LeBron James Struggles In Crunch Time In Cavs' Game 3 Loss To Celtics

LeBron James played uncharacteristically poorly in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals, and it was one of the main reasons why the Boston Celtics upset the Cleveland Cavaliers 111-108 at Quicken Loans Arena on Sunday night.

James scored just 11 points on 4-for-13 shooting, including an 0-for-4 mark from 3-point range. It was the Cavs forward’s lowest scoring output of the 2017 NBA playoffs, and ended his streak of eight straight postseason games with 30-plus points.

For a while it looked like James’ off night wasn’t going to matter. Cleveland led by as many as 21 points in the third quarter and looked well on its way to taking a commanding 3-0 series lead. But James failed to score in the entire fourth quarter as the C’s made a thrilling comeback.

LeBron James – Final 16:31 of Game 3
Points 0
FG 0-4
3-pt FG 0-2
TO 2
Rebounds 1
Assists 1

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 22, 2017

James’ fourth-quarter struggles ended another streak, too.

This is the largest blown lead of LeBron James postseason career (21 points). His teams were 49-0 when they led by 20 points or more.

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 22, 2017

James had played exceptionally well in the playoffs before Sunday night, and even after scoring 11 points in Game 3, he’s still averaging 26.4 points, 8.7 assists and 8.6 rebounds over 11 postseason games.

The Cavs might have eased off the gas pedal a little bit in the second half of Game 3. In fairness, they were coming off one of the most convincing wins in conference finals history and should have won Sunday despite not playing their best.

You can bet James will come into Game 4 highly motivated to put Sunday’s performance behind him and push the Celtics to the brink of elimination.