NBA: LeBron James hopes to lead Cavaliers to NBA title
LeBron James insists he can handle the added pressure as he attempts to guide the injury-hit Cleveland Cavaliers to victory over Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals.
The 30-year-old contributed 39 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists during Sunday’s 95-93 win, levelling the best-of-seven series at 1-1 ahead of game three on Tuesday.
The Cavaliers are without fellow-forward Kevin Love, who suffered a shoulder injury in the first round of the play-offs, while highly-rated guard Kyrie Irving is also absent with a fractured kneecap.
There is more expectation than ever on James to inspire a less experienced line-up as they attempt to defeat the Warriors, who are led by reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Steph Curry.
“I’m not a high-volume shooter. I’ve never been in my career,” said James. “But things have changed on our team where the shots that Kevin and Kyrie would have has now been placed on myself and the rest of the guys as well.
“All we can do is go out and play hard. We’re undermanned. I don’t know any other team in this league that would be able to do that, to be without two All-Stars on their team and compete the way we compete and be a force. So the guys are taking that very personal.”
Golden State possess plenty of exciting attacking talent, with Curry a constant three-point threat, and James admits that Cleveland will be looking to grind out wins instead of being drawn into a scoring duel.
“It’s the grit squad that we have,” he said. “It’s not cute at all. If you’re looking for us to play sexy, cute basketball, then that’s not us right now.
“Everything is tough. We’re going to come in with an aggressive mindset defensively and offensively.”
