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James knows this is a problem. After the game, he told reporters:
"In fourth quarter, I played way too much isolation basketball, one‑on‑one basketball, a lot of defenses set, and I was letting the clock run down way too much. I just had to take the shot or I was giving it to my guys late in the shot clock, and they couldn't do nothing with it besides shoot it or turn the ball over. So I will do a better job. I'll probably watch the game over again tonight, as I try to get my body ready for Game 2. So it starts with me."
While it's encouraging that James is aware that he played one-on-one too much, this wasn't a one-game problem. According to NBA.com/Stats, James is leading all players in isolations in the playoffs. He has a league-high 102 isolation possessions, eight more than the second-closest player, James Harden, and 58 more than the third-closest player, Jamal Crawford. Nearly one-third (32%) of James' possessions have been isolations.
And LeBron hasn't been efficient in these plays. He's averaging just 0.77 points per possession on isolations, ranking him in the 19th percentile of all players. His field-goal percentage is down to 33%, and his effective-field-goal percentage, which weights three-pointers versus two-pointers, is 34.5%.
Another indication that James is going one-on-one too often is the number of dribbles he's taking before a shot. According to NBA.com/Stats, 30% of LeBron's shots come after seven or more dribbles.
Earlier in the playoffs, Tom Haberstroh wrote an ESPN Insider article about LeBron's tendency to isolate. He discussed it with Bill Simmons on the "B.S. Report," saying:
"[LeBron's] averaging 11.2 isolations per game, according to Synergy Sports video tracking, which is more than every other player in the NBA by far ... And the problem, Bill, here is he's not athletic enough to do that. He might've been able to pull that off in Cleveland five years ago, but this 30-year-old LeBron doesn't have the athleticism to just power through guys, turn that corner, and get up. So, it's inefficient, and it's just bad to watch, and if you're a teammate, standing in the corner and watching LeBron go one-against-three, like he did against Chicago, that's gotta be kind of deflating."
