CA Oakland — LeBron James has experienced multiple losses in the finals — including 12 losses to Golden State Warriors in the past four years — but he admitted that defeating Cleveland Cavaliers in overtime was the most painful game of his life.
"This is one of the worst failures of my career because of everything we go through in the game and the way we play," James said Saturday. "It's been a tough 24 hours, not only for George Hill , but for myself, but for our entire club, because we put ourselves in a position of success." Hill missed a free throw that could win the game in 4.7 seconds, saying he couldn't fall asleep after losing it and watched the game's replay repeatedly.
James always struggled to sleep after losing in playoffs . At the last moment of the fourth quarter, he maintained the same state.
He said he tried to set an example, starting with Saturday's practice.
"It's a new day. For me, I'm excited about today's opportunity as soon as I wake up, and about tomorrow's opportunity." You give yourself a day. "If you need to spend two days, OK, but today you should be excited about the chance to get better, get better, get better, keep going.
In the first half of Game 1, the Warriors forward Drummond Green was injured in the game, and James was resting. James said his vision was weakened in the second half, although he ended with a career-high 51 points. "It didn't look good, but the doctor told me it was better," James said. "It's going through a phase of recovery." "I'm taking the medicine prescribed by the doctor. My eye drops and antibiotics help me recover as soon as possible. But it's in one eye. I mean, it will recover as soon as possible. There's nothing you can do. I can't add ice or anything like that"
Cavaliers fought alone for most of Friday because there was no formal team training at the time. Some players try to divert their attention by watching movies. Kyle Cover said he didn't like sports centers, but liked watching the comedy "Billy Madison". Little Smith watched the game of Tiger Woods at the Memorial Championships.
On Saturday morning, the team had a movie meeting and they tried to turn a new page and began to focus on the second game.
"The game is over. There is nothing you can do about it," said Cavaliers coach Tay Lu. "So we have to keep moving forward, keep moving forward." From watching the movie today, showing some people we can do better, and all of them are in a good position now, in a good position.
The Cavaliers had only four players left in the 2015 Finals - James, Kevin Love, JR Smith and Tristan Thompson - but they are trying to use their experience in the Finals to prepare them. That year, they lost a tough first game in overtime, and the loss became even more complicated when Kyrie Irving lost due to a fractured kneecap. But the team regained its shape and returned to form, winning the second game or even that series.
"We are very resilient and fight back, forcing us to return to Cleveland ." We hope to do so, too. "But we have to play in the first 5 minutes of Game 2, show our abilities and set the tone."
