Doing so would seem to play into the hands of the Warriors, who thrive in transition situations that allow Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson to hunt for open three-pointers on fast breaks that get the home crowd into the game.
But Cavaliers Coach Tyronn Lue emphasized the need to play faster repeatedly during his media session Friday, highlighting how Golden State's ability to switch on defense was forcing Cleveland to be stagnant in its half-court offense. He also said the pace of play begins with his star, adding that he has urged James to pick things up when these teams take the court again Sunday night.
"We want a faster pace so we can get up the floor and get guys open shots in transition," Lue said. "But I think the floor's more open when you're able to play with pace, and LeBron and Kyrie can get downhill.
"When we're playing that way, we're a lot better. They're switching one through five, and they make you stagnant and make you play one-on-one basketball because that's all you can get. So if we pick up the pace and play with a faster tempo offensively, I think we'll be fine."
The past nine times a team featuring James has been in this position, things were fine in Game 2. Cleveland needs the trend to continue Sunday.