Losses have been few for LeBron James-led teams against Charlotte

If you are LeBron James, you might not recall what it’s like to lose a game to a Charlotte-based NBA team.

Last time that happened was Feb. 19, 2010. The then-Charlotte Bobcats actually pounded Cleveland that night 110-93 and James left the Cavs the following summer, heading to the Miami Heat in free agency.

It’s been ugly since then. James’ teams – the Heat from 2010 through 2014 and the Cavs last season after he returned to Cleveland – are a combined 22-0 against the Bobcats/Hornets in that span. That includes a 4-0 playoff sweep two seasons ago.

You might hope that would create a complacency as James’ Cavs show up in Charlotte for a 7 p.m. meeting Friday with the 9-6 Hornets, if not a tryptophan-induced post-Thanksgiving stupor.

James’ Cavs are 3-4 on the road following Wednesday’s loss in Toronto, and he vented afterward about his team’s lack of a “bunker” mentality away from Quicken Loans Arena.

“It comes from within and I’ve always had it,” a frustrated James said Wednesday. “You either have it or you don’t.”

Uh-oh.

The Hornets enter Friday’s game minus their best option to guard James, who averages 25.8 points, 7.1 rebounds and 6.7 assists.

Small forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is out, likely for the season, following shoulder surgery. Coach Steve Clifford was asked Wednesday (the Hornets didn’t practice Thursday) about his remaining options to guard James. He mentioned P.J. Hairston and Marvin Williams, hoping he wouldn’t have to assign Nic Batum to James until at least the fourth quarter.

Not incidentally, Clifford gushed with praise for Williams, based on Williams’ defense against the Washington Wizards. Clifford called Williams “Gilchrist-like,” then jokingly asked media not to pass that on to Gilchrist.

Williams has guarded James often – more when he was with the Utah Jazz than last season with the Hornets. But he knows the drill.

“The biggest thing with someone so great at everything is limiting the easy stuff,” Williams said. “Limit the layups and keep him off the free-throw line. He’s going to make big-time shots, the 3-pointers and the post-ups. As a defender you don’t really worry about those because he has to make them. Try to limit the easy stuff.

“I’m going to have to rely on my teammates quite a bit to be in the right positions. No one man can stop LeBron James. He is the best of the best.”

Teammates Al Jefferson and Kemba Walker get what Williams was saying.

“Marvin is the one out there one-on-one, but we all have to defend him,” center Jefferson said. “He’s the best. Even when he has a bad team it’s a good game. We have to be as one: make one effort, two efforts, three efforts.”

Jefferson said James is most dangerous when he gets into the lane and creates preposterously easy 3-point attempts for teammates. The response, Jefferson said, is “making him see bodies” defensively.

“It’s never a one-on-one league,” point guard Walker added of guarding a player of James’ stature. “He’s a great player, probably the best player in our league for years now. We all know we’ve got to be on point. We can’t leave Marvin out there to dry.”

This story was originally published November 26, 2015 at 8:28 AM with the headline "Losses have been few for LeBron James-led teams against Charlotte."