10 Important Lessons We Learned from the Cavs-Warriors Christmas Day Game

5. Late Game Free Throw Shooting Needs Work

Ordinarily, 72 percent shooting from the free throw line would be considered a good effort for a team. However, for the Cavaliers, five misses by LeBron James against Golden State proved to be costly. That’s because three of them came in the final two minutes, with a pair of those having the opportunity put the Cavs within a single basket with 93 seconds to play.

Prior to this contest, James had been thriving at the line by connecting at an 86 percent clip from the free throw line over the past 11 games. The fact that three of the four misses came late suggests that fatigue (having played 38 minutes) might have been a factor, though his detractors would use a harsher term like “choking.”

The latter attack is absurd, given James’ fourth quarter performances this season, but assuming he reverts to his previous numbers, the effort is likely to be seen as just an aberration.

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