A lack of confidence and four-time MVP LeBron James do not seem to belong in the same sentence.
But close friend J.R. Smith said that was the crux of James' disappearing act at Quicken Loans Arena on Sunday night, when the Cavaliers blew a 21-point third-quarter lead in their Eastern Conference playoff game and lost 111-108 to the Boston Celtics, as James finished with 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting.
He played the entire fourth quarter and went scoreless for the first time since Feb. 24, 2006, in a regular-season game against the Washington Wizards. It was the fourth-lowest point total of James' playoff career.
"He's got to be aggressive, get downhill, play like he's been playing, play confident," Smith told the Akron Beacon Journal after practice Monday. "That's what I always think, when people of his stature or people like him, you've got to play confident the whole night and play aggressive.
"It's the Eastern Conference finals. It's not enough for him. For what he does, what he brings, it's not enough. He knows that. We know that. Just expect him to be better in Game 4."
Smith figured James replayed the loss later and picked apart his performance, which included a team-high six turnovers. While James said he "didn't have it" afterward, Celtics coach Brad Stevens wasn't critical of James' performance, either on Sunday or Monday. He said James, who had six assists, was finding the hot shooters — Kevin Love (28 points), Kyrie Irving (29 points) and Smith (13 points).
"I thought LeBron made a lot of the right plays. When you've got guys that are all on fire the way they are, the right basketball play is to find them. He just made it over and over," Stevens said.
Etc.
• Forward Paul Millsap will not exercise his player option with Atlanta for the 2017-18 season, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. But Millsap, scheduled to make more than $21 million next season, has until June 23 to declare.
