The Lakers eliminated the Suns from the in-season tournament Tuesday, and in doing so recorded their third straight win against Phoenix this year. While all the games have been close in the fourth quarter, a common concern has emerged for the Suns across all three games, particularly in crunch time. And that concern conveniently has a name: LeBron James.
I know, you’re not here for the breaking news that James is good at basketball and a problem for opponents. Did you know he’s also 38 years old and in his 21st season? What’s interesting, though, is not only that James is succeeding against Phoenix, but how he’s been so successful. And that could be a serious issue for the Suns if these teams meet in a playoff series, as both squads obviously have designs on a championship.
To put it simply: LeBron is getting to the rim too easily vs. Phoenix. In the teams’ three matchups, James is averaging 28.0 points per game on 53.6% shooting. More important, 33 of his 56 field goal attempts have come in the paint. As a result, he’s attempting 8.3 free throws per contest. Compare that to his regular-season averages overall—24.7 points, 9.2 attempts in the paint and 5.7 free throws per game—and you can see there’s a small but clear uptick in when James is playing the Suns.
