CLEVELAND -- For half the players in the NBA, a postseason performance of 24 points, six rebounds, five assists and one steal would be worthy of a time capsule, with the box score matted-and-framed.
For LeBron James, it was below average. Sub-par, and not in the good, golf sense.
It all means the Bulls have something else to worry about for Game 2 of their first-round series against the Cavaliers on Monday night at Quicken Loans Arena. Besides the things they already were worrying about that did not go their way in Game 1.
Nothing really was wrong with James' performance Saturday, least of all the 96-83 outcome. It was just that he usually scores more, rebounds more, assists more and steals more than he did in the playoff opener that never got closer than seven points in the second half.
James' numbers clearly have been gaudier. In the regular season (29.7 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 8.6 apg. 1.6 spg). Over his career (27.8 ppg, 7 rpg, 7 apg, 1.7 spg). And through his first 60 playoff appearances till Saturday (29.4 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 7.3 apg, 1.6 spg). The one category he pushed Saturday was blocked shots, swatting four with a skill honed sharper this season, compared to a 0.9 career average.
So if they Bulls know anything about statistics, and understand even a little about James, they'll realize that "regression to the mean" in this series likely could produce some regression to The Mean from the Cavaliers' star. Possibly as soon as Game 2.
"He's going to have the ball in his hands," Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro said Sunday. "He's going to be in isolations. You have to pick your spots for when you double him, because he sees the court so well and they spread the court with their threes. That's when [Anderson] Varejao is effective coming down the middle and, more importantly, on the rebounds."
Talking with reporters after practice, Del Negro had just gone down all of the items on his team's to-do list -- more conscientious rebounding, fewer turnovers, additional scorers to help Derrick Rose, better ball movement -- and never even got around to James. So it felt a little cruel to bring him up, but there simply is no ignoring the best player in the game.
Holding James below his average is a goal of every team that tries to defend the Cavaliers. It's that way with most stars, except on rare occasions when a coach will let a guy "get his" while trying to choke off his teammates. But there is an ominous side to it, too, that rears its ugly head in these repeat encounters because averages aren't random numbers. During the here-and-gone regular season, teams figure if they hold down a star, he'll get whole against the next guys. In the playoffs, "the next guys" typically are the same guys. Tribute eventually gets paid.
"You're not going to take everything away from him for the whole 48 minutes, but you can make it difficult," said Bulls forward Luol Deng, the first of several Chicago players who guarded James. "I thought we did a good job of making him see bodies, making him beat us more with passing than scoring, and I think that's what you've got to do."
James did seem content to manage rather than dominate Game 1, taking inventory of his team's various weapons instead of forcing the issue. He got the ball to Shaquille O'Neal, kicked it out to Mo Williams, Delonte West and Antawn Jamison, rewarded Varejao for his hustle on the offensive glass and made sure Zydrunas Ilgauskas got some touches. If the Cavs were a band, Game 1 would have been when the lead singer calls out each instrumentalist in the intro for a brief solo.
James didn't seem ruffled by blowing a layup, committing a turnover or getting whistled for a charge all in the opening minutes, letting the game come to him. He even kept a low profile afterward, sitting alongside Williams at the postgame interview session in their stylish, business-like gray suits. He either nodded at Williams to answer most questions or took a strategically timed swig of Gatorade to ensure that would happen.
As opposed to, say, Chicago's Derrick Rose, who still is learning when to assert himself vs. looking to teammates, James has turned the art of managing a game into an instinct. When it's time to preside, he presides. When it's time to "go LeBron" on someone, he can do that.
Which way is he more dangerous? Both, Del Negro equivocated. "He tries to get all his guys involved and then, when the game's there [to be decided], like All-Star players do, he's going to want to take over and make plays."
Said Bulls center Joakim Noah: "The reason why he's the best player in the world is because he can do both very well."
Del Negro chuckled when reminded -- as if he didn't already know -- that the Bulls aren't built with a Ron Artest, a Shane Battier or some other lockdown defender who can be thrown at James for an entire series. This is a committee job, with a gimpy Deng, a raw Taj Gibson, an undersized Kirk Hinrich, an overmatched Hakim Warrick, maybe even unsuspecting rookie reserve James Johnson taking their turns in the dunk tank against James.
At best, the Bulls will try to do what other teams do to Rose: Make James play in a crowd, though he can see over and push through most mortal mobs.
At worst, the Cavaliers' star will spend one or more of these upcoming nights polishing his averages.
]