James behaved more like a passive bystander than the best player on the planet in the last three quarters of Tuesday's 120-88 home-court loss to the Boston Celtics in a game that gave Boston a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.
US national basketball team coach Mike Krzyzewski said he expects a bounce back from James, who helped the coach lead the squad to Olympic gold at the 2008 Games in Beijing.
"LeBron's a winner and when you lose you hate it. When you lose the way they did you really hate it," Krzyzewski said in an interview Wednesday with ESPN radio. "I would think (LeBron would) come out in an amazing fashion in their next game." With the other three NBA title hopefuls - the Magic, Lakers and Suns - watching from the comfort of their couches after sweeping their conference semi-finals, the Cavs will be fighting for survival Thursday.
The lacklustre performance by James, who scored 15 points on three-for-14 shooting, clouded expectations of an NBA Finals pitting the Cavs star against last year's MVP Kobe Bryant, winner of four championships with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Besides a first NBA crown for the man known as King James, his playing future in his home state of Ohio might also be hanging in the balance.
James, 25, becomes a free agent after the close of the season and some experts wonder if he might decide to seek a new address should he fall short of his maiden title.
Boston, the 2008 NBA champions, came alive with a team effort sparked by their aged Big Three.
Ray Allen, 34, led the scoring on Tuesday with 25 points.
Paul Pierce, 32, added 21 points and 11 rebounds, while 33-year-old Kevin Garnett contributed 18 points.
Even if Cleveland can return the favor with a road win in Boston to set up a decisive Game Seven back home Sunday, they will head straight into an Eastern Conference finals against an Orlando Magic team that has not lost since April 2.
The Magic, who lost last year's NBA Finals 4-1 to the Lakers, have looked formidable trouncing the Atlanta Hawks by an average of 25 points a game after also sweeping the Charlotte Bobcats in the opening round.
Los Angeles and Phoenix will open their best-of-seven Western Conference finals on Monday.
