Los Angeles Lakers: LeBron James is the most important player in Game 4

LeBron James needs to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a Game 4 victory.

Welcome to Kevin’s Key. Where we determine the key player to determine victory or defeat for your Los Angeles Lakers! The key player for tonight’s game is LeBron James.     

See below for past Kevin’s Key Players to the NBA Finals. (I would be 100% in my predictions if I had swapped out Games 2 and 3.)

Past Kevin’s Keys:

• Game 1: Kevin’s Key to Los Angeles Lakers vs Miami Heat
• Game 2: Kevin’s Key to Los Angeles Lakers vs Miami Heat
• Game 3: Kevin’s Key to Los Angeles Lakers vs Miami Heat

Slow down, LeBron critics: the Los Angeles Lakers are still up 2-1. LeBron has 10 NBA Finals appearances! This is more than any other NBA team except for the Lakers, Boston Celtics, and the Golden State Warriors.

Let that sink in. The NBA dates back to 1947. LeBron in 16 seasons has had more Finals appearances than 27 other teams in their entire history. Last season notwithstanding, in each of LeBron’s playoff appearances, he has made the NBA Finals nine consecutive times.

Wow. And this is the hottest take going into Game 4.

Yes. His critics are right. LeBron should have stayed on the court. He has done this before. He tends to leave the court early when the outcome is decided.

Do I care? No. But his critics do. Hot takes about LeBron leaving the court early gets a lot more attention than it should.

The real story provides far more cannon fodder: Jimmy Butler dominated him in their head-to-head matchup – dropping 40 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists.

Jimmy Butler is trouble for the Lakers. 

Miami was good on offense. They only had to make adjustments on defense. They made the right ones, to stand a chance in this series. They went away from their inverted 2/3 zone, which proved to be ineffective. They only played a more pack-it-in iteration of their zone when either LeBron or AD was resting.

Instead, they mainly played their trademark brand of man-to-man defense: pressuring the ball, lightning-quick rotations, and helping the helper – if this sounds familiar, this was the same kind of defense LeBron played while he was in Miami.

The Lakers struggle against half-court pressure. Toronto can attest, as they gave the Lakers major trouble in their bubble seeding game. If I am being honest, none of the Lakers playoffs opponents to date pressured the ball. Portland, Houston, and Denver never played this kind of defense.

Miami is different. Due to the pressure, the Lakers had 10 turnovers in the first quarter. All because the pressure cooked their ball-handlers.

The game devolved into swinging the ball around until there was a semi-contested three-pointer available. Maybe they thought they were playing for Houston. The stats sure looked like it: 89 three-point attempts in the last two games.

89 three-pointers! That’s not Lakers basketball.

In all fairness, the Lakers were playing 5 on 8 at times. Longtime NBA official Scott Foster took AD out of the game. Foster’s questionable calls made AD all done after he picked up his fourth foul in the third quarter.

(In AD’s defense, post players always struggle when they are in foul trouble.)

Anytime a ref is talked about, that’s bad for the league. Scott Foster’s officiating, no matter how bad, does not excuse this kind of defense from the Lakers.

Defense wins championships. LeBron James is the leader of this team. This is not championship-level defense. This is barely even four-games-in-five-night level defense.

I am not done here. LeBron had several defensive lapses. One of Miami’s favorite sets is the “pistol” action, a common NBA set where the big man at the top of the key will dribble handoff to a guard coming off a screen. The guard can either shoot immediately or attack the basket.

In this case, it was Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson screening for each other. Miami likes to involve both of them because both are major threats from three-point range. The three Laker defenders involved in the action are in a predicament.

Dwight Howard has to jump out to defend Herro, which he did (albeit unsuccessfully). Danny Green and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had to stay tight on Herro and Robinson, respectively, to prevent them from getting a wide-open three.

Hence why LeBron is at fault. As the initial strongside help defender, he cannot allow Meyers Leonard to get a wide-open dunk on the roll. He has to “tag” over to cut off Leonard, then he can close out to Butler (not a willing three-point shooter).

LeBron cannot say he does not know the play. Back in the 2017 playoffs, he was coaching the Toronto Raptors on how to run this action. 

Granted, this is not easy – help defense never is – but LeBron is one of the 10 greatest basketball players ever. LeBron is capable of singlehandedly decimating opponents on defense.

Related: Los Angeles Lakers: LeBron James’ genius defense vs. Clippers explained

I am not inside that locker room. I cannot speak as to whether his poor body language hurts the team. It is definitely hurting his own defensive performance. Regardless, the Lakers have to play better defense to decisively win Game 4.

Another example: Markeiff Morris, as great as he played, tag-teamed with LeBron to give Miami’s Jae Crowder a wide-open layup on this possession.

Not even Scott Foster can be blamed for this. This is just bad defense. It all starts by playing better defense. It ends by making adjustments on offense.

LeBron needs to take over the game, on both ends. Not easy. Neither is making the NBA Finals ten out of sixteen times.

I am aware I flip-flopped from my previous article. Previously I said Anthony Davis needs to have the ball in his hands. AD was proclaimed as the new Lakers go-to guy.

Related: Los Angeles Lakers: How Anthony Davis found his Mamba Mentality

I was wrong. At least for this series. My bad. I should have known Miami would double AD. The Lakers have to make an offensive adjustment to counter Miami’s pressure.

I have one: put LeBron in the low block and post up Jimmy Butler. Ironically, this was the answer when LeBron, then in Miami, was questioning himself after an NBA Finals collapse against the Dallas Mavericks. He found his answer training with hall of fame center Hakeem Olajuwon the following offseason. Two NBA titles followed.

Running the offense through LeBron in the post solves a lot of the Lakers’ immediate problems stemming from Game 3. They were outscored 52-34 in the paint. Miami also had 21 points off Laker turnovers. Most of those turnovers came from either sloppy dribbling or passing on the perimeter. Posting up at least guarantees one guy will be back on defense if there is a turnover.

Ironically, this is what LeBron did a lot in Miami. They would run their offense through LeBron in the low post. Lakers coach Frank Vogel, during his time as the Indiana Pacers coach in the early 2010’s, had to game plan against LeBron’s post-up game in their playoff battles. Vogel and the rest of the coaching staff will get on board if LeBron wants to post up more.

Given LeBron is an all-time great passer, Miami would be foolish to double-team him. If they guard him straight up, LeBron has two inches and at least 20 pounds on Jimmy Butler, Andre Iguodala, and Jae Crowder. Having to guard in the low post will definitely hurt each of them on offense.

If the Lakers cannot win, at least they can make Miami lose. The only way Miami can win is if Butler turns in a 30/10/10 performance. That is extremely difficult putting up those numbers while also defending LeBron in the low post.

All in all, LeBron James has one of the most decorated résumés in NBA history. The King James moniker has been earned time and time again. The stage is set for King James to take a commanding 3-1 series lead.

Will LeBron wear his crown?