Draymond Green: Cavs should be concerned about LeBron's minutes
LeBron James
CLOSE SportsPulse: USA TODAY Sports' Sam Amick and AJ Neuharth-Keusch break down the drama between LeBron James and the New York Knicks. USA TODAY Sports
On one side of the NBA ledger  the 11-3 defending champions have won seven consecutive games by an average of 19.8 points while boasting the leagueâs best offense (116.2 points scored per 100 possessions) and the 7th-best defense (101.8 points allowed per 100). On the other  where the revamped Cavaliers have been working in seven new players while waiting for new point guard Isaiah Thomas to recover from his hip injury and make his debut  the 7-7 Cavs have been the leagueâs worst defensive squad by a long shot (111.1 points allowed per 100; Dallas is 29th at 108.7) while leaning ever-so heavily on LeBron James.
Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23  right) defends against Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) during the fourth quarter in game four of the 2017 NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena. (Photo: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports)
A: âTo a certain extent yes. And to a certain extent  no. I don't think anyone should be panicking 12 games in  or 13 games in. However  there are some glaring concerns with them. And at the same time  you're missing a 30-point (per game) player (in Thomas) on the bench who's hurt. So my concern would be that  LeBron  is playing so many minutes right now (James  in  his  15th season  is leading the league in minutes at 38.1 per game; itâs his highest mark since the 2010-11 season).
âYeah  he's super human but eventually his super human powers go away  so that would be more of my concern if I'm a Cavs fan or somebody with the Cavs or a player  is like 'Man  he's been playing a lot of 40 minute (nights) and it's only Nov. 12.' But I wouldn't be pressing the panic button just yet. At the end of the day  they know how to win. They've got a guy who knows how to win  so I wouldn't necessarily press the panic button. I would see certain things and I would panic about those certain things  just becauseâ¦I don't think nobody should be playing 40 minutes a game in November ( James  has played 40-plus minutes in six of  his  14 games).
CLOSE SportsPulse: USA TODAY Sports' Sam Amick and AJ Neuharth-Keusch break down the drama between  [TGT]  and the New York Knicks. USA TODAY Sports
On one side of the NBA ledger  the 11-3 defending champions have won seven consecutive games by an average of 19.8 points while boasting the leagueâs best offense (116.2 points scored per 100 possessions) and the 7th-best defense (101.8 points allowed per 100). On the other  where the revamped Cavaliers have been working in seven new players while waiting for new point guard Isaiah Thomas to recover from his hip injury and make his debut  the 7-7 Cavs have been the leagueâs worst defensive squad by a long shot (111.1 points allowed per 100; Dallas is 29th at 108.7) while leaning ever-so heavily on  [TGT] .
Cleveland Cavaliers forward  [TGT]  (23  right) defends against Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) during the fourth quarter in game four of the 2017 NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena. (Photo: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports)
A: âTo a certain extent yes. And to a certain extent  no. I don't think anyone should be panicking 12 games in  or 13 games in. However  there are some glaring concerns with them. And at the same time  you're missing a 30-point (per game) player (in Thomas) on the bench who's hurt. So my concern would be that  LeBron  is playing so many minutes right now ( [TGT] in  his  15th season  is leading the league in minutes at 38.1 per game; itâs his highest mark since the 2010-11 season).
âYeah  he's super human but eventually his super human powers go away  so that would be more of my concern if I'm a Cavs fan or somebody with the Cavs or a player  is like 'Man  he's been playing a lot of 40 minute (nights) and it's only Nov. 12.' But I wouldn't be pressing the panic button just yet. At the end of the day  they know how to win. They've got a guy who knows how to win  so I wouldn't necessarily press the panic button. I would see certain things and I would panic about those certain things  just becauseâ¦I don't think nobody should be playing 40 minutes a game in November ( James  has played 40-plus minutes in six of  his  14 games).