CLEVELAND -- In more than 35 years in professional basketball, 11 as a player and over two decades as an NBA coach, Cleveland Cavaliers assistant Larry Drew has seen plenty of talented players put on impressive performances.
But Drew was left amazed following the Cavaliers’ 132-129 win over the Toronto Raptors at Quicken Loans Arena Wednesday, as small forward LeBron James scored 35 points, handed out 17 assists and committed no turnovers in a team-high 39 minutes.
“I’ve never seen anything like it, to be perfectly honest with you,” Drew said. “Seventeen assists, 35 points and no turnovers. It’s just amazing at what he does, night in and night out. How he sustains it is just mind-boggling. He’s just one of those guys.”
James scored the 35 points on 11-of-19 shooting from the field, and after recent comments, cashed in on 12 of his 14 tries at the free-throw line, all of which Drew believes is a product of a mindset from Cleveland’s on-court leader.
“First of all, he is so driven to win and to be the best,” Drew said. “What he brings for us? You just can’t describe it.
“He is the guy that we know we go through and depend on a lot. We need him to bring the other guys along, which he has done. But it just seems like every night, the things that he does, I sit over there and kind of just shake my head. I’m just glad that I’m coaching him.”
Last night, @KingJames became the first player in #NBA history to record 35+ points, 15+ assists and zero turnovers since the @NBA started recording turnovers in 1977-78. (Elias Sports Bureau)
BREAKING DOWN THE W → https://t.co/3wL9dtDfZe pic.twitter.com/6yLQqdwism
With 27.5 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and the Cavaliers clinging to a one-point lead against the Raptors, James drove from the top of the key toward the hoop, and when center Serge Ibaka rotated to cut off the lane, he slipped a no-look pass to the corner, where Kevin Love buried the 1,000th three-pointer of his career.
“At the start of the third quarter, I know with LeBron that he was going to take it to another gear, take it to another level,” Drew said. “I could see it in his eyes, and we got off to a great start in that third quarter. It wasn’t the offense. We got defensive stops, and we built off that.
“You could kind of see, as the game kind of went on, he just kind of took it upon himself and started making more plays and made a tremendous find on Kevin towards the end in the corner for the three-point shot. ‘Bron is just, he’s that guy. When things seem a little bleak, he’s the guy that can get you over that hump.”
LeBron James vs. Toronto tonight: 35 points, 17 assists and ZERO turnovers!pic.twitter.com/m1ATP7KSXx
Behind a performance like James’ against the Raptors, Drew believes it can set the Cavaliers on a path toward getting back to the NBA Finals for the fourth consecutive season.
“I don’t know what ‘Bron might’ve been thinking, but I always say there is one game during the season that changes your team,” Drew said.
“That game can be early. It can be midway. It can be late, but there’s always one game that kind of changes your team, the mindset, and I really believe (Wednesday’s) game might’ve done that for us, particularly because No. 1, we were shorthanded. No. 2, we played a really good basketball team and the fact that we came down from a deficit, which very few teams do against this team.”
