May 22, 2009: LeBron James sinks the game-winning fadeaway 3 to win Game 2 of the ECF! Orlando and Cleveland tip another postseason matchup today at 1pm/et on ESPN 🍿
LeBron James is gearing up for his 17th playoff run and fourth with the Los Angles Lakers. It has been an incredible journey for a hall of fame career. The Lakers were able to get a road victory against the New Orleans Pelicans in the play-in tournament beating them 110-106.
With the victory it set them up to face the Nuggets in the first round, the team that swept them last year in the Conference Finals. Also, the Nuggets have beaten the Lakers eight straight times. In what could be his last playoff run, we wanted to look back at LeBron's historic playoff performances in the first round.
The 39-year-old is gearing up for his 17th playoff appearance, in his long 21 year old career. He has made playoff runs with three different teams and have won NBA Championships on all three in the Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Los Angeles Lakers. He has only missed the playoffs four times.
In his 17 appearances he has played a total of 79 first round playoff games, going 62-17 in them. He has a winning percentage of 78.4% in the first round which is pretty remarkable. Their was only one time that he lost in the first round and that was in 2021 against the Phoenix Suns, loosing the series 4-2.
He is 15-1 in the first round and he will have his hands full this year facing the defending champs, in the Denver Nuggets. LeBron James made his first round debut in 2006 missing the playoffs in his first three years. After making the postseason in 2006, he has only missed the playoffs one more time from 2006-2024 and that came in the first year as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers.
LeBron James has been dominating the first round every year scoring a total of 2,249 points, for an average of 28.5 points per game. Which is around his playoff career average.
His best first round came in his post-season debut when he averaged 35.7 points and helped the Cavaliers win that series 4-2. His second highest came from 2018 when he had that historic playoff run at 33 years old when he averaged 34.4 points against the Indiana Pacers to beat them 4-3.
LeBron James is preparing for what he hopes to be another deep playoff run and it starts this weekend against the Nuggets. He definitely knows it is going to be a challenge beating them since they haven’t in eight straight games. In what could be his last playoff appearance, it is going to be interesting to see if he has one last historic playoff run left in him.
May 22, 2009: LeBron James sinks the game-winning fadeaway 3 to win Game 2 of the ECF! Orlando and Cleveland tip another postseason matchup today at 1pm/et on ESPN 🍿