Less than a week after failing to knock down two important attempts from the charity stripe with the Cleveland Cavaliers down 105-103 to the Houston Rockets in overtime, LeBron James may need to look in that mirror once again. James tied his season-high in turnovers this season with nine in the Cavaliers' 106-97 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Friday. According to ESPN, this was the ninth game where LeBron has recorded seven or more turnovers. In those contests, Cleveland is 4-5.
To make matters worse, James is averaging a career-high 4.2 turnovers per game this season. When asked about it following last night's game, LeBron didn't mince his words. "As far as turnovers, I suck, I suck," he said. "Tonight was another one of those nights."
Eventually, James tried to break down the turnovers, saying, "My last turnover, I seen Kyrie [Irving] open in the paint. I tried to throw high, I should have thrown low. Those are careless turnovers, so it was split. Of my nine, I think five of them were unforced, four of them were attack turnovers. But, I suck. As far as me turning the ball over, I got to do better."
Interestingly, James currently has a trend working, as ESPN points out:
The three most turnover-prone seasons of his career all occurred when he entered a new situation, as he averaged 3.5 turnovers in his rookie season and 3.6 turnovers in his first season with the Miami Heat.
With that being said, there's no need to start the "LeBron has lost it" hot takes. 'Bron 'Bron is getting used to his teammates, their tendencies, preferences, etc. These issues will be resolved in time. All you can do is hope these problems don't flare up and get out of control once the playoffs roll around.
Send all complaints, compliments, and tips to sportstips@complex.com
[via ESPN]
