LeBron James is in no mood to let overconfidence reek into his team. For that reason, he displayed his displeasure over some teammates’ celebrations before Game 1 finished.
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The Lakers romped to a blowout win in Game 1 last night. After the game started with the Heat shooting to a 23-10 lead, the Lakers went on a 75-30 run over 2 and a half quarters.
This put the game far beyond their opponents’ reach. The run finished with Dwight Howard dishing to Anthony Davis for an uncontested dunk.
LeBron James was furious with Lakers teammates
After Davis and Howard linked up for the dunk, the duo were up to some celebratory antics as the team converged for a huddle during a timeout. They were immediately brought back in line by the 3-time Finals MVP, who’s been guilty of premature celebrations himself in the past. Once, it even backfired on James.
“Hey, hey! Stop it! Stay locked in!” LeBron James shouted at his teammates before entering the huddle, per Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. “This sh– ain’t over, man.”
Why LeBron James did not want over the top celebration after Game 1 win
Game 2 of the 2011 Finals vs Mavericks still gives The King nightmares. The Mavs humbled them that night and hence LeBron wanted to finish the job last night.
LeBron James and D-Wade linked up for the latter to knock down an open corner 3 in Game 2 of the 2011 NBA Finals. That shot put the Heat up by a 88-73 margin with around 7 minutes remaining in the game.
Lakers’ LeBron James said he was focused on closing out Finals Game 1 vs. Heat because of memories of blown lead from 2011 Finals Game 2 vs. Mavericks: “That s—- burns me to this day.” pic.twitter.com/5SNQalV78c
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) October 1, 2020
As the Mavs called timeout, the duo performed some over the top celebrations. This riled up the Mavericks, who blew them off the court with a 22-5 run to take the Game at the American Airlines Arena.
James regrets his acts from that game up to this day. He admitted as much during the post-game conference today. The Lakers will not be taking their foot off the gas as long as James is stewarding them.
