Congratulations To Paul Millsap For Finally Beating LeBron James In A Playoff Game
I know a lot of the talk after last night's big time Nuggets win will be about the play of Jamal Murray, and for good reason. Dude was electric and put the team on his back. But there was also this little nugget (no pun intended but intended) that I think deserves some props.
After 10 tries, Paul Millsap has finally defeated LeBron James in a playoff game. It's not like Millsap hasn't been on good teams either that have gone up against LeBron. Remember in 2015 when the Hawks won 60 games and were the #1 overall seed in the East? Well they ran into the Cavs in the ECF and promptly lost in 4 games. Millsap struggled, averaging just 13.8 points on 34% in that series. LeBron? 30/11/9.
They then had to deal with LeBron and the Cavs the very next season as the 4 seed. The Hawks actually got pretty close to ending this Millsap vs LeBron streak in Game 4, but they lost 100-99.
Fast forward to this season and once again Millsap got so close in Game 2. All they needed to do was get one stop and well, we know what happened next. So I'm happy that Millsap finally got the boulder off his back and who knows, maybe this sparks the run of 3 more straight wins. There's no denying that LeBron has been a bit of a boogeyman for Millsap throughout his career, so you know he enjoyed that one last night.
If you look at this series, Millsap has definitely made an impact too. Not really when it comes to stopping LeBron, but rather the work he's done on Anthony Davis
That type of defense is how you finally break through and beat a team with LeBron on it. Now that this streak over there's only one left for Millsap to overcome. He has to finally beat LeBron in a playoff series. A win tomorrow would go a long way to making that a reality.